Join us for a conversation with team Victoria Arduino, a proud partner of Standart Issue 27.
What inspired the move to provide the functionality to make filter coffee on an espresso machine?
Brewing with gravity requires time and a skilled barista. And the result can never be the same as it’s a manual activity. So, thinking about the need for a busy coffee shop, we wondered: why can't an espresso coffee machine make a filter coffee too? Can it be possible to make a filter coffee by simply pushing a button?
"There is an ocean of disparity between an ordinary cup of coffee and one that can fundamentally alter the dynamic of our day."
The challenge was to replicate the same gravity pressure and brewing routine of a traditional filter method using an espresso machine and portafilter. We designed and patented a new conical double mesh filter, discarding the need for a paper filter. The stainless steel conical basket has an electropolished treatment, defining the exact size and shape of the filter’s holes to increase TDS and flavour extraction. The new conical filter fits the group head of our espresso coffee machine, creating the perfect integrated and interchangeable system.
How would you describe the coffee made via the PureBrew system, compared to, say, espresso on the one hand and hand-brewed coffee on the other?
PureBrew is a new filtered coffee extraction method, with a full-bodied coffee as a result. Coffee is more syrupy, and round than other hand-brewed methods because Pure Brew Coffee uses a metal micro-thin double mesh filter that grants to get more oils and compounds to have a full mouthfeel. The brew is very clean. The brilliance of this new technology also lies in its extreme simplicity of use: just set the roasting level of your coffee (light, medium or dark) to get a fantastic new coffee experience.
PureBrew Filter Coffee replicates the brewing routine of the hand-brewed method but in an automated way granting consistency, repeatability and saving time. This extraction is comparable to hand-brewed coffee not to espresso.
How did you come up with the Maverick name? We know you took inspiration from baristas, the true mavericks of the specialty coffee industry, but what specifically causes you to think of baristas as mavericks?
From the beginning, we aimed to make the invisible visible. We took our cue from the achievements of the great and the good of the past when the maverick, a person who literally refuses to follow orders or rules of a group, discovered a moment of genius through key technological innovations of the 20th Century. Perhaps, being a rebel, a maverick, cannot be learnt. But behind every genius is the innovations that enabled them. Scientific discoveries, technological developments, and artistic movements have created the ideal conditions for alchemy. Without them, the maverick has the mentality but not the tools to change the world.
"Thinking about the need for a busy coffee shop, we wondered: why can't an espresso coffee machine make a filter coffee too?"
Apply the same logic to the barista and the noble coffee machine, when a collision of creative forces and bespoke technology can result in one perfect cup of coffee. But as we all know, there is an ocean of disparity between an ordinary cup of coffee and one that can fundamentally alter the dynamic of our day.
The first Black Eagle has done much to address this. By now, it's already become an iconic coffee machine cherished by baristas all over the globe. So how can we improve on that? The team went beyond a zone of pre-existing ideas, further than the space existing between the barista and technology, to a twilight plane of potential, a place where inspiration can be facilitated to create something profoundly unique. We knew we had to give the barista, the maverick, more. We gave them the Black Eagle Maverick.
This interview was published in partnership with Victoria Arduino.
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