A set of Squeaky KeptAroma vacuum stoppers on display at the SCA Expo in Chicago. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
A new coffee accessories and equipment brand called Squeaky Coffee demanded the attention of the coffee world last month at the SCA Expo in Chicago, winning a Best New Product Award for one of several new releases.
(See DCN’s complete 2024 SCA Expo coverage here.)
The Squeakly Alsa is the gadget that won the People’s Choice Award for Best New Product. Selling for $60 pre-shipping, the Alsa is a bottomless portafilter attachment that suspends a frozen steel ball over which the espresso flows into a vessel for immediate chilling.
The Squeaky Alsa espresso chilling attachment. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Along with an aroma-dispensing device called the Hom, a WDT device called King Eddy, and a silicone stopper/degassing valve called KeptAroma, the Alsa was part of a suite of products making their international debut under the Squeaky name.
Longtime Thailand-based specialty coffee professionals Kullapha “Benz” Sangaunkiat and Apirak “Art” Chamraksin launched the brand about a year ago. The Bangkok-based duo runs the roasting and retail company Art of Coffee, while Chamraksin also runs the Thai equipment design and distribution company Meka Coffee, maker of an under-counter espresso system called the Meka Machine.
Squeaky founders Kullapha “Benz” Sangaunkiat (left) and Apirak “Art” Chamraksin. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
While various versions of the Meka machine are only available in Asian markets, Squeaky products are designed for international distribution.
“We’ve been in the coffee business for almost 17 years,” Chamraksin told DCN in Chicago. “Squeaky is our new project that we started last year. The Squeaky brand is for small equipment that’s easier to go everywhere in the world.”
The Squeaky Hom aroma distributor. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Winner of a Good Design Award in 2023 from the Specialty Coffee Association of Japan, the Squeaky Hom aroma distributor resembles an old-fashioned perfume bottle with a rubber bulb, a vial for ground coffee and a flower-shaped outlet. The Hom sells for $30.
Another Squeaky product is the King Eddy, a pull-cord activated WDT device that echoes the crown-like shape of the Alsa espresso chiller and sells for $120 online.
The Squeaky King Richard WDT tool. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
The freezer-safe Squeaky KeptAroma stoppers, meanwhile, feature one-way degassing valves and come shipped with a manual syringe to draw air out for a vacuum seal.
The KeptAroma lids are currently sold in sets of five, with included opaque plastic tubes for storing single doses of whole-bean coffee, for $24.99. KeptAromas will soon be available in three sizes for fitting larger receptacles. A handheld rechargeable battery-powered vacuum pump will also soon be available for vacuum sealing with KeptAroma stoppers.
Squeaky KeptAroma stoppers.
The Squeaky team followed their Expo debut with an appearance at the World of Coffee Asia in Busan, South Korea, with plans to display their products this summer at the European World of Coffee in Copenhagen.
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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