coffee auto plunger
Sometimes it’s okay to compromise while at work. I wouldn’t normally eat bad mayonaise drenched tuna between two slices of cheap white bread, but somehow it becomes acceptable at work.
However, sometimes it’s not okay to compromise. And those times usually involve Coffee.
A freshly brewed cup of Ethiopian or Vietnamese just makes the day better. A badly prepared mug of instant makes life slightly less worth living. So real coffee it has to be.
The one thing that lets me down is the timing of the plunge on my cafetiere. Leave it too long and you get that overly caffienated bitterness pulling you away from the fresh, lively joyous place you were aiming for. Not as bad as instant, but life diminishing none the less. Espresso makers are self regulating but less convenient for the office.
An over engineered solution is needed. Here we go.
The basics
The plunger in most if not all cafetieres is made of steel. Steel can be pulled by magnets.
The base of most cafetieres can be replaced without effecting the function of the vessel / plunger combination.
Replacement bases could contain electromagnets and timers. You see where I’m going?
A temperature sensor in the base triggers when it feels the boiling water hit the jug. This then triggers the plunge magnets after a set amount of time. A simple training mechanism, driven by a series of manual plunges when the coffee ‘looks right’ should replace an actual timer - timers are too rigid - this thing should feel organic to use.
Refinements
I always pre heat the cafetiere, so it should know the difference in temp profile between a ‘heat‘ and a ‘fill‘. This should be easy to achieve by plotting the temperature over time.
Two simple buttons, ‘too long‘ and ‘not long enough‘ allow for further life long training of the device. There may be an issue here where different coffees enjoy slightly different brewing times, this could be overcome with a squooshy override button - push it to the left for less time, to the right for more time. At the end of each brew it resets. Squooshy buttons also make the device look cool. Trust me, squooshy buttons are the future.
On the retail side, the two main options are to have an add on or a full cafetiere. I’d assume the full cafetiere would be the way to go. Add ons would have to accommodate different sizes, manufacturers etc… Economies of scale would likely make the all in one unit cheaper. It would also be easier to fine tune the magnetic force requirement.
Health benefits
The amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee is dependent on a number of factors. Among them the temperature of the brewing water / steam and the length of time the grounds are in contact with it. A long plunge is therefore bad for my health. This device could save my life. And it would add some technogeekery to the humble cafetiere, long lagging behind the espresso machine in this respect.
Someone make one. Please.
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7 Responses to “coffee auto plunger”
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Steve invents things while travelling to work on the train. He sketches them in his moleskine notebooks. Instead of actually making them (and becoming a billionaire overnight) he posts them here for the good of mankind.
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I like your simple solution. Here is a complicated one:
http://www.fingers-welt.de/gallerie/eigen/maschine/kaffee2/kaffee2.htm
and and expensive ($10k) one:
http://cloverequipment.com/whyclover/why_clover.aspx
-JP
Hi John
Nice links. I didn’t know I needed a clover 1s!
Interesting idea. You might be interested in an Aeropress coffee maker. I just came across them the other day and several respected baristas I know swear it makes a fantastic cup.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/accessories/8e3a/
@Jacob - the aeropress looks cool, but it’s out of stock! Cheaper than the clover kit though, so I’ll just have to wait for it to come back into stock.
@Jacob (again) - Obviously thinkgeek aren’t the only stockist, I just got one ordered up, I’ll still need to apply some auto plunge tech to it though!
http://www.google.com/search?q=Aerobie+coffee
another great option is the siphon coffee maker.
http://www.coffeestorehouse.com/Sub_coffeemaker.htm
No timer needed, and it brews a fantastic cup of coffee. I should know, I own the Yama Tabletop siphon listed at the above link.
The downside - an open flame. Usually not appreciated at the office, but sometimes rules need to be broken!
@anna - I hadn’t seen that style of pot before - pure ‘coffee chemistry’.
I think I could probably swing an open flame on dress down friday!