WICHITA, Kansas, US – Using a novel technology developed by Thin Air Energy, Geiger Coffee provides a visual display of coffee freshness. Using a keyfob-sized sensor, Geiger Coffee measures coffee freshness on the inventor-created “Jo™” scale, from one to ten “Jos,” with ten (green) being most excellently fresh and one (red) being stale. Easy to use, Geiger Coffee is placed on top of a scoop of ground coffee. Within a minute, this novel device determines the freshness of the grinds and presents the result.
It does this by smelling and judging the aromatic mix of compounds emitted by the coffee, which reduce over time. For coffee, the aging clock starts when the beans are roasted, continues through grinding and then storage on the shelf, whether at the retailer or in a consumer’s home.
Geiger Coffee has launched on Indiegogo at $99. Early buyers can purchase for $89. The goal of the Indiegogo campaign is to get volumes high enough to reduce production costs and enable lower market prices. Indiegogo can be accessed at: https://igg.me/at/geigercoffee/x/23385290#/
For background, fresh beans clearly have caffeol (oil) clinging to the bean and many different compounds which oxidize as time passes. In the presence of oxygen, the breakdown of a fine roasted coffee bean, ground or unground, is a certainty. Consumers ask: when is the aroma the best? What has the freshest taste? If you are buying a bag of ground coffee, is it possible to judge just what has been purchased? While experts agree that fresh ground coffee is the best (and especially necessary for espresso), no real tool exists to measure the freshness of coffee.
Into this void step Geiger Coffee. It answers the question and provides definitive insight into the grinds.
“Geiger Coffee provides vision to what formerly was unseeable,” said James Wiebe, CEO of Thin Air Energy. “Ground Coffee smells, to the human nose, like coffee, of course. It is hard for many to smell the variations in coffee grinds, but everyone knows a bad cup of brewed coffee. Over time, the aromatic compounds in the grind change and reduce, with Geiger Coffee answering the question of freshness.”
“We tested Geiger Coffee on several types of pre-ground and fresh beans. Unsurprisingly, the freshest beans had the highest score, but all grinds declined rapidly over time. To help understand these results, we created the “Coffee Jo™” scale, which quantifies freshness on a 1 to 10+ scale. An exemplary ground roast coffee bean will produce a result of 8 or higher, while stale coffee is typically 4 or lower.
Volume shipments are slated to begin in November. We note that the worldwide semiconductor shortage may have a negative effect on our ability to deliver within our stated timeframes, especially if our order book grows rapidly.
To stay up-to-date on Thin Air Energy’s newest products, visit www.thinairenergy.com.
Geiger Coffee is also available through our distributor in Japan, Focal Point, Inc. at https://focal.co.jp/.
About Thin Air Energy
Boldly founded in 2020 during the pandemic, Thin Air Energy’s vision is to provide the world with disruptive sensor and LED lighting technology. Thin Air’s products are based on science and designed by James Wiebe. James has 40 years of comprehensive electrical design experience, with specific focus on aerospace sensor applications. For example, James was the prime designer of an airborne sensor-driven logging and telemetry package for a USAF project.
