Paul arrived at CQ yesterday with the news that he had been given the Uber-Boiler for a week or so, to test it in a working cafe environment and see what sort of results it could provide. We had some brief moments yesterday with a Chemex filter to see what we could produce, but we'll be experimenting with it over the next day or two.
What does an Uber-Boiler do you ask? Good question. The design brief for the Uber-Boiler was for a digitally programmed machine that could produce an exact weight of water at an exact temperature, directly into whichever brewing device you wish to use. The temperature of the water that contacts the grounds is an important variable in any form of brewing method, and for filter brewing this is no less critical. Being able to easily control the variable of temperature would allow for easier experimentation with coffee to produce the best result for each individual batch of each individual coffee, (remembering all the time that there are no across the board absolutes when it comes to coffee). Being able to control the amount of water, either by volume or weight, would eliminate the need to measure the water after it was heated during which time the water would be cooling. Marco brewing systems from Ireland came up with this solution.
So, it heats water ... and weighs it.
Though it may seem a little excessive, it is a step forward in the pursuit of perfection and precision when it comes to brewing coffee. I'm not yet sure how well it's results will be, nor how well it will integrate into a working cafe environment but hopefully we'll get a little insight into that this next week.
To see more about this device for yourself, visit Marco's Uber-Project website: http://marco.ie/uberproject/
