A new hand grinder is poised to change the way you brew coffee. Handground is the world’s first crowdsourced coffee grinder. Company founders Daniel Vitielo, Brandon Warman, and Joaquin Herlein explain, “We were attempting to apply a Japanese principle called Kaizen to our coffee routine… Since Kaizen means continuous improvement we started to look for better options. Yet after searching the market and seeing the same ancient designs being repeated over and over we finally thought, we can do better.” Handground enlisted the input of over 1,000 coffee professionals and home enthusiasts worldwide during each step of the design process. Everything from the overall aesthetic, the ergonomic crank, and even the name of the company was voted on by the panel of contributors. The collaborative effort has clearly touched on a perceived need in the coffee community. Their Kickstarter project was fully funded on its first day and show no signs of slowing down. …
Archives for February 2015
Chris Heiniger Wins 2015 Eastern Aeropress Championship
Chris Heiniger of Louisville, Kentucky is the 2015 Eastern Aeropress Champion. The regional competition was hosted on January 31st by Louisville micro-roaster Quills Coffee in partnership with Prima Coffee. Eighteen baristas and coffee enthusiasts from as far as Toledo, Ohio to Washington D.C. participated in the bracket style competition. Heiniger, who competed representing Misc. Goods Co., defeated Dmitriy Zhigunov of Williamsburg, Virginia in the final round. Coffee blogger Brian Beyke took home the prize for third place. Heiniger, Zhigunov, and Beyke all earned a spot at the national championship, which will happen contemporaneously with the US Barista Championship in Long Beach, California. …
