For the coffee gear junkie, Expo weekend is pretty much a high holiday. Over the course of the three days inside the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, new and reimagined products from some of the biggest names in coffee will be making their official debut, leaving the gadget-inclined salivating at the sight of the latest tech. It doesn’t matter if you are a home user or a cafe owner, the product drops at Expo have a little something for anyone looking to up their setup.
For those unable to make it all the way to Boston with a big ole case of FOMO, fear not! for we here at Sprudge have rounded up some of the most exciting new releases that will be debuting at Expo. It’s all the excitement of Expo, none of the recycled air.
Do you have a new product you are featuring at Expo you want added to the list? Get in touch!
La Marzocco
Debuts abound from La Marzocco at the 2022 SCA Event. Check out a full run down here, with highlights including a first look at the PB Comet, produced as part of the new Officine Fratelli Bambi project covered previously on Sprudge. The La Marzocco Pro App will also be on display, taking part in the debut of Cropster’s new Cropster Cafe integration. Guests can also check out appearances from the updated La Marzocco GB5 and Wally Milk automatic milk steamer. The booth itself from La Marzocco is always an event, and will feature some of the coffee industry’s top roasters at the True Artisan Cafe Bar, with a few *very* special guest appearances lined up for Saturday.
Rancilio Invicta
Rancilio is looking to make a big splash at this year’s Expo. Known in America primarily for the Silvia, a single-group home espresso machine, Rancilio is looking to up their profile in the cafe setting with the release of the brand new Invicta. Come in two- and three-group options, Rancilio states the Invicta has “the most accurate heat exchange system on the market.” Using a single boiler and regulated heat exchange, the espresso machine uses a “thermosiphon” to circulate hot water in the boiler when not in use as well as a “Smart Flush” to heat the grouphead to the desired temperature. A touchscreen interface allows users to quickly switch between brewing parameters between shots.
Folks will be able to get their first taste of the Invicta on the Latte Art Championship stage, as it is the official machine of the inaugural competition. Per Rancilio, they will also be featuring at their booth “the new Kryo Evo on-demand grinders from the Rancilio Grindtec line, Silvia Pro X with its pressure gauge and soft infusion control technology, the new Rancilio Classe 5 and Classe 7 with Steady Brew system and the Egro Next fully automatic machine’s new milk system.”
Weber Workshops
For about a century, the design of the portafilter has more or less remain unchanged, but Weber Workshops is putting an end to that with their brand new Unifilter. Using a single piece of stainless steel—as opposed to the traditional setup using a basket that can pop in and out—the new Unifilter features perfectly vertical walls as well as “laser ablated” holes that go all the way to the edge of the basket, both said to promote a more even extraction. And per Weber, because the portafilter is one single piece of steel, heat retention is also significantly improved.
Dona
Just because it is a coffee Expo doesn’t mean it all needs to be about coffee. Dona, known throughout the specialty sphere for their chai and chai concentrates, is expanding into the world of loose leaf teas. Premiering in Boston, their first line of loose leaf teas will feature a selection of black and green teas as well as herbal tisanes.
And to brew them in, Dona is releasing the Yield Tea Press, a Borosilicate glass vessel reminiscent of a French press that comes in both a clear and emerald green finish.
Cropster
Making really good coffee is often a matter of trial and error, but reliable data can help take out some of the guessing game. That’s why Cropster has teamed up with La Marzocco to integrate their Cropster Cafe software with any of the Italian espresso machine manufacturer’s internet-capable machines. With the new capabilities, Cropster Cafe will automatically capture all brew data to analyze various brew parameters to better equip a coffee shop with the information needed to improve consistency from shot to shot.
Marco Beverage Systems
Pour’d is the hot new must-see from Marco at the 2022 SCA Expo. It’s a cold coffee dispenser—you can read much more about this new product here—and it’s the latest from the always-innovative Marco Bev Systems. You can pour both RTD and concentrate! Here’s more form Marco’s Head of Marketing Gemma Kiernan:
“The true innovation behind POUR’D is the flexibility it allows. Marco carried out extensive research on cold coffee – how it’s brewed, how it’s delivered, et cetera – and found that different sites and different roasters had different needs, POUR’D meets all of these, moving cold brew service to front of house, meaning baristas don’t need to go to the fridge or manually mix their concentrate at the start of the day. It also means that one system can deliver cold coffee, a shot of coffee, and hot or cold water, so that operators can serve multiple beverages from one system.”
Savor Brands
For many roasters, packaging is a customer’s first introduction to what their brand is all about. And Savor Brands, one of the leading coffee bag manufacturers, is bringing a whole host of new tools to help enrich that experience. Centering around the new SB5D, their new line of digital printed bags, Savor is rolling new initiatives focusing on both sustainability and user experience. First up is their R+R Program (Reprocess + Repurpose), which allows cafes to collect non-compostable coffee packaging that can then be shipped off and used by partner Arqlite to make upcycled “Smart Gravel.”
Savor will also be rolling out their brand new Savor Live app, a white label mobile “all-encompassing retail experience app.” With the app, cafes and roasters “will be able to live stream events, create augmented and virtual reality experiences as well as allow customers to order products for shipping or pick up in store.”
Baratza
There’s a lot of buzz around the new Baratza product at the show, the Encore ESP—a sibling to the Encore Grinder re-engineered for espresso, with a new set of metal components in the adjustment system. We’ll definitely be checking this out on the showfloor, with more details to come.
Breville
Breville, the makers of quality home espresso machines at reasonable price points, is unveiling their latest innovation, the Barista Express Impress. Their latest home espresso machine is an all-in-one that looks to bring more repeatability (and a greater ease of use) to the home user, including a built-in 25-step conical burr grinder, “Thermocoil heating system with PID control,” assisted tamping “with a 7 degree ‘barista twist’ finish and a consistent 10kg of pressure,” as well as a new intelligent dosing system that calculates and adjusts based on previous shots pulled.
Coinciding with the new home machine, Breville has announced beanz.com, a new subscription service featuring some of the biggest specialty coffee roasters in America. Right out of the gate, beanz.com has 50 world-class roasters, including Onyx Coffee Lab, Dune, Upper Left, Verve, Sightglass, Black & White, AKA, and so many more. And heading up this new e-commerce program will none other than 2018 World Barista Champion Agnieszka Rojewska.
Miir
Miir is launching is most eco-friendly line of drinkware to date. Premiering at Expo, the Climate Positive series boasts 25% less stainless steel, no new plastic, and a 110% carbon footprint offset, all while maintaining the double wall vacuum-seal design that helps Miir’s mugs retain temperature. The Climate Positive line comes in 12oz and 16oz tumblers as well as a 20oz wide-mouth bottle.
We’ll be updating this list regularly as more new gear and products are announced. Stay tuned!
Do you have a new product you are featuring at Expo you want added to the list? Get in touch!
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
