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Reflecting growing demand for higher-quality brews at home, a wide variety of new consumer-focused brewing and grinding equipment debuted at the recent Specialty Coffee Expo in Chicago.
[See DCN’s complete 2024 SCA Expo coverage here.]
Home and travel grinders, whether from startups or established brands, have received more attention in recent years, likely due to pandemic-driven changes in consumer behaviors.
This year, another micro trend became clear in the home segment: the launch of light, battery-powered burr grinding solutions, many of which are designed to match the convenience and portability of spinning blade grinders while achieving exponentially better results in grind consistency through burrs, and more advanced motors and encasements.
Millab, Nuttii, Femobook and Varia Brewing (via U.S. distribution partner Whole Latte Love), all appeared from overseas at the Expo, offering compact grinding solutions for travel or other tight spaces.
The show also featured some grinding and brewing equipment at the higher end of the home market, including shiny new grinders from Italy, Fellow’s first automatic brewer and the Weber Bird.
Here is some of the home-focused brewing and grinding equipment that caught our eye in Chicago…
Zerno Z1 V2
The Zerno Z1 V2 grinder won a Best New Product Award at the SCA Expo. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
The Expo was something of a home game for Chicago-based high-end home grinder maker Zerno, which celebrated at the end of the weekend by taking home the SCA’s Best New Product Award in the consumer equipment category. The winning product, Zerno’s Z1 V2, features variable feed rates, swappable custom pre-breakers, swappable 68-millimeter flat burrs, robust materials and a striking design. See DCN’s complete report on the Zerno Z1 V2 here.
Kinu M47 Titan
German manual grinder company Kinu, a regular exhibitor at industry events in Europe, made its first appearance at an SCA Expo in the United States last week, taking particular pride in its limited-edition M47 Titan grinder. Maintaining the original M47‘s hallmark self-centering burr and body design, based on the morse cone principle, the Titan boasts numerous titanium steel components.
Also on display in Chicago was a prototype of Kinu’s soon-to-be relaunched Traveler grinder, a set of newly launched spice grinders and a its vacuum-mounted bench grinder, the M68, which recently re-entered production.
Weber Workshops Bird
Weber Workshops Founder Douglas Weber flew into Chicago to demonstrate the brand’s novel brewing device, the Bird, which launched earlier this year. The Bird combines elements of pourover brewing, full-immersion brewing and espresso within a physical format reminiscent of a French press. Read DCN’s full feature on the brewer.
Fellow Aiden
The first automatic drip coffee maker by Fellow turned quite a few heads at the Expo. The Aiden brewer carries over the temperature control technology and the interface of Fellow’s popular Stagg digital kettles, while also featuring an djustable shower head, a wide-mouth carafe and nimble flow-through heating system. Click here for our full report.
Compak Fino
Professional grinder company Compak is putting the finishing touches on its first home-focused single-dose machine, the Fino, which is soon headed for production. The grinder boasts a unique hourglass shape while featuring a scale in its base. DCN will have more when the grinder launches.
ZeroHero
Founded in Beijing in 2005 before finding a California-based distribution partner about a year ago, coffee equipment company ZeroHero made its first SCA Expo appearance, showing off multiple manual grinders, portable electric grinders and countertop grinders, as well as brewers. Taking center stage was the company’s PCTG Adjustable Speed Dripper paired with a new matching carafe. The upper portion of the adjustable dripper rotates to seal or open holes at the base, allowing for steeping and adjustments to flow rates.
Mazzer Philos
Italian commercial coffee grinder company Mazzer took its first bold stride beyond the bounds of cafe equipment in 2021 with the launch of the Omega grinder. Late last year, the company introduced a striking single-dose grinder called the Philos. Sraddling the line between high-end home and light-duty professional equipment, the Philos made its U.S. debut in Chicago.
La Marzocco Pico
After launching last September, the La Marzocco Pico grinder, part of the La Marzocco Home range, made its major U.S. debut in Chicago. Starting at $995, the machine is designed to pair perfectly the Italian company’s relatively new La Marzocco Linea Micra or or its recently reintroduced Linea Mini.
[Note: DCN Associate Editor Howard Bryman was the primary contributor to this report.]
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