The Kone: Stainless Steel Coffee Filter

Forget your typical paper coffee filter, The Kone, designed by Coava Coffee Roasters is made of USA grade stainless steel. The goal for The Kone was to create a sustainable coffee filter that could also brew excellent coffee. It is designed for pour over style coffee makers like the Chemex and Hario. Here’s what Oliver Strand from the New York Times had to say about The Kone:

“The Kone is a beautiful object, simple and stark. More to the point of the design, the coffee it makes is rich and full. The filter is cleaner than a mesh basket, and the photochemically machined holes let oils that would be absorbed by a standard paper filter flow through. It gives you the control of a Chemex and the tannic cup you get from a French press: a Frenchmex. Whether you like it is a matter of taste. For most of my adult life, I was a French-press partisan. But in the last few years I’ve been experimenting with different filter methods, and now I’m accustomed to drinking coffee with bright, floral flavors. When I started using the Kone last week, it was strange to find such an aggressive coffee sitting in my Chemex. It was like pulling the top off a bamboo steam basket and encountering a piece of grilled meat.”

Buy The Kone from Coava Coffee Roasters for $50.

Introducing the Concrete Espresso Machine

One thing is for sure, with the Concrete Espresso Machine, you will never have to worry about knocking your espresso machine over – unless of course you’re the Incredible Hulk! That’s because this espresso machine is like no other. It’s built out of solid concrete! Israeli student, Shmuel Linski, from Shenkar College of Engineering and Design came up with solid concept product. The machine features metal parts alongside a unique and very chic concrete encasing.

Why concrete? Linkski had this to say:

“Concrete in the kitchen, not only as a wall or decorative part, I wanted it to be a desirable consumer product.”

Anthora Paper Cup Designer Dies

The New York Times ran an excellent story a few days ago on the death of a New York icon, Leslie Buck. The 87 year old Buck passed away at his home in Glen Cove, New York. Buck is known as being the designer of the ubiquitous Anthora coffee cop that dominated the streets of New York for nearly 4 decades. Beck introduced his novel coffee cup idea to the masses in 1963 and since then it has become a part of the daily ritual for millions of people.

Sales of the cup reached 500 million in 1994 (when it was by far the most popular design for the company’s cups), but fell to about 200 million cups annually in 2005. One New York Times writer in 1995 called the Anthora “perhaps the most successful cup in history”. By 2007, it was mentioned in passing in a New York Times television review as “one of those endangered artifacts” – Wikipedia.

The Anthora coffee cup features the image of an ancient Greek amphora, a decorative border on the top and the bottom, and the capitalized slogan, “WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU.” The Solo cup company, which purchased the rights to the Anthora cup discontinued it from their catalog in 2006, however, they still have it available for custom orders.

Buck’s NY Times obituary can be seen here.

On the left is the original Anthora coffee cup and to the right is a replica ceramic version.

Photos courtesy of Flickr users mttsndrs and brotherM.

Unique Jug Thermos by Jorg Boner

This unique jug thermos from designer Jörg Boner falls under the I Want That category.

“Thermos is a coffee pot for people on the move. It carries two cups and is no bigger than fits comfortably into a bag. The elastic band that fixes the cups into place can be transformed into a handle in just one move, turning the thermos bottle into a coffee pot. The way in which it plays with both archetypes is characteristic of the product.”

It’s not unusual for a thermos to incorporate a cup into the cover but this one comes with two, making it the perfect companion to a rooftop coffee session with your significant other.

The product was designed for Nescafé. No word yet on availability or price.

Nespresso Concept D290 + Aeroccino

The Nespresso D290 Concept Automatic Coffee-and-Espresso Machine with Aeroccino Milk Frother is one sexy machine. It might be pricey, but think of it as an investment considering that you spend an arm and a leg on coffee and espresso at your favorite “not-to-be-named” coffee shop anyway. This model comes with the Aeroccino milk frother so that  you can make the perfect milk froth in mere seconds. They also have a model sans the Aeroccino if you could care less about froth.

Features:

• 1250-watt single-serve automatic espresso machine designed for coffee capsules
• 19-bar pump; ThermoBlock heating system; backlit control buttons; removable 40-ounce water tank
• Capsules eject semi-automatically into collection container; auto and programmable coffee quantity
• Includes 12 capsules, espresso cup, lungo cup, saucers, and 1-touch Aeroccino milk frother
• Machine measures 14 by 8-2/3 by 12-1/5 inches; milk frother measures 3-1/2 by 3-1/2 by 5-5/7 inches

Buy the Nespresso D290 Concept Automatic Coffee-and-Espresso Machine with Aeroccino Milk Frother from Amazon for $438.58.

Pantone Coffee Mug

I’ve featured a lot of different mugs but the Pantone Coffee Mug has got to be one of the more original ones. If you’re not familiar with Pantone, it’s a Color Matching System that allows for the standardization of color reproduction so that you can ensure that the color you want on any given product is the color you get. And of course, the Pantone Coffee Mug features different shades of the color brown to differentiate from black to creamy blends! Perfect mug for those that color consistency from their daily cup of joe.

“All you have to do is look at the color guide inside showing different shades of brown. Pick your favorite color, the one that’s the same shade as coffee mixed the way you like it, and add milk until you get the exact hue. It’s perfect! And, what if you have guests? Show them the mug, let them point out their choice of color, and the rest is child’s play.”

The Pantone coffee mug is made out of ceramics and has 4 colored lines inside corresponding to four different ways you can drink coffee: milky, regular, strong or black.

Buy the Pantone Coffee Mug from Curiosite for $19.13.

Poster Series by Albert Exergian

Nothing beats simplicity. And simplicity is exactly what Albert Exergian (Art direction for print and RGB media) accomplished. These posters are just a a taste of Exergian’s re-imagining of some popular TV shows. He stripped these shows down to their bare essentials and created contemporary poster art. I chose to share the following three if only because the central images have to do with the art of drink. Be sure to check out the rest of the posters over at Exergian.com and at the Exergian Blog.

Coffee Art by Karen Eland

Karen Eland likes coffee. Okay, Karen Eland really likes coffee. So much so that she has made a name for herself as an artist who paints in espresso. The Oregon based artist has been busy recreating some of history’s most famous paintings, including the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. You can even find an 8 foot mural of The Last Supper hanging in one of Karen’s favorite coffee shop, Nordaggios Coffee in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Different print sizes are available and prices vary based on print size.

“Coffee art is a truly unique art form. It requires a thoughtful and delicate touch. Capturing the depth of these classic works is only possible through a slow and sophisticated process of building layers upon layers of espresso. I first thought of the idea of painting with coffee while watching rich, red-brown espresso pouring perfectly into my cup. As I enjoyed my hot latte, it occured to me that perhaps I could take my passion for coffee to a deeper level. So I dipped my brush and began painting, and to my delight, it worked beautifully.”

Buy Coffee Creations from Karen Eland for $5 – $500.

Cremapresso Espresso Machines

If you’re looking for a reason to splurge on a home espresso machine then look no further than the AEG EA 260 Cremapresso Espresso Machine. This German produced machine will bring the Italian taste of espresso in style. The EA 260 features semi-transparent cover integrated into the drip tray. It also has a heated cup hold which will come in handy when it comes to keeping your espresso hot. The Creamapresso is equipped with a programmable button function for 1 cup or 2 cups.

Buy the AEG EA 260 Cremapresso Espresso Machine from X for € 300.

Jura-Capresso Automatic Coffee Center

This piece of coffee making hardware both scares me and impresses me at the same time. I went shopping for a coffee machine at Williams-Sonoma over the weekend and oh my god do some of them have hefty price tags! Seriously, $2,500 for a coffee maker!

So I wonder, what do you guys use at home when brewing a cup of joe in the comfort of your own abode? Inquiring minds want know! Leave a comment below and let Call Me Thirsty know what your weapon of choice is.

And just in case you’re wondering, the Jura-Capresso ENA 3 Automatic Coffee Center features:

• Espresso machine with stainless-steel-lined thermoblock and 18 bars of pressure
• Grinds, tamps, brews, and cleans in under 60 seconds–at the touch of a button
• Conical steel burr grinder; pre-ground coffee funnel; removable water tank; frother
• Customizable strength, temperature, and amount; rotary dial for easy programming
• Measures 17 by 9 by 14 inches; 2-year limited warranty

Buy the Jura-Capresso ENA 3 Automatic Coffee Center from Amazon for $891.07.