German coffee equipment company Mahlkönig last week unveiled a critical piece of its expanding Grind-By-Sync connectivity platform, the Sync Scale. Specifically designed for espresso, the scale sends time and weight data of shots from any espresso machine to a compatible grinder. Alongside Mahlkönig's major release of its first ever espresso machine, the Xenia, the new scale was revealed for the first time two weeks ago in conjunction with the HostMilano trade show in Italy.
Time was, in those forgotten years called the "late '90s," espresso only meant dark roast. And "espresso roast" meant oily-dark beans. At least that's what they still write on Starbucks bags. But then came the third-wave coffee revolution of the early noughties, dedicated to the proposition that all beans aren't created equal. A new generation of coffee roasters and baristas began to question the notion that coffee beans should be roasted into submission, preferring to highlight agricultural origins and fruity aromas by roasting lighter. Often much, much lighter.
Every bean that is consumed here "I roasted myself," she explains. She currently drives to Mannheim, where she completed her training, every few weeks and fills the car with freshly roasted coffee.
The Meticulous Espresso Machine leverages high-end robotics and smart algorithms to replicate hand-pulled espresso, promising consistent quality without complex interfaces.