Saint Anthony Industries is a new specialty-coffee-focused manufacturing concern from the Bombeck brothers, headed by Khristian Bombeck, inventor of the Alpha Dominche Steampunk. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Saint Anthony has been open for business online since late 2014, selling a line of bespoke machinist aprons and handmade tampers. But a brewing project was surely forthcoming, and now the Phoenix brewer has risen.
The brewer’s Sputnik-esque design is “based on fundamentals of geometry, physics, and chemistry,” according to the product’s catalogue listing. The brewer is being released in just one size to start, the “Phoenix70”, ideal for brewing a single cup to enjoy alone. This product is adjustable, as Saint Anthony explains: “Depending on the type of the coffee being brewed, volume of desired output, and targeted cup profile, there is a corresponding brew column shape that will optimize your success in brewing.”
Saint Anthony boasts of enviable temperature control for coffees brewed on the Phoenix, as evidenced in this provided temperature graph. If you don’t speak fluent coffee nerd, this graphic purports to show a comparison of the Phoenix to the popular Hario V60 cone filter, and offers total dissolved solids (TDS) and extraction ratios for both methods. A casual home user with an eye for retro-futurist design might not care about these numbers, but hardcore coffee types tend to care about them very much.
In a market seemingly cluttered with brew tech, it’s nice to see a brand go minimalist with its approach, and having had an advance chance to check out the Phoenix here at Sprudge Labs, we can tell you it’s as aesthetically pleasing to touch as it is to look at it. This metal gear is solid; on tactile scores alone, you won’t find a brewer that’s nicer to hold.
Aye, but does it work? A platoon of these would look ace on a brew bar, sure, but does the coffee it produces taste good? We won’t end this profile with an opinion or #HotTake, other than to say this product has moved beyond dev stage and is now available for purchase and playtime, and we enjoyed our playtime with it very much. Pick yours up here via Saint Anthony Industries or track the company down at the upcoming SCAA 2015 Event in Seattle, where the Bombecks will be brewing up the Phoenix, selling tampers and aprons, and debuting a few more new products.
For now, check out this video of the Phoenix doing its brewing thing, courtesy of Saint Anthony Industries.
All photos by Zachary Carlsen for Sprudge.com
