Cream Supplies, the company known as a main distributor of flavoured syrup brands for use in coffee, has made the surprise move of launching two coffee-brewing products at the same time. One of them has, to the distributor’s own surprise, already aroused the interest of some chefs.
The more familiar of the new products is the Aeropress (pictured to the right), a product which is already available in the UK. One existing retailer has described it as ‘a miracle’ and another as ‘coffee with its clothes off’.
The Aeropress is a 30-second manual brewer, slightly similar to a cafetiere – the water and coffee are allowed to mix for a few seconds, then a downward push presses the brew through a micro-filter. The supplier says it is easier and faster than a cafetiere, and the result is said to be an extremely clean cup.
There is already a coffee bar in the south of England that serves from three of them, mounted together on a stand; it allows the beverage operator to offer and brew from a menu of different coffees for both in-house and takeaway service, at a faster speed than is usual.
The second product is exclusive to Cream Supplies, and is one of two products in the world that compete for the title of 'the first truly portable espresso maker'. It has won a Best New Product award from the Speciality Coffee Association of America.
This is the Mypressi Twist, which quite literally makes espresso coffee with a flick of the wrist. It is a small hand-held unit which uses ground coffee or pods, and produces a single or double espresso in 20-30 seconds. The brewing, which appears to be done by a simple manual wrist action, is actually backed up by a small N20 gas cartridge hidden in the handle of the machine.
“We are going for foodservice use for both devices,” confirms managing director Jonathan Money.
“The ability of the AeroPress to brew fine-ground coffee, and the low brew-time compared to a cafetiere, opens up single-origin coffee as a whole undiscovered world for consumers to explore.”
To his surprise, several chefs have taken an interest in the Twist, saying that it could bring uncomplicated espresso, yet with added at-the-table theatre, to restaurant coffee service.
By Ian Boughton
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