The 2024 World of Coffee just concluded in Copenhagen, announcing four new champions at the World Coffee Championships and bringing with it a plethora of exhibitions and new coffee gear. This will be the final show hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association in 2024, and companies from around the world used the opportunity to debut and showcase products. From the surfeit of eye-catching equipment displayed at the show, we at Sprudge have narrowed it down to a concise list of items that deserve a little extra attention.
Slayer Steam Single
Slayer drew considerable attention at World of Coffee Copenhagen by releasing their first single-group machine in the Steam series. This model marks the brand’s venture into the home market, featuring an integrated 2.5L water reservoir for easy plug-and-play operation. Sleek and shiny like the other machines in Slayer’s lineup, the machine is capable of pre-infusion at low pressure to gently saturate the coffee puck before ramping up to full pressure, just like in the Steam LP. Users can choose to brew in manual mode or volumetric mode after dialing in the shot.
New kit is always hotly admired on the coffee trade show circuit, and a new espresso machine from a brand like Slayer can’t help but capture interest. Expect to see the single-group machine roll out to home and prosumer audiences in the coming year.
Marco MilkPal
This was a happy surprise from Marco, who are based in Ireland and have a long tradition of impressing at European trade shows. The Marco MilkPal is capable of handling everything you could think of for a milk dispenser. This 30-kg machine can remember up to 25 recipes for hot to cold milk, ranging from 0º to 80ºC. The user interface is straightforward, allowing users to set the volume of milk dispensed and the ratio of foam, catering to virtually every need of a cafe. Unlike traditional steam frothing, the MilkPal uses an air pump to inject air, ensuring your milk doesn’t get diluted. It can deliver up to 24 liters of milk per hour. Additionally, if the machine goes idle for more than six minutes, it initiates a self-cleaning cycle, maintaining high hygiene standards.
Marco products also have a certain aesthetic sleekness to them and feel instantly memorable. The MilkPal is set to be available from Autumn this year.
xBloom Studio
The California-based company has just released a new machine in addition to its Original model, offering a lower price tag and greater user versatility. With the xBloom Studio, users can now use their preferred brewing apparatus instead of sticking to the supplied Omni Dripper. Dubbed “the ultimate machine for specialty coffee” by the brand, it handles every step from grinding—with its 48mm conical burr and adjustable RPM—to brewing. Users can either set a recipe via an app and let the xBloom deliver, or go fully manual, just like when pouring with a kettle. It also features a built-in scale and the option to plumb in, which is a clear upgrade over the Original model.
The xBloom Studio is priced at $499 and ships within 2 business days, according to the official xBloom website.
ROASTINO Manual Roaster
Kavekalmar has just won the SCA 2024 Best New Product Award in the Open Class category with its ROASTINO Manual Roaster. Designed by the Hungarian company Kavekalmar, the ROASTINO is an ode to the art of manual roasting with a touch of craftsmanship. Inspired by a vintage drum roaster, it features a humble globe that acts as a roasting chamber, capable of handling 30 to 100 grams of green coffee. Operation is straightforward: place the roaster over a heat source, whether an open flame or an induction heater, preheat the roaster, and then start roasting.
Perhaps most intriguing is the fact that the ROASTINO is fully manual, requiring you to turn it by hand. In an age of digitalization in all things related to coffee, from Cropster to pour-over machines like the xBloom Studio, this hands-on approach offers a form of meditation and makes you feel more connected to the coffee. It feels like a breath of fresh air.
Lanyard Cups from Loveramics and Stronghold
We at Sprudge love lanyard cups. Look how cute they are! Eminently practical, and undeniably stylish on a convention floor, lanyard cups offer the best of both worlds: a sustainable approach to cupping or tasting at expos compared to paper cups, and they also look good on you. If your lanyard cup has a roaster’s logo labeled on it (like the one shown here), it serves as a badge of honor, marking you as a serious and dedicated coffee enthusiast.
After a strong showing at the SCA Expo in Chicago, these lanyard cups established themselves as the must-have accessory in Copenhagen.
Loveramics x Boram Um Embossed Tasting Cups
Also from Loveramics are their embossed tasting cups, designed in collaboration with Boram Um, the 2023 World Barista Champion. Available in four vibrant colors, from purple to yellow, and three sizes, ranging from 80ml to 200ml, the Boram Um Tasting Cups series features a wider mouth, believed to enhance the sweetness of the coffee compared to their original tasting cups. These cups retain the embossment, which adds to the tactile experience of coffee drinking.
One can imagine these looking quite chic behind the bar at a beautiful cafe.
Sibarist Dual Chamber Filter
Photo courtesy Sibarist.
The latest addition to Sibarist’s filter paper lineup, the Dual Chamber, is unique in its own right. It is the world’s first dual-chamber filter, meaning that when placed in a conical dripper, the brewing chamber is divided into two independent parts. You can fill each chamber with a different coffee and brew them separately or simultaneously. This innovative product opens up a myriad of possibilities for filter brewing, offering countless variables for you to explore.
Tung Nguyen is the founder of Citric Meets Malic and a Sprudge contributor based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Read more Tung Nguyen for Sprudge.
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Tung Nguyen
July 8, 2024
