As America has become
increasingly infatuated with coffee and the myriad of ways it can be brewed and
consumed, boutique coffee shops have enjoyed explosive growth. While K-Cup-like
pod-based systems are now accounting for more than 25 percent of ground coffee
sales to average consumers, coffee aficionados are constantly pursuing new ways
to make the perfect cup of coffee — and coffee shop owners are equally trying
to meet the demands of these particular drinkers. We've already taken a look at
expensive, hand-made boutique coffee makers for the home, but I recently got to
experience the Alpha Dominche Steampunk brewer, an American-made $15,000
machine designed to live behind the counter of your favorite coffee house.
The Steampunk is the brainchild
of Khristian Bombeck, founder of Alpha Dominche and a coffee shop owner
himself. The product of over four years of development, the Steampunk blends
artful craftsmanship, premium materials, and innovative engineering into a
machine that can produce world-class cups of coffee with repeatable accuracy.
Though its name conjures up images of elaborate 1890s costumes and an abundance
of copper, Bombeck told me that it made sense to call the machine the Steampunk
because it is actually powered by steam.
But don't be fooled, the
Steampunk has modern features and a clean aesthetic that would be comfortable
in most any high-end coffee establishment. That's in part thanks to the team
that Bombeck assembled to help design and build the machine, which features
design-conscious architects and engineers.
What makes the Steampunk
different from other coffee makers is its ability to quickly and repeatedly
brew cups of coffee to exacting specifications. Bombeck describes the Steampunk
as a "semi-automated single serve" machine, meaning that while it's
not as automated as the Mr. Coffee on your kitchen counter, operating it only
requires a few minutes of training.
That's a stark difference to the years of
training and experience it takes to become a skilled barista that can operate a
complicated espresso machine well. Despite its simplicity of operation, the
Steampunk can be configured to brew coffee in any style from French Press to
pour over to siphon, with very granular controls over water temperature and
pressure.
The Steampunk 4.0, the version
rolling out to coffee shops now, can brew up to four different coffees at once,
giving a trained operator the ability to crank out 60 to 80 cups an hour. In
the world of specialty coffee, where a single pour over-style cup can take
upwards of five minutes on its own, that's quite impressive. (The one type of
coffee that the Steampunk is not designed to do is espresso, so it is meant to
complement the traditional espresso machine, not replace it.)
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