Believe it or not, like it or not, automation is the future of coffee making. And whether you’re aware of it or not, for some time now a barista’s job has been undergoing subtle changes.
The barista of the future will still have control over the coffee-making process – using their superior knowledge to program machines to get the best from a particular bean. But they may not necessarily make your espresso as they did in the past. Automating the coffee making process, will leave baristas more time to communicate with customers about the various coffees on offer – in much the same way as a wine sommelier speaks to customers about wine. Tune into an up-to-the-minute conversation about coffee and it’s likely you’ll hear mention of the term ‘coffee sommelier’.
This revolution in the specialty coffee industry started almost 10 years ago with the Puqpress, a device that automates tamping. Tamping is the essential step of compressing ground coffee into the group handle just prior to extracting an espresso. It’s a very important step, however, and it’s one that’s often highly underrated by inexperienced baristas.
The Puqpress originated in 2011 at Barista Technology in the Netherlands where it was designed and engineered. In 2013 Brett Bolwell opened Barista Technology Australia and introduced Puqpress technology to Australian baristas.
The original Puqpress comes as a small free-standing device and now it can also be mounted under a grinder (as in the first image below) – to save on bench space and improve workflow. With eight different models, there’s one to suit everyone’s needs.
The Puqpress has a built-in sensor, so it automatically settles and tamps the coffee to a pre-programmed pressure. It also results in a flat and even bed of coffee that contributes to a consistently flavoursome espresso – every time. Such consistency is what any café owner or coffee lover wants to hear.
Another advantage of the Puqpress is that is saves time. Firstly, because it’s so simple to use, it reduces the time required for training. And because it’s pre-programmed, tamping takes less time. Anything that clips time off the job of making a coffee is a win-win for a busy barista and a customer in a hurry.
In a busy café when hundreds of espressos are being made one after the other, baristas often suffer repetitive strain injury to writs and shoulders. By automating the tamping process, the Puqpress removes this risk of injury. This is good news for any barista.
Brett believes the level of sophistication and accuracy that the Puqpress brings to tamping means manual tamping will be a thing of the past. It means that once the device is programmed, experienced and inexperienced baristas can achieve precisely the same result. This is good news for cafe owners
for more information …
Contact Barista Technology Australia
Phone 1300 582 443
Email orders@baristatechnology.com.au
