As a lover of coffee gear, I often stumble upon new pieces of equipment offering novel features I was previously unaware of but now most definitely need. The latest must-have accoutrement for my coffee counter is the ability to adjust the rpms on my coffee grinder. It’s just one of a few new features the Kopi Deva (stylized KOPI) brings to the home grinder market, and it’s on Kickstarter now.
The Kopi Deva touts itself as a stepless “zero waste coffee grinder” designed with the precision of a Formula One race car. And while that sounds hyperbolic, it is quite literally accurate; Brandon Wong, the Australian via UK designer of the Kopi Deva, is an actual motorsport engineer who has “travelled the world, optimizing the performance of Formula race cars.” Applying the same sort of performance-optimizing mindset to the world of home coffee world, Wong has outfitted the Kopi Deva with two major changes to the grinder status quo, the addition of adjustable grinding speed and a cordless, battery-powered design.
Variable grinder speeds is still fairly new to even commercial grinders, most notably the Victoria Arduino Mythos II and the Weber EG-1. Most commercial grinders spin at 1000+ rpm, but for a single-dose home grinder, according to the campaign, a lower speed may be more suitable. Users are able to change the grind speed of the 64mm flat burrs between anywhere between 200 and 1000 rpm, with the lower speed not overheating the beans, minimizing the amount of static produced—thus decreasing the overall grind retention—and changing the particle distribution, “letting you reach the full potential of your beans.” Further cuts to grind retention come via shortening the total pathway the beans have to travel from hopper to chute in order to minimize the amount of space the grinds can cling to.
The Kopi Deva also comes with a rechargeable “5000 mAh battery,” able to grind up to 3kg of coffee on a single charge (a little over 6.5lb). Per the Kickstarter, the “intelligent battery management system incorporates over charge protection, and limits the maximum current delivered to the motor, to ensure maximum battery performance is maintained throughout the lifetime of the product.”
With six weeks left in the campaign, the Kopi Deva has already surpassed it £30,500 goal ($43,000 USD). Would-be backers can pick up a Kopi Deva of their own for anywhere between £459 ($650 USD) to £549 ($782 USD). The former price is for non-UK residents, though it does not include shipping, the latter is for the UK. Rewards are expected to begin shipping in December of this year. For more information, visit the Kopi Deva’s Kickstarter page.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
