A Volcano Of Consumer Coffee Brewing Gear Erupted in 2022

The direct-to-consumer coffee market absolutely overflowed this year with brewers, gadgets and online marketplaces aimed at satisfying pandemic-propelled demand for quality coffee outside of cafes.

Among a variety of push-button solutions that emerged offering different approaches to automated home brewing, the web-connected grind-and-brew xBloom system garnered notable support from industry heavy-hitters. In the shadow of new instant coffees launched by the likes of Intelligentsia and Blue Bottle this year, several instant-focused startups also rolled out new products.

Espresso machines by big names and their sub-brands grew alternatively smaller, more powerful and more beautiful. And in the ever-expanding universe of manual pourover equipment there arrived new kettles, scales, and brewers, including several pushing forward in the “zero-bypass” movement.

As we continue our 2022 Year In Review, here’s a look back at some of the biggest releases targeting the home brewing and home espresso markets.

Home Espresso

La Marzocco Launches its First Purely Home Machine, The Linea Micra

The Linea Micra has much in common with its bigger prosumer sibling, the Linea Mini, along with a few key differences that grant it a smaller footprint and lighter weight.

The Micra’s 1.6-liter fresh water reservoir and 1.6-liter steam boiler are a bit less than half the size of the Mini’s. The smaller boiler allows the Micra to heat up and achieve a stable brewing temperature in about five minutes… Read More

La Marzocco’s Single-Group Leva X Machine Launches for the Home

La Marzocco has added a single-group version of the feature-rich Leva X manual lever espresso machine to its La Marzocco Home range of high-end home coffee equipment.

The prosumer Leva X is virtually identical in form, function and performance to its 2 and 3-group siblings, but in a more compact footprint… Read More

Seattle Coffee Gear Unveils House Brand Diletta Espresso, Launches Two Machines

The Bello and the Mio were designed by SCG’s product and repair teams in collaboration with engineers Stefano Chinaglia and Angelo Maccarone from the Northern Italy-based equipment manufacturer Quick Mill.

“Diletta is an integral part of the growth plan for Seattle Coffee Gear,” Seattle Coffee Gear Senior Marketing Manager Kelli Rognlie told Daily Coffee News. “In fact, the icon of Diletta is a heart and the SCG gear merged into one.”… Read More

Rocket Spinoff Stone Espresso Offers New Looks for Home Machines

Offering visual customization surrounding sturdy components, a new Italian-born company called Stone Espresso is targeting a younger generation of consumers in the high-end home espresso machine market.

The company is a spinoff of the 15-year-old Milanese espresso machine company Rocket Espresso, which is now manufacturing the Stone machines and supporting the Stone brand… Read More

Weber Unveils The Unifilter, a Single Portafilter/Basket Combo

Designed for compatibility with standard 58-mm groups and cut from a single solid piece of stainless steel, the Unifilter is free of the gunk-collecting grooves and crevices of the traditional two-piece designs in which a removable espresso filter basket is held by a portafilter.

Douglas Weber, founder and CEO of Weber Workshops, told Daily Coffee News that the Unifilter has also proven to provide improved temperature stability and ease of cleaning, with no chemical or vinegar baths required… Read More

Following the Unifilter, Weber Workshops Launches the Unibasket

Like the Unifilter, and unlike conventional portafilter baskets, the Unibasket interior geometry is precisely cylindrical and does not taper towards the bottom. Its filter holes are individually laser ablated and the spread of holes extends completely to the walls. Together these details amount to an area of active filtration approximately 30% bigger than in standard portafilters, according to the designer.

Testing both internal and in the field has indicated that the wider filter surface area and enhanced puck rigidity results in an approximately 2-3% increase in extraction yield… Read More

The Idroprep Hydroforming Tamper Offers a Fluid Take On Espresso Craft

The makers of the Espazzola grouphead scrubbing device have returned with another espresso accessory designed to make a unique impression, the Idroprep hydroforming tamper.

While it looks like a normal tamper from the outside, a glimpse from below reveals that instead of a solid steel bottom, the Idroprep features a squishy polyurethane gel pad. When pressed upon a bed of ground coffee in an espresso basket, the pad hydroforms the coffee puck… Read More

Conti Enters the Prosumer Espresso Game with the Ace Up Its Sleeve

The aesthetic build and feature set of the ACE resemble the company’s multi-group commercial machine, the MC Ultima.

The Ace features dual copper boilers and three adjustable points of heat. Users can independently set the temperatures in the 0.9-liter coffee boiler, the 2.75-liter steam boiler and a cartridge-heated group… Read More

Synesso Reveals the 1-Group ES1 Prosumer Espresso Machine

The dual-boiler ES1 runs on standard 110V/15amp residential power and incorporates the company’s patented MVP (Manual or Volumetric Programming) technology, which allows users to choose between manual control over volume and pressure in real time or to automate the delivery of water to the coffee using built-in software.

“It’s a Synesso through and through, with professional performance, pro-spec components and clever engineering to achieve Synesso’s legendary temperature stability on residential power,” Middleby Coffee Solutions Group Brand and Marketing Manager Matt Jensen told DCN. “The unit delivers on the best of what Synesso’s known for, in a clean-line design that blends beautifully into homes.”… Read More

Vintage Tech Meets Modern Portability in the Hugh Leverpresso Pro

With fewer plastic parts than previous versions, the manual espresso machine features a stainless steel body with a top-mounted gauge for monitoring the extraction pressure, which is controlled by the user in real time. Also standard is a stainless-steel, 51-millimeter portafilter basket created for the device by Italian portafilter basket maker IMS.

In the same vein as the more stationary Cafelat Robot espresso maker, the Leverpresso presents a modern take on vintage manual espresso technology. Both of these dual-side-arm lever machines are inspired by the 1950s-era design of the Faema Faemina Baby machine that was manufactured by Faema for home users in the 1950s… Read More

Manual Brewers & Filters

Melodrip is Launching the Colum, a Conical Zero-Bypass Brewer

Manual brewing equipment maker Melodrip is launching a brewer of its own, a pourover assembly with a conical bottom called the Colum.

Featuring a stainless steel conical filter holder that supports a borosilicate glass column, the brewer is designed to eliminate the effect known as bypass, in which water passes outside the coffee brew bed as opposed to through it… Read More

Rainmaker Storms Into Zero-Bypass Brewing with the Drobi One

The Drobi One’s most distinguishable characteristic is its all-metal construction, comprising a stainless steel body with an aluminum ring holding a three-layer steel mesh filter.

The three-piece, cylindrical device is designed to prevent the phenomenon known as bypass, in which water circumvents the bed of ground coffee during brewing… Read More

The NextLevel Brewer Takes Zero-Bypass Brewing Up a Notch

A new manual coffee brewing device called the NextLevel Brewer has been gaining traction in the United States while promising consistency and quality through the elimination of water bypass during extraction.

Created by two geographically distant U.S. roasters who met online through a mutual affinity for coffee experimentation, the NextLevel features a flat circular paper filter at the base of an impermeable Tritan plastic cylinder and a water-dispersing lid that promotes even saturation of the coffee bed… Read More

From Germany, the Graycano Pourover Brewer is Coming in Hot

A new metal pourover device called the Graycano (think “volcano”) is erupting from Germany. The conical filter holder is made from cast aluminum that is coated in ceramic, and it features a system of interior protrusions called Lava Ribs.

Like the ridges inside any pourover brewer, the ribs are designed to have specific effects on the interplay of water, air and temperature while brewing… Read More

Bottoms Up with the Cnuben W60 Brewer

A new manual brewer from Shenzhen, China-based startup Cnuben (Amazon page) plays with shapes from both flat and conical brewing formats, offering an inverted mesh filter cone rising up from a donut-shaped circular brew bed.

The dual-layered, steel mesh Cnuben W60 features an interior angle of 60 degrees, like the iconic V60 brewer from Japan’s Hario, yet the donut is shallower and of a uniform depth all around, like a flat-bed brewer… Read More

The Ethical House Porous Ceramic Coffee Brewer Reaches a New Pinnacle

A Japanese company called Pocoa (styled poCoa) has taken porous ceramic coffee filtration to a new design peak.

The Ethical House flat-bed pourover brewer takes a flared cylindrical shape, akin to a Kalita Wave, while lead-free pigment on the brewer’s exterior is used on some models to depict a snow-capped Mount Fuji… Read More

The Steadfast Coffee Brewer is Determined to Win Over Pourover Fans

A new manual pourover brewer called the Steadfast Coffee Brewer that uses capillary action to encourage faster drawdown is expected to reach the United States market this Spring.

Designed by Hyunjun Kim, founder of Seoul, South Korea-based Nothin Coffee, the Steadfast brewer aims for stability and quickness, as its name suggests… Read More

Sibarist Flattens the Curves with Fast Flat Paper Filters

The absence of flutes alleviates the potential for grounds to become isolated and potentially under-extracted in the crevices, while also allowing for freer and more even circulation of particles in the slurry during the turbulence of pouring, the company contends.

Air flow between the filter and the brewer is also eliminated by the flat paper’s adhesion to the interior of the brewer when wet, thereby preventing “bypass” — i.e. liquid flowing outside of the brew bed instead of through it… Read More

Aeropress Has Launched a Reusable Steel Filter of Its Own

Made in the United States out of grade-316 stainless steel, the Aeropress reusable filter weighs about 13 grams and features an array of holes that are each 178 microns wide, which the company said is small enough for effective filtration but wide enough not to hinder flow or add resistance when pressing.

The company said it chose 316 steel for its improved anti-corrosion and chemical resistance properties as compared to grade-304 steel, another popular material found in the field of reusable coffee filtration… Read More

The Capra Press Immersion Brewer is Coming Soon from Canada

Inside a vacuum-insulated, stainless steel, 1-liter carafe, the Capra Press plunger assembly includes an impermeable layer of silicone above the steel filter’s array of 300-micron holes.

The edges of the silicone layer form a gasket that seals along the walls of the carafe as the plunger descends. Meanwhile, four one-way valves allow filtered brew to pass through, then they close to separate the filtered brew from the spent grounds… Read More

Kettles

Love Pourovers? The O-Kettle by XY Design Put a Ring On It

The O-Kettle features a ring between the rod handle and the kettle body, designed to protect the fingers from heat while offering another option for gripping and maneuverability.

“After observation of many baristas’ techniques, we see the handle of the kettle as the key to a good coffee,” XY Design public relations representative Tylor Choi told Daily Coffee News. “The [O-Kettle] handle can protect your finger from getting burned and is easy to control. The ring on the handle creates full protection for your finger. The grip of the handle is also closer to the body of the kettle, creating a better counterweight so your hands won’t feel tired quickly.” … Read More

Fellow Unveils Next Generation of Stagg EKG Gooseneck Kettles

The Fellow Stagg EKG Pro and EKG Pro Studio Edition introduce new wifi-connected features to the EKG line, while boasting a revamped interface and other advanced controls.

Fellow Founder Jake Miller told Daily Coffee News that both models are also made with greater durability under the hood, while the Studio Edition toughens the hood itself, offering a metal control knob on a metal base beneath a black glass surface… Read More

The Baristan Kettle is a Beacon for Pourover Preparation

With a ring of red light at the base of the kettle, the home- or cafe-focused Baristan glows consistently as it heats water up to the user-designated temperature, mimicking the appearance of an active stovetop burner.

When the target temperature is reached, the light fades in and out with a pulsating, “breathing” effect to provide a visual indication to users from afar… Read More

Automated Brewing At Home

From New Swiss Brand CoffeeB, the Coffee Ball Has Dropped

Swiss retail giant Migros has launched a new single-serve consumer coffee brewing system that uses spheres of pre-ground, condensed coffee called Coffee Balls, rather than capsules.

The new system involves a machine called The Globe, which brews Coffee Balls one at a time. Each Coffee Ball has a seaweed-derived thin outer layer that the company describes as tasteless and colorless, while providing capsule-like structural integrity and maintaining freshness… Read More

The Forthcoming xBloom Automates Single-Serve Brews Based on Roasters’ Specifications

The innovative machine is composed of a grinder and a hot water spout along with cloud-connected self-adjustment sensors, motors and software. It touts an all-in-one, automated equipment experience, similar to the Gevi 4-in-1 Smart Pour-over Coffee Machine that launched last year, although with even fewer manual steps required.

In terms of user experience, the machine is more akin to existing single-serve, single-use pod machines, although it uses fresh whole bean coffee from specialty coffee roasters that is brewed in a 100% biodegradable single-use filter-lined pod called the xPod… Read More

Japanese Electric Brewer Siphonysta Vacuums Up Funds for Spring Launch

In a vacpot, hot water from below rises to an open upper chamber where dry coffee is then added, steeped and stirred manually before the liquid is drawn down by natural vacuum force. With the Siphonysta, dry coffee starts off in the bottom chamber. Water is heated in the upper  chamber and then descends. The brew is agitated by steam, and is then driven through a filter back to the upper chamber.

Another novelty in the Siphonysta process is that the grounds are initially soaked in the lower chamber by steam before hot water is introduced. A pipe connected from the body of the machine to the lower cylinder delivers a moist jet of steam prior to brewing, which the company said penetrates the coffee bed and evenly saturates the grounds for a faster and more thorough extraction… Read More

Water, Instant & Decaf

This Teabag-Like Decaf Pouch is Tackling Decaffeination One Cup at a Time

Whereas decaffeination typically takes place at the green (unroasted) coffee processing stage, the Decafino Decaf Pouch is for use on otherwise ready-to-drink cups of roasted and brewed coffee.

Containing “Decafino Beads,” the PLA-based Decaf Pouches are designed to steep like a teabag in individual hot or cold brewed 12-ounce cups. The company says the result a reduction in caffeine content of up to 80%… Read More

San Diego’s Holsem Coffee Offers a Whole New Take on Instant Coffee

Homegrown North Park, San Diego coffee roaster and retailer Holsem Coffee has unveiled a sweeping rebranding along with a novel line of “instant latte” mixes.

In bright new bags, Holsem’s just-add-water latte mixes pair the convenience of instant with all-natural ingredients like freeze-dried fruits, natural spices and maple syrup as the only sweetener. The dry mixes are produced in San Diego through an undisclosed proprietary process… Read More

Coracle Coffee Sets Sail with Instant Coffee Packets

Each individual serving of Coracle’s freeze-dried, granulated instant coffee comes sealed inside a cellulose gum-based paper packet that dissolves in hot water. Users drop in the Coracle packet, then simply stir and consume.

The pouch itself is odorless and flavorless, contributing only subtly to the body and mouthfeel of the cup of coffee. The coffees inside are sourced, roasted, brewed, freeze-dried and packaged by Coracle Coffee Founder Tyler Duncan… Read More

The Lotus Water Minerals Kit Helps Coffee Water Blossom

The Lotus Water package contains four glass vials of ingredients with four glass precision droppers and a glass mixing bottle. Ingredients include calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate. An booklet provides recipes for water volumes of 450ml (15.2 fluid ounces), one gallon or five gallons.

While the company attempts to provide some clarification, in basic terms, on how specific ingredients might affect different brew characteristics, the system is also designed for experimentation between different coffees… Read More

House of Word Travels Fast With Specialty Instant Coffee

A new brand called House of Word has joined the evolving “specialty instant” coffee scene, offering a dehydrated coffee product made through a proprietary all-cold method.

The primary author of New York-based House of Word is Jonathan Dreszer, previously the director of retail and marketing for Devoción Coffee, a roasting and retail company with operations straddling Brooklyn and Bogotá, Colombia… Read More

Whole Bean Marketplaces

De’Longhi Partners with UK Subscription Provider Beans Coffee Club

Home coffee equipment maker De’Longhi is diving into direct-to-consumer coffee sales through a new partnership with the UK-based multiroaster subscription company Beans Coffee Club.

According to both companies, one of the partnership’s perks to customers will be up to two free bags of Beans Coffee Club coffees with the purchase of numerous models of De’Longhi coffee machines… Read More

European Coffee Marketplace 60beans Launches with 25+ Roasters On Board

A consumer-focused German specialty coffee startup called 60beans has launched with ambitions to spread throughout Europe and farther afield.

The 60beans online roasted coffee marketplace recently launched with some 300 bagged coffees from more than 25 European roasters, including revered names in the German specialty coffee industry such as 19 Grams, Kalle Coffee Roasters, Five Elephant, 55 Degrees, Bonanza Coffee Roasters and more… Read More

Breville Spills the Beanz, an Online Marketplace with 50 US Roasters

Australia-based consumer coffee equipment maker Breville has launched an e-commerce platform called Beanz.com, for whole bean sales and subscriptions.

Breville Group’s Sarah Dooley, the United States-based manager for Beanz, has brought 50 North American quality-focused specialty coffee roasting companies on board for the platform providing more than 200 options for different beans, blends and roast profiles… Read More