The DiFluid Moment coffee thermometer at World of Coffee in San Diego. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Expanding upon its existing array of data-gathering and analytical tools, Chinese coffee equipment maker DiFluid is turning toward service with its latest product, a beverage thermometer called the Moment that displays tasting notes and gathers customer feedback as a cup cools.
After first showing the device at overseas trade shows, DiFluid previewed a preproduction model of the Moment for a U.S. audience at World of Coffee San Diego last month, ahead of a worldwide sales launch planned for later this spring.
(Read all of DCN’s WOC San Diego coverage.)
The DiFluid Moment Coffee Flavor Reference Thermometer stands over a fresh cup and reads the surface temperature with a touchless infrared sensor. On a full-color touchscreen, it displays tasting notes as the temperature drops, guiding the viewer through what to expect at each stage.
With 12 hours of battery life per charge, the device is designed to guide numerous customers through a cafe workday, especially when they are seated away from the bar or when staff do not have time for one-on-one tasting guidance.
“It creates a more interactive experience, especially if you’re in a busy shop,” DiFluid Program Manager Ben Barnard told Daily Coffee News. “If you don’t have the time to be present with the customer, this helps with that interaction.”
Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
An onscreen timer counts down each tasting moment and signals imminent changes. Subtle animations hold viewers’ attention as they double-tap icons on the Moment’s screen to record whether they like or dislike what they are tasting, or whether they agree or disagree with the descriptions.
The notes are programmed into the Moment, while feedback is backed up and analyzed through a wireless connection to another device running CoffeeOS, the app that also gathers data from a range of DiFluid analytical tools.
“Within the app, the shop owner can go in and see the feedback from their users,” DiFluid Product Manager and CoffeeOS Creator James Corwin told Daily Coffee News. “It’s also helpful for [barista] champions who want to refine their cupping ability, for confirmation of the different flavors at different temperatures.”
The Moment will be DiFluid’s second recent hardware launch built around infrared technology, following the OmniFlux live roast color tracker that emerged last year to gather roast data in real time.
While touchless infrared surface thermometers are common outside coffee, the DiFluid Moment enters a still-thin niche of beverage-focused devices for cafe settings, joining the Compass beverage thermometer launched by Australia-based Nucleus Coffee Tools.
Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Pricing and an exact launch date are still to be determined as the company finishes a CoffeeOS cupping log that will sync with the Moment, along with a simple temperature-display mode and other features for cafes using the device for quality control.
“If nobody’s interacting, or nobody’s agreeing with the flavors, maybe your flavors are off or you’re not being consistent on your brews,” Barnard said. “It helps shops to make sure that they’re providing the level of quality that they actually want to have.”
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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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