In honour of today being International Coffee Day, we take a look at some of the most innovative trends in coffee technology – from the WiFi-enabled coffee machine that can make your coffee before you wake up, to the printer that prints a selfie onto your morning brew!
Print a selfie on your coffee
Malaysian company Selfiii International has created a printer which prints “selfies” onto coffee, creating an original form of latte art. “Images can be printed on any surface of latte, cappuccino, milkshake, cupcake, cookies, chocolate and even ice cream!” The printer uses a combination of six different edible inks and takes around 27 seconds to print a photo.
Cups made of out coffee
German designer Julian Lechner has turned used coffee grounds into reusable cups. Lechner collects leftover coffee grounds from his local cafés in Berlin and combines them with natural glues and particles of wood from sustainable sources to produce a liquid that can be injection moulded to create usable objects. Once set into the required shape the material is hard and waterproof enough to withstand cleaning in a dishwasher!
Coffee that helps you fall asleep
A start up in Canada has created Counting Sheep Coffee. Their coffee is decaffeinated and blended with organic valerian root (a herbal sedative) creating a blend which, the company claimed, helps the consumer relax and unwind. Currently the product is only available in the US and Canada.
Coffee on tap
Danish manufacturer Scanomat has created an app-enabled hot tap that creates a variety of coffee drinks from freshly ground beans at the touch of a button. With its built-in brewer, the tap allows users to customise drink settings, from the amount of coffee to the type of milk. The tap is controlled by a smartphone app, can brew a cup in 15 seconds and includes the smallest milk foamer in the world in its tip.
WiFi coffee machine
The maker of the world’s first WiFi kettle has recently launched its latest creation – the all new Smarter Coffee Maker. App-enabled, this grind-and-brew coffee machine makes the user a hot drink specifically tailored to their individual taste – from coffee strength, perfect water temperature and cup selection. The machine can be set to make a coffee before the user wakes up or at the same time every day. An alarm is then sent to the user’s phone to wake them up or alert them that their drink is ready.
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