Hi Folks,

I did a random perusal of kickstarter the other day just to see if anything interesting was happening, coffee-wise. I came across this project, which has actually already been funded, but is still accepting pledges. I've personally never been as close to pledging as i am for this machine, as (if it works) it would the nail on head in terms of automated brewing, for me. I was surprised to find nothing posted here about it yet, given how much press it has received elsewhere. Looks like Mark Prince is a backer.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/in ... ffee-syste

I have no affiliation. Haven't even pledged. But I'm seriously considering doing the $100 option. What holds me back (aside from general uncertainty in the absence of published user experiences and tests) is mainly the fact that they made their own ceramic cone brewer. I haven't been able to find details on that cone, so I'm not sure if a plain old V60 will work as well (which is what I've already got on hand). Other than that --- I have long searched for an automated pourover machine that could make a small single cup as well as a batch for several people, just as good as by my own hand.

Does anyone here have thoughts?

That does look great! I'd get one for sure

I was quite interested once I clicked on the link and read about it. I like the concept. Especially if it works for smaller batches.

If it works and is reasonably priced, it should give a big boost to pourover filter and holder sales.

They had me at "hypotrochoid."

I inquired to find out how much plasic will be in the final version. They mention plastic in the prototyping, but I'd hope for a brewer capable of this sort of function, that it would last longer than any otherwise "cheap" coffeemaker. If they have to cut materials expenses in order to deliver the technology, I'd be bummed to have a fancy looking plastic paperweight in a year. But that's just caution and curiosity. Hopefully they'll deliver something robust. It looks like a better imagined Brazen. I'd use mine, but its not worth the hassle on smaller batches. And being able to swap in my pour over tool of choice is quite cool.

I did it. Couldn't resist. I'm in at the hundo level. The Mark Prince endorsement ultimately swayed me.

A while back I spent some time fretting over the search for a machine that does exactly this (or, exactly what this purports to do). Best I could come up with at the time was the brazen, but since the brazen seems to take some finagling to do single cups (it's a batch brewer by design), I wound up with a rather crappy single-cup brewer that then wound up sitting in storage after a couple quick months of barely-satisfied use.

I totally appreciate the beauty of manual brewing, and so even now I feel a little foolish for having taken this leap yet again. Plus i'll always be an espresso guy for the most part. But I just can't resist the option of a bona fide pourover machine doing its thing while I operate the espresso machine myself for an expedient dual-method morning dose, that also solves the problem of easy/excellent batches for when company comes. The cold brew function seals the deal, as the perfect convenient solution to stale coffee (which I deal with a lot between mail orders).

Tom's point about build quality is a good one. But I figure, with an MSRP of $200 and a sale price of $150, an a la carte machine for $100 seems like a good deal, as long as it actually does what it's supposed to do. (The brazen is pretty plasticky, too, when it comes down to it.)

+1 on all the rationale listed above - ability to do one cup, batch, make an espresso while brewing, use different brewers, reasonable price.

I'm in for the hundred dollar deal as well. Thanks, Howard for the lead.

Pete

Bingo to both. I think the idea of temp stability during the pour would be an interesting thing to investigate without having to be as hands on or "gluing a base onto a Bona Kettle" which I've honestly been tempted to buy and do myself, which is roughly the same price they're asking for the whole brewer right? Reason enough. I'll likely pick up a Christmas present a bit early

Thanks again. I never really check Kickstarter unless someone here happens to share a link, so I'd have missed it most likely.

Cheers.

No worries about Christmas, Tom; the $100 machines won't ship until "Dec 2014" which in Kickstarter-speak tends to translate into sometime within the first quarter of 2015. Unless you want to be part of the "beta testers" which are projected to ship in November-- maybe.

So now that I'm on board, I feel somehow freer to say things like "Geez, kid, when you go online to beg for $25K, can't you at least turn the spellcheck on in your browser?!" The copy is one emoticon short of one-handed-text-message-from-your-bike-while-stopped-at-a-red-light level cleanliness. More time was apparently spent cleaning out his parents' kitchen for the "test kitchen" backdrop for that 5-second shot in the video. If there's a typo on my Invergo touchscreen interface I might smash it before the first drops hit the grinds!

Whew. Sorry. I hate to be a snooty curmudgeon but poor writing in any official or professional setting just burns me up. I should have offered my services in exchange for a machine. Anyhoo, here's to les jeunes d'aujourd'hui being the nouveau riche, or at least drinking real coffee instead of 32oz Monster Blast speed-in-a-can drinks. I do enjoy his (albeit grammatically regrettable) dig at Keurig, about how future k-cups will be as proprietararily locked down as printer cartridges, and so users won't be able to put their own coffee inside, "much like a printer ink, which ironically the coffee from a Keurig tastes like."

The temp stability value actually only occurred to me after I'd pledged, which is exciting. It further justifies the purchase, as it might well make an even better pourover than I could myself, for this reason alone.

I haven't been around HB much this summer but I'm glad that my one post turned out to be a good one.