Still looking for the perfect present for that caffeine-addicted person in your life? Don’t worry, we’re one step ahead of you. We’ve compiled a list of presents any barista, roaster, or home brewer would love to have. Our criteria was plenty simple: only pick products we also want for Christmas. From stocking stuffers to major purchases, there’s something on this list for everyone.
Clockwork Espresso PUSH Tamper
From wrist tension to shoulder pain, baristas are prone to all sorts of repetitive stress. This long-awaited tamper Clockwork Espresso promises not only a more ergonomic approach to tamping, but also a more consistently level espresso bed. Did we mention they come in fun bright colors?
Rattleware Cupping Brewer
For the home barista who has it all: a brand new brewing device. The Rattleware cupping brewer seeks to take the century-old practice of coffee cupping and make it more approachable to consumers. The result? A beautifully simple brewing device capable of making a tasty cup of coffee. Just add coffee from your favorite roaster and a scale with a built-in timer and you’re in business.
The Coffee Man
Entrepreneur. Olympian. World Barista Champion. There’s a lot of words that describe Sasa Sestic, owner of Canberra, Australia’s Ona Coffee and subject of the award-winning documentary film The Coffee Man. This compelling story follows Sestic’s remarkable career, from fleeing the Yugoslav wars to winning the World Barista Championship, with a host of coffee farms inbetween.
Soy Cezve
We’re calling it: 2017 is the year that Turkish coffee is finally embraced by the third wave coffee community. And what better way to jump on this trend then with one of these beautiful hand-hammered copper and silver cezves, imported into America by world champion Turgay Yıldızlı and available at our sponsors, Prima Coffee. Remember, you can’t serve your guests Turkish coffee without a Turkish delight on the side!
Sudden Coffee
Finnish Barista Champion Kalle Freese’s Bay Area start-up Sudden Coffee is making instant coffee cool again. Using a proprietary process and coffee roasted by Vancouvers 49th Parallel, Freese produces freeze-dried capsules that are a heck of a lot better than we ever thought instant coffee can be. Whether it’s a red-eye flight, a weekend camping, or a visit to your in-laws, even the most committed coffee nerds find themselves in situations without access to a quality cup of coffee. While Sudden Coffee isn’t quite as good as a properly made pour-over, we’ve paid money for a lot worse!
Ikawa Coffee Roaster
Roasting coffee is a painstakingly tedious process that takes years of experience to do properly. That was, until the Ikawa Roaster hit the market. With both home and professional models, the Ikawa uses a smart phone app to precisely chart your roast profile, allowing for nearly perfect reproducibility and unprecedented amount of control in such small batches.
Third Wave Water
Filter coffee is over 98% water, and yet most people just use what ever comes out of their tap to make their morning cup. Unfortunately, in most places that water will be either too hard or too soft to get a proper brew. Why some minerals like calcium and magnesium aid in extraction and overall flavors, other minerals dampen the acidity and muddle the flavors. Third Wave Water offers customized capsules with the perfect blend of minerals to add to distilled water to use for brewing coffee. Not convinced water is that important? Throw in a copy of Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood and Chris Hendon’s seminal book, Water for Coffee.
VST Refractometer
Ever had trouble getting a coffee to taste right? A refractometer could help. By measuring the refractive index of a coffee sample, you can calculate the exact percentage of coffee solubles you extracted during your brew. This data gives you an objective reference point to help guide future adjustments. Although there are much cheaper refractometers on the market, VST’s comes with the fantastic Coffee Tools software to help you calculate your findings.
Q Grader Course
Want to know whether your palate is calibrated with the broader specialty coffee industry? There’s no better way than to sign up for the Q Grader exam. This week-long course features 20 different exams designed to push your sensory abilities to the limits. Whether it’s green coffee grading, tasting triangulations, or acid identification, you’ll walk out of this course a better coffee taster. We took the exam through Gather Coffee, and highly recommend them to anyone interested in the course.