Consider the duality of Kickstarter. It’s a repository for knockoffs, retreads, and generally just bad ideas; it’s also a hotbed of innovation and cold, captivating recent products that you might want to try and buy one day, especially in the world of coffee. We write about Kickstarter on Sprudge all the time as a starting point for a litany of home grinders, perfect water for coffee solutions, and weird coffee products you didn’t know you needed. Truly, no coffee site in the history of mankind has written more about Kickstarter than this one.
Scouring Kickstarter for recent coffee gadgets often yields plenty of bupka (and more raunchy coffee table books than you could ever imagine). But other times you end up at the mother source and have too many weird and wild options to consider. Luckily, this is one of those times, so we’re taking a Kickstarter coffee tour to take a look at three recent pieces of equipment that will improve your coffee and espresso brewing experience.
Portal: Real-time coffee brewing profiler
Brewing good coffee requires precision. Grams of coffee, milliliters of water, temperature, grinding size, flow rate are the basic components of a really good brew. But they alone do not tell the whole story of what happens between the kettle and the cup. And knowing what’s going on there can be the key to reliably and repeatably producing the best brew.
Enter Portal. “Real-time coffee brewing profile” that provides immediate information about what is happening during the brewing process. Essentially acting as a real-time refractometer as the coffee leaves the brewer and enters the Portal cone, the devices operate “electrical conductivity” to measure total dissolved solids during the brewing process — based on the principle that solutions containing more dissolved solids conduct better current.” It also measures the temperature during brewing (unlike a kettle) and flow rate to give an extremely exact picture of what’s happening inside the coffee bed.
The portal created by Belka has already raised over $50,000, which is five times the target amount of $10,000. There’s just over a week left in the campaign, and rewards include a $140 discount off the $399 retail price. The units are scheduled to begin shipping in September 2025.
Dream kettle: the world’s first kettle with flow control
Speaking of flow, kettle! The only element of the coffee mechanism that influences the flow rate. And while goosenecks are the gold standard in the industry, not all goosenecks are built the same. Some of them are a bit more user-friendly and allow for a broader approach to maintaining a constant, average flow. Others offer a wider range of flow rates but require a more skilled hand. Then there it is Kettle of dreamsthat offers a novel approach to changing flow rate: the control knob.
The stainless steel stovetop kettle is equipped with a stepless control knob that allows the user to select the desired flow rate. With a maximum capacity of one liter and a “practical capacity” of 700 ml, the Cafflano Dream Kettle maintains a constant flow rate regardless of the pouring angle.
There are six weeks left in the campaign. To date, Dream Kettle has raised $2,000 of its $50,000 goal. But there are still plenty of rewards, including 50% off the MSRP of $59.99. If the campaign reaches its goal, rewards will be shipped in June 2025.
Espresso shaker and Iris distribution tool
Perhaps your espresso routine needs a little variety. This is where the Iris Espresso Shaker from Repertoire Coffee comes into play. More than just a macchiato maraca, a shake of espresso according to Iris allows you to “concentrate the ground coffee while rounding [the] smallest particles”, which “leads to improved clarity and extraction, ensuring maximum operate of each grain.”
It’s basically a dispensing cup with a camera-like opening on one end. All you need to do is grind your coffee directly into the Iris, put the lid on and shake it lightly. You then place it over the portafilter and operate the aperture release to carefully drop the fluffy mound of espresso into the basket. And voila! Better distribution, greater consistency and maximum flavor.
With only two days left in the Iris campaign, we’re approximately $20,000 shy of our $25,000 goal, so you’ll need to act swift in this case. You can reserve your own Iris by backing Kickstarter for just $57, and deliveries for the successful campaign will begin in March 2025.
