The gadgetization of coffee: coffee’s real fourth wave?
Posted by TheShot on 10 Jun 2010 | Tagged as: Consumer Trends, Machine
Two curious, seemingly unrelated posts appeared simultaneously in the news yesterday. One on La Marzocco‘s new Strada machine and all its variable-pressure-control glory: Ristretto | Strada – T Magazine Blog – NYTimes.com. The other, Esquire installment #3 from Todd Carmichael, about the ridiculous MSRP/retail prices for professional espresso machines and what most people in the industry actually pay for them: Espresso Machine Advice – Do I Need an Espresso Machine? – Esquire. What both articles speak to is the gadgetization of coffee. In fact, the Times‘ series, “Ristretto,” is dedicated to the gadgetization of coffee.
Sure, CoffeeGeek.com has been around for ages, and there’s plenty of shop talk in there about this or that device. The difference now is that the New York Times is writing about pressure profiling in professional espresso machines, and Esquire is talking about the logistics and financials of installing a Synesso for home use.
What happened? Why does a layman consumer reading the Times or Esquire need to know about the pre-infusion of a Slayer machine? Particularly given that these details seem to be of far greater interest to bored baristas and their armchair brethren than to consumers who cannot discern any noticeable improvement in the resulting retail cup.
Gadgetization — a fetish for devices and technology within a hobby — has infiltrated everything from golf to home cooking. But its more than consumer markets being created for suspect products such as electric garlic peelers. (Think the unwashed product-hawker SCAA conference floorshow bearing down directly on consumers.) It’s the blogosphere committed to paradoxes like “high-tech [sic] Chemex brewers” — things my in-laws have been using since before 99% of America’s baristas had even been born.
Earlier this year, when some writers bandied about the hyperbole that “fourth wave coffee has arrived” with the release of the Slayer machine, we wrote about the true origins of the term “Third Wave coffee.” In hindsight, our ridicule of this “fourth wave coffee” claim may have been premature. Because if coffee’s Third Wave is about appreciating coffee for its own sake, perhaps any Fourth Wave is about appreciating the devices and technology behind making coffee for their own sake. That is: no coffee required.
In other words, coffee’s waves seem to have evolved enough to render any actual coffee irrelevant to its enjoyment.
UPDATE: June 22, 2010
How do you know that the espresso machine arms race is irrelevant to consumers seeking a better cup of espresso? When the Strada gets a 14-photo spread in gizmodo.com: La Marzocco Strada Is Your Barista’s New Wet Dream Machine.
6 Comments »
Love this, good piece. Not sure if my piece was clear enough though, they always get cut down to fit the space. Gadget-ization should include the coffee e-meter (refract-o-tron and co.). Would be great to see this opened up more. After next week’s piece I’ll try to work towards that. Feel like being part of that?
The question is: can quality really be measured? And is taste objective?
Oh, the coffee e-meter: part science, part penny arcade love tester. That’s a great topic in itself. Count us in, Todd!
awesome – I’ll ref our collaboration – we’ll do it up good. How can we chat? Maybe we can get so comments from your people too?
I need to ask you an incredibly important question: How should I make espresso?
I mostly work from home, often late at night when places are closed, plus the trip to my coffee shop is not great with giant potholes and icy side roads that make my bike a kind of death machine.
What route of production should I go?
Factors:
- I don’t do steamed milk, so the shmancy milk steamer on most machines will never be used by me.
- Screw those capsule pod things. Buying real coffee beans is great.
- Small size is a great thing. I’ve considered just going the stovetop “espresso” maker route because of the footprint for my tiny southside chicago apartment and the tiny hit to my bank. I don’t have room, cash, or need for a truck engine.
Reading through your comments, you recommended to one person the FrancisFrancis, which looks pretty good and could be attained “Used – Good” from amazon prime for about $155, which is about the top end of my budget.
Do you still recommend that machine? And if so, how much better is that going to be than the top selling amazon machine, the De’Longhi EC155 (4/5 stars at 920 reviews)?
Please, I need help to cut thru the crap and just get decent shots regularly happening at home when I can’t get to a real coffee shop!
From one South Sider to another, it depends on your personal standards. I almost always recommend a stove top non-espresso-making moka pot until you get around the Rancilio Silvia price range. But when you do get to the Miss Silvia price range, you should be prepared to drop at least $200 on a decent burr grinder as well.
IMO, any lesser espresso machine will simply leave you wanting more and will end up in the landfill and burning a wasted hole in your pocket. Stick with the moka pot and save your money until you decide to afford something at least at the Silvia tier. Though Aeropress lovers do have reasonable points too in case those options sound too limiting.
Good luck!