Gallery: Grindhouse: The Best Brewing Tech From a Coffee Mega-Expo
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BOSTON, Massachusetts -- For a simple, ancient beverage, coffee has gotten pretty high-tech. Though it wasn't long ago that we were drying cherries in the sun, roasting them in a cast-iron pan, grinding the beans with a mortal and pestle, and brewing the stuff cowboy-style on the stovetop, it's now commonplace to employ computer-controlled brewers, massive grinders, and 100-pound roasters the size of Clydesdales to prepare our morning jolt. Recently, the [Specialty Coffee Association of America](http://www.scaa.org/) (SCAA) held its annual gathering here. Representatives from every nook of the coffee-bean ecosystem -- farmers, exporters, wholesalers, roasters, and baristas -- came together to see the latest coffee hardware offerings. Amidst expo-floor demos of the newest technology (which ranged from practical to preposterous), there were barista competitions, educational lectures, and caffeine-fueled debauchery of all kinds. After downing some single-origin, heirloom-varietal, expertly-extracted espresso, I hit the SCAA show floor to scope out the hottest tech at America's biggest specialty coffee event. *Above:* Baratza Forte ---------------------- Many electric grinders are puny. Their tiny plastic parts and inconsistent dosing systems make them undesirable for serious consumers or cafes. But the [Forte](http://www.baratza.com/new-products-forte-grinder-and-removable-hopper/), the latest grinder from Barazta, is an ultra-precise, super-durable beefcake. Tactile sliders for grind adjustment sit on either side of the touch-screen LCD display, which is where users can choose their dose. Instead of relying on a timer to measure the dose, the Forte uses a built-in scale under the dosing chamber that constantly weighs the coffee as it grinds out. When it reaches the desired weight, it stops, thus removing the manual dosing/weighing step from a coffee-brewing routine. At $950 for ceramic burrs and $970 for metal, the Barazta is aimed at the more serious consumer or low-volume café or office environment.
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Bonavita scale/drip coffee stand -------------------------------- When trying to accurately pour drip coffee, you must keep an eye on time while watching the scale as you are pouring your boiling water. It's hard enough to do these three things at once, so just try doing them before you've had your daily cup. [Bonavita's latest scale](http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/bonavita-electronic-scale-drip-tray) ($95) does away with the mental juggling act. Released last year amid serious buzz from the coffee community, the scale has a weight reading (accurate down to .01 grams) right next to a timer on its water-resistant display. It also comes with a drip tray and stand to hold the dripper of your choice.
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Breville Oracle home espresso machine ------------------------------------- Leave it to the Australians to make the perfect home espresso machine. The famously coffee-educated country ([flat whites](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_white), anyone?) is home to appliance-maker Breville. The latest from its line of espresso makers is probably the best and easiest-to-use home espresso machine I've seen so far. [The Oracle](http://www.brevilleusa.com/beverages/espresso.html) ($2,000) does everything for you, but allows for enough manual control that you can change up your settings if you need to. It starts with the grind. The machine's built-in grinder doses and tamps right into your espresso basket. You then place the coffee into the brewing head and it extracts to your specifications, even adding hot water for a long black (That's an Americano for you Yankees). While the automatic settings are exciting, what made this manual-loving barista swoon was the adjustable variables. Among other things, you can change grind size, tamp pressure, preinfusion time, and milk foaminess. The Oracle's software helps, too: if it senses the shot was running too fast, it will suggest fining up the grind. And when you've pulled 200 shots, the Oracle will notify you to activate the cleaning cycle to ensure your coffee keeps tasting great. 
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Coffee Arche's Cold Drippers ---------------------------- Sick of overly-acidic coffee? Cold brew may be the choice for you. While the cold-steeping [Toddy methods](https://toddycafe.com/toddy-cold-brew-system) are popular for large-volume iced coffee applications, many coffee shops are turning to cold coffee drippers to act as functional showpieces. Korean company [Coffee Arche](http://www.coffeearche.co.kr/) was at SCAA to show off its uniquely-housed cold drippers. While the glass components are similar to those already on display in many coffee shops around the country, it was Coffee Arche's wodden bodies that made me stop and stare. The dripper stands ($200-$400) were built to look like everything from the Eiffel Tower to a harp, and the acid-free coffee that came out had the texture of honey wine. The company is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
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Hario Clear Coffee Grinder (MXR-2TB) ------------------------------------ Japanese glass-maker [Hario](http://www.hario.jp/) never disappoints when it comes to beautiful and functional coffee equipment. Its ceramic-burred Skerton hand grinder is immensely popular, but Hario also received some criticism on the mill's design: despite the extremely consistent grind, the Skerton is hard to crank and would lose beans because of its lack of a lid. This year, Hario is releasing a new coffee grinder. Inside the sleek design is a set of those super-consistent burrs we've come to expect from Hario. On the outside, the clear coffee grinder has a securable lid and a lever that fastens the whole thing to a table or countertop (via suction) so it won't slide around while you crank. It's not yet available in the U.S., but when it is, you can expect to pay around $50.
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Latte Pro --------- In the specialty coffee industry, milk thermometers have become a symbol of the 170-degree, sugar-free hazelnut lattes of the past. Baristas now are trained using the more tactile "if its too hot for your hand, its too hot for their mouth" approach to milk steaming and pouring. By ditching the thermometer, there's nothing to disrupt the flow of the milk in the pitcher, and the risk of cross-contamination for vegan/allergic customers is minimized. Not to mention: fewer dirty dishes. The [Latte Pro](http://www.lattepro.com.au/) (pricing TBD) displays the temperature on a display at the base of the metal pitcher. As the milk heats up, the display's bars go from black to blue along the temperature spectrum, almost like a latte mood ring. The Latte Pro is dishwasher-safe, and according to its manufacturers, it's durable enough for café use.
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The Mod Bar ----------- By building a coffee machine into the counter, the folks at [ModBar](http://modbar.com/) have eliminated the divide between customer and barista. Walking up to the ModBar demo at Counter Culture Coffee's booth, it felt more like going to a fancy happy-hour locale than a café -- the only evidence that coffee was the beverage on offer was the single group head and steam wand in place of a beer tap. The experience was mind-blowing, and not just because of the competition-quality espresso I was drinking. It was like peering into a future where café counters are free of intimidating equipment and customer-barista interaction is more of a human conversation than a simple order. The best part about the ModBar is not the idea, it's the price. The whole assembly costs about as much as the high-end industry-standard machines already in the market: $5,400 for espresso, $4,000 for steam, and $3,687 for pour-over.
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The Prima Tamp -------------- Any barista in a high-volume, fully-manual café will tell you: tamping is hard work. The act of pressing coffee into an espresso machine's basket over and over will tire you out and leave you with repetitive-motion injuries. The [Prima Tamp](http://prima-coffee.com/prima/prima-tamp) is an espresso tamper with an adjustable angle so baristas can keep their wrists straight as they apply pressure. At $140, the Prima Tamp is about sixty bucks more than the priciest commercial tampers, but if it helps prevent injuries, it's totally worth the extra cash. 
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Verstazi collapsible dripper and kettle --------------------------------------- Traveling can be stressful for a coffee geek. All too often, the only coffee within walking distance of the hotel is of the dark roasted, pre-ground, grocery-store variety that's been aged on a hot plate for six hours. While many of us bring along our own plastic or ceramic drippers, there are no good options for super-compact drippers. So check out the [Verstazi drippers from Brewcessories](http://brewcessories.com/). They squish down to next to nothing and hold the normal #2 filters. Verstazi also has a kettle that collapses down to about the size of a paperback copy of *A Game of Thrones*. No pricing yet. 
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Blossom Coffee Brewer --------------------- What do you do with a degree in mechanical engineering from MIT and a passion for delicious coffee? If you're Jeremy Kuempel, you build the ultra-controllable [Blossom Coffee Brewer](http://www.blossomcoffee.com/). Kuempel started by breaking down the variables -- temperature, grind size, agitation, and time -- and then tried to figure out the best way to maintain control over every single one. In the Blossom Brewer, the grinds are inserted into the pre-heated brewing chamber. Water that's been heated to the desired temperature is then added. While the coffee is brewing, the chamber continues to maintain the desired temperature so no heat is lost. After manually agitating the coffee, the user pulls down on the plunger to finish brewing quickly, so the coffee isn't over-extracted. The resulting brew has a taste similar to aeropress. It even has Wi-Fi built in so you can load new recipes onto it and remotely monitor its performance. Blossom is taking custom-build orders now, and the price varies based on the materials and features you choose.
