11 New Coffee Tools and Accessories from the 2023 SCA Expo

Because the singular act of making coffee requires a complex series of mini jobs, myriad specialized tools exist to help roasters, baristas and home brewers alike. 

​​At the Specialty Coffee Association Expo last month in Portland, Oregon, new tools emerged for the the brew bar, the espresso station, the cafe and the roastery. Here’s a quick tour of new accessories and tools that we learned about at the Expo. (See DCN’s complete 2023 SCA Expo coverage here):

Weber Moonrakers. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.

Weber Workshops Moonraker

High-end grinder and accessory-maker Weber Workshops has blurred the line between coffee and horology with the Moonraker, an intricately geared WDT tool and espresso station showpiece. It won’t keep time but it will effectively rearrange particles of finely ground coffee like clockwork prior to tamping for espresso. See our full report here.

The Cropster BrewBeacon. Daily Coffee News photo by Nick Brown.

Cropster BrewBeacon

Professional coffee business software provider Cropster publicly launched an aftermarket IoT solution for espresso machines, the BrewBeacon. The device collects and sends data from inside of volumetric espresso machines for operators to glean insights into sales, brew consistency and other issues. Info is visualized in the company’s retail-focused platform, Cropster Cafe, for easy analysis.

Acaia Ion Beam (black bar) attached to an Acaia Orbit grinder. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.

Acaia Ion Beam

Winner of the Specialty Coffee Expo 2023 Best New Product award in the Coffee Accessories category, the Acaia Ion Beam neutralizes the static charge in ground coffee as it exits a grinder, allowing it to fall more neatly and evenly into a receptacle. See DCN’s full report here.

The forthcoming Acaia Orion Nano bean doser. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.

Acaia Orion Nano

Coming soon from Acaia is the Orion Nano, the brand’s smallest bean-counter yet. The Orion Nano intelligent whole-bean dosing system has all the same features and functionalities as the Orion Mini and the original Orion, which dispense whole beans from a hopper into a receptacle by weight, yet in a tiny home-counter-friendly footprint. We’ll have more details on this product when it launches this summer.

The Oktober 8-H. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.

Oktober Design Model 8-H Can Seamer

A collaboration between food-grade package company Container Supply and canning equipment company Oktober Design has resulted in the Model 8-H Can Seamer, designed specifically for canning roasted coffee into cans with valved foil lids. We’ll have more about this machine in an upcoming report.

Representatives of Radik Labs with the BOSeTamper. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman. 

Radik Labs BOSeTamper

Boston-based, Indonesian-owned company Radik Labs kicked off retail sales of its portable handheld automatic tamper called the BOSeTamper. After revealing its prototype one year ago at the 2022 SCA Expo, the company this year presented the final production version with updated features and construction. DCN will have more on this release soon.

The Pesado He[%] basket. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.

Pesado He[%] Basket

At the Mavam Espresso booth, Australian espresso accessory maker Pesado 58.5 threw its hat into the ring of new-generation portafilter baskets with the He[%] High Extraction Basket. Heavier duty construction, precise interior geometry and a fuller array of high-precision holes results in higher TDS and extraction percentages than traditional baskets, according to the company. DCN will have more on this in an upcoming report.

The Able Brewing Basket. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.

Able Brewing Basket

Portland-based reusable metal coffee filter maker Able Brewing launched the Basket, a steel filter for automatic home coffee makers. The flat, circular filter basket is designed for 8-12-cup brew baskets and is particularly well suited for pairing with Ratio coffee machines. Ratio Founder Mark Hellweg purchased Able Brewing in 2018.

The Fellow Tally Pro Precision scale. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.

Fellow Tally Pro Studio Edition Precision Scale

Equipment maker Fellow offered Expo attendees a sneak peek of its upcoming Tally Pro Studio Edition Precision Scale. The scale features a a black glass OLED screen, metal pan and dial, and various functionality modes. One mode automatically calculates brew ratio measurements to simplify recipe adjustments. We’ll have more on this product soon. 

The Mx. Cool Katze scale. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.

Mx. Cool Katze Scale

Alongside its big-burred debut grinder, the Aries, newly launched equipment brand Mx. Cool revealed its clever brew scale, the Katze. Each scale’s digital readout nests within the body of the scale when the device is not in use, providing additional stability to the tray and thereby protecting the lode cell for travel.

FoamAroma lids. Daily Coffee News photo by Nick Brown.

FoamAroma Lid

Texas-based FoamAroma introduced a biodegradable and recyclable prototype of its longstanding to-go coffee cups, which originally launched in 2011. For the new line, FoamAroma Founder Craig Bailey has partnered with Barry Cocks of the Dubai, UAE-based NBC Group, which offers a proprietary additive to plastics that result in biodegradability without negatively affecting products’ shelf lives or recyclability. Like FoamAroma original lids, the new lids are designed for industry standard 90-millimeter-wide to-go cups and will feature an aroma hole in the middle with special grooves for improved flow. 

[Editor’s note: This story has been updated. An original version included an incorrect name in the caption for the forthcoming Acaia Orbit Nano grinder.]