SAN FRANCISCO, U.S. – A new household java gadget, the Rattleware Cupping Brewer is designed to offer all the intense flavors of professional coffee cupping with less hassle and fuss.
This totally manual technique is regarded to be the ultimate brewing method for tasting all a given bean or roast has to offer. It’s why cupping is the preferred taste-testing method of baristas, roasters, and industry pros alike.
Coffee cupping though calls for lots of spoon scooping, loud slurping, and even spitting. You often don’t actually drink coffee made through cupping so it’s never been a viable way for casual coffee fans to enjoy java at home.
Rattleware, however, says the Cupping Brewer provides all the delicious upsides of the cupping process yet lets its owners easily sip what it makes.
What the heck is coffee cupping?
The phrase “coffee cupping” sounds a bit odd but it merely refers to brewing coffee grounds in a small cup, glass, or bowl. There’s no filter, press, sieve, or any way to strain brewed coffee liquid from grounds either save one or two soup spoons.
As far as making coffee goes it’s as spartan as it gets and that’s the point.
Ideally there’s absolutely nothing to get in the way between you, your tastebuds, and the pure essence of the magical bean. Of course while it sounds simple enough, the actual practice of cupping takes a lot of skill and experience.
The biggest drawback though is you don’t drink what you cup, at least not much of it and certainly not in a relaxed frame of mind.
Taste it all and drink it too
The Cupping Brewer is essentially a glass carafe with a pinched lower section that widens again into a cone-shaped base. You first drop ground coffee (30 grams, 1.1 ounces) into the empty brewer where it lands and accumulates inside this base.
Next you pour in hot water (500 ml, 17 ounces) just off the boil (203 Fahrenheit, 95 Celsius) which then mingles with and brews the solid coffee.
Similar to a French press or immersion brewer like the Bonavita Immersion Dripper, coffee grounds steep in hot water for the entire brewing cycle. You can also expect to see the familiar crust of grounds floating on the water’s surface as you would when performing traditional filterless coffee cupping.
Once you remove that layer of grounds, using one or two spoons to scoop it out, gravity causes any leftover sediment and fine coffee particles to cascade down into the base below.
Lastly you lower a silicone-tipped plunger into the brewer to plug the opening of the brewer’s hollow base. This traps the unwanted grit inside. The whole procedure shouldn’t take longer than eight minutes.
Tempted to cup your coffee?
I admit that I am. Of course I feel this way about any novel coffee brewing method which promises to deliver delicious joe inside my cup.
I am concerned about the Rattleware Cupping Brewer’s small size, it’s only designed to make two little cups at a time. I imagine you’ll also lose a portion of brewed liquid since it’ll be bottled up inside the carafe base.
As they say, however, tasting is believing and I’ll reserve final judgement until I take the Cupping Brewer for a spin personally.
I have a feeling that will happen soon, either when I get my hands on a review unit or perhaps see the gadget at the 2017 International Home and Housewares Show this month.
Brian Bennett
