Alpha Dominche has shuttered.
The Brooklyn-via-Salt Lake City design company most known for the Steampunk, their modular automated immersion coffee and tea brewer, are ceasing all operations—sales, technical support, spare parts fulfillment, and internet/server maintenance—effective immediately. All social media accounts have been deleted.
The announcement came via a partners email from Alpha Dominche sent yesterday, December 4th, obtained by Sprudge via multiple sources. In it, the company confirms there will be “no further support available from Alpha Dominche to any customers, resellers, or affiliates.” From the email:
This past year we have explored every reasonable option to continue our business operations, but were unable to secure the resources necessary to continue. We deeply regret any hardship this causes our partners, customers, and friends within the coffee and tea industries. You have all been such a wonderful support and champion of our business over the past six years, and we are so thankful for the meaningful relationships we have built during this time.
In the wake of the news, many questions remain to be answered. The most pressing of which—at least for the 2,586 backers who committed over $230,000 on Kickstarter and Indiegogo—is what will become of the FLASK? A mix between an AeroPress and a French press, the FLASK was Alpha Dominche’s foray into hand brewing using similar, though manual, brewing methods to that of the Steampunk. It is unclear if any orders were shipped out before the closing. An email sent to backers states that the “company is exploring options to continue with fulfillment of the Kickstarter and Indiegogo [orders] if possible.”
And what of the Extraction Lab, AD’s Brooklyn showroom cafe generating all the buzz over the $18 cup of coffee? Will it remain in some fashion even with its namesake company closing? A call to the Extraction Lab has not been returned as of press time.
We have reached out to Alpha Dominche for comment and will update this article with more details as they are made available.
This story is developing…
Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
Top image via Alpha Dominche
