Single boilers and single streams: These sum up two respective mechanical trends in commercial espresso and drip coffee that appeared at last week’s Specialty Coffee Expo in Chicago.
[See DCN’s complete 2024 SCA Expo coverage here.]
A mighty gale of automated pourover brewing technology swept through the Windy City, expanding the once relatively sparse equipment niche with three new entries all at once, two of which happen to hail from Korea.
Italy, meanwhile, was the origin point of three new single-boiler espresso machines on display for the first time on U.S. soil. Several exciting new grinders also shone bright under the Mccormick Place convention center lights.
This list of new equipment below is not comprehensive. Numerous additional commercial equipment brands — including La Marzocco, Mahlkönig, Iberital, Victoria Arduino, Nuova Simonelli, Fiorenzato, Slingshot, Ascaso, Brood and Mazzer — have had major releases within the year, many of which appeared to U.S. buyers for the first time in Chicago. (Click the brand names above for DCN coverage of those).
Here we present a cross section of some of the most compelling new commercial grinder, brewing and espresso equipment we experienced first-hand for the first time in Chicago…
Commercial Brewing Equipment
The New Ground Control
The New Ground Control brewer. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Transitioning out of its pre-order sales period into its full market release, the New Ground Control machine includes a variety of features that were previously unannounced. Among them is a cold water mixing valve, which expands the brewing temperature range to anywhere from line temperature up through boiling. The company also launched its free cloud-based data platform for recipe sharing, performance monitoring and fleet management of Ground Control machines. DCN will have more in an upcoming report.
The iRhea Automatic Drip Coffee Machine
The iRhea automatic pourover machine. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Each nozzle of the iRhea Automatic Drip Coffee system, first launched in South Korea, is independently programmable for flow, temperature and pour pattern. Each is also connected to an external dual-boiler system with a mixing valve that results in fast changes in water temperature for every pour. Each iRhea station features a built-in scale for weighing the finished brew, allowing profiles to be based on final beverage weight, as opposed to the volume or weight of water added to the brew bed. DCN will have more in an upcoming report.
The Mano
The Mano automatic pourover brewer. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
The one- or two-headed Mano machine that made its U.S. launch at the Expo is the third generation of a machine first introduced by the Korean brand in its home market in 2020. Connected to an under-counter boiler, the spectacular Mano moves each of its spherical water-dispensing heads horizontally over a rotating platform. DCN will have more in an upcoming report.
Mundo Novo
The Mundo Novo automatic pourover brewer. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Designed and engineered in Italy and assembled in the United States, the Mundo Novo brewer is the eponymous product of an early-stage startup. Making its global debut at the Expo, the countertop brewer includes a spiral-shaped pathway on the underside of its control console, where a water-dispensing nozzle follows a manual-pourover-like route for small brew batches. Through a touchscreen interface on the barista side, users can design and store brewing profiles while also controlling the water temperature, volume, timing and more. DCN will have more in an upcoming report.
Commercial Espresso Equipment
Elektra Evok
The Elektra Evok espresso machine. The Mano automatic pourover brewer. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
The latest commercial machine from Italian manufacturer Elektra is the single-boiler heat-exchanger machine called Evok. Sales of the new model in the United States launched last week in partnership with New Jersey-based distributor 1st-Line Equipment. While all Evok machines include central touchscreen consoles and multiple programmable volumetric buttons on each group, optional features on the Evok include additional programmability for steam. DCN will have more in an upcoming report.
Sanremo Coffee Machines D8
Sanremo D8 espresso machine. The Mano automatic pourover brewer. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Unveiled by Italian coffee equipment brand Sanremo Coffee Machines at the 2023 HostMilano trade show, the professional single-boiler D8 espresso machine made its U.S. debut. The D8 platform eschews the kind of heat-exchanger system typical of other single-boiler machines in favor of a proprietary thermohydraulic system, allowing different temperatures to be set at each group while maintaining temperature stability. Click here for DCN’s full report.
Barista Attitude Pilot
The Barista Attitude Pilot. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
First revealed at the 2023 World of Coffee trade show in Athens, Greece, the commercial single-boiler Pilot by Italy-based Barista Attitude echoes the design language of the brand’s Tempesta and Storm models while offering a more streamlined feature set for a simpler usage experience. In addition to maintaining the striking design of the brand’s premium machines, the Pilot offers preinfusion and extraction phase programming for each group via a touchscreen interface. Profiles are executed at the press of an ergonomically convenient button at each group. See DCN’s full report on the Pilot here.
Commercial Grinders
Eureka Maxxi
The Eureka Maxxi grinder. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Continuing an incredible streak of new model rollouts for both commercial and home markets, Italian grinder maker Eureka came to the Expo this year equipped with the new Maxxi grinder. Part of the Eureka 1920 commercial line, the Maxxi sports a digital touchscreen interface similar to the Helios model and is designed to handle high-volume espresso service with precise settings dialed in through a chunky top-mounted knob. Grinding can be activated by tapping the screen or by a microswitch at the portafilter fork.
Bentwood Grind-By-Weight
The Bentwood grind-by-weight grinder. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
A quiet surprise at the GH Grinding and Brewing Solutions booth was the world’s first glimpse at a new grind-by-weight grinder from the Swiss company Bentwood. The company’s first grinder, the Vertical 63, distinguished itself upon its 2021 debut with a distinctive design and a precision-oriented approach to displaying grind settings, showing microns of particle size as opposed to arbitrary numerals on a dial. DCN will have more on the grind-by-weight model in an upcoming report.
La Marzocco Swan
The La Marzocco Swan grinder. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Standing at attention alongside the new Strada X espresso machine, just as it did at the 2023 HostMilano trade show, La Marzocco’s recently launched Swan grinder shined in Chicago. Visitors witnessed grounds passing through the Swan’s patented electronic static neutralizer on their way into portafilters, in portions measured by burr revolutions as opposed to by weight or by time. For more on the innovative grinder, here’s our full report.
[Note: DCN Associate Editor Howard Bryman was the primary contributor to this report.]
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