| www.espresso-restorations.com The Espresso Machine Restoration site A non-commercial site for those interested in espresso equipment repair and restoration. |
New bumper products
| Brief background I started www.coffeebumper.com late 2005 and we had a little stand at SCAA Charlotte in 2006 where we took our tampers and knockboxes. The main aim was really the test the waters and gauge the response. Fortunately the products we sold at the show pretty much covered our expenses. Since then we have had regular orders coming in and I have been busy fine tuning a few aspects of the products and finalising the development of some new additions. In the summer of 2005 when I wrote out the plan for this new venture I had always envisioned not just a tamper or a knockbox, but a complete barista kit. |
| New tamper handles I have 2 more tamper handles available in both aluminium and rubber. Our existing handle is a very safe and traditional style. It was good starter for us to test the concept (rubberised handle). For the 2 new ones they are a bit more funky and have been designed from scratch. The ball shaped one (I haven't given them names yet) is just such a great fit and feels perfect in the hand. The V shaped handle is great as well. Latte art pitcher Getting these made - believe it or not - was a harder task then the knockbox. We must have spent several months at least sourcing a factory for these because we wanted a "fresh" factory in China, one that hadn't made the bog standard chinese made latte art pitchers before. What we have come up with isn't too radical in terms of spout design, but it is very sturdy and has been made to our own high standards. Each pitcher weighs approx 15% more than a standard latte art pitcher. We have also gone with new production techniques so there are no unsightly looking spot-welds anywhere. A nice little touch is having our name stamped into the handle. Shot glasses Almost as bad as sourcing the milk pitchers were the shot glasses. In the end we paid for a new mould so we could get the inside shape correct. |
| This website is created by Paul Pratt, Hong Kong 2004-2006. If you would like to use any of the images or text I am sure I will say yes, but please ask first! Email me here. |
| Tamping stand I saved my favourite for last, a really great tamping stand. Originally it was planned to have a tamping mat, but then with the increasing popularity of the "naked" portafilter I decided to make a stand that will allow you to tamp with a regular and a naked portafilter. Also the other benefits are: Nice stable platform and the pf sits evenly. Stops the pf spout from touching the table and therefore does not get covered in coffee grounds. Keeps all your gear in one safe place, also catches stray grounds. The stand has 3 parts, the metal frame and 2 rubber parts. Like the tamper bases, muggins here has to do the final detailing - in the case a lovely brushed finish. Using the naked portafilter I have to say I am very pleased with the way this turned out, I had a little eureka moment several months ago as it was originally just for the regular spouted pf's and then I decided to extend the top surface so that it was really easy to tamp with a naked pf also. You will also see in the last 2 pics above that you can rotate the stand so that the tamper holder is either front or back. There are just a few tweaks I would like to do to the tamping stand and all these will be added to our website for sale later this month. Paul 13th September 2006 |
