A small but important part of many people’s lives is the intimacy of having a barista who remembers who you are and more importantly how you have your coffee. Memory is a coffee maker that uses hand print recognition to act as your personal barista and make the right cup of coffee for the right person. Set it to your preference of weak, medium or strong coffee or even an espresso to a ristretto. When you’re ready for your perfect cup of coffee, Memory will scan your hand and get it right every time. The machine was designed by WenYao Cai from China, an Electrolux Design Lab 2012 finalist.
No matter how hard we wished it wasn’t, Memory is still in the concept phase and isn’t ready to be on the market just yet.
What Sparks Our Fire: An innovative gadget that allows you to get your perfect cup of coffee with a simple scan of the hand.
Do you wish Memory was out on the market? Let us know your thoughts.
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Making espresso at home is a must for any legitimate coffee aficionado. But most importantly being in control of the coffee quality is the ultimate goal of a coffee lover.
Introducing the ROK, a creative award winning espresso making, non electric, with a clever hand pump system that allows you the freedom to choose any coffee you want and control how much coffee oils are released through the pressure you apply.
The ROK is beautifully packaged in a large stylish reusable tin, perfect for transporting. The kit is built with stainless steel and includes everything you need from a reusable container, milk frother, scoop/tamper, and double spout. With its timeless design, the ROK comes with a 10 year warranty certificate.
What Sparks Our Fire: A earth-friendly way to brew espresso without the use of electricity and creating less waste.
Are you ready to make the best coffee of you’ve ever had with the ROK?
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Our busy day-to-day oftentimes demands quick food and beverage solutions that offer convenience without sacrificing quality, as demonstrated by pod-based products. Currently, this space is primarily comprised of coffee and tea, however a number of companies are working on new ways to bring the fast, single-serve model to other food items.
Introducing Flatev, a Keurig-like machine that bakes dough pods into warm, fresh tortillas in less than a minute. Like a Keurig, it enables anyone hosting a group to use a “carousel” feature to make several tortillas at one time. And the Flatev is both compact and fast, making it great for food trucks, too. Made with just stoneground corn flour and water, the dough is loaded with fibers, minerals and vitamins as well as non-GMO and gluten-free, appealing to pretty much everyone.
What Sparks Our Fire: A new, quick and easy way to make food on the go
What tortilla-based dishes would you use a Flatev for?
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Nothing wakes me up in morning better than the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Unfortunately, that requires me to get out of bed and head into the kitchen. Well, European industrial designer, Josh Renouf, is currently working on an innovative solution.
The Barisieur is a bed-side coffee pot that also functions as an alarm clock. The noise from the stainless steel ball bearings that boil the water through induction heating plus the smell of the coffee will gently wake you up, as opposed to the ringing of an incessant alarm clock. It features compartments to store coffee beans, sugar, and milk. By preparing it all before bed you can ensure your coffee will be fresh and delicious as it wakes you up in the morning. Prices are estimated to be between $250 and $420, and you can sign up now to receive updates as to when it will be officially for sale.
What Sparks our Fire: Starting the day off right – with a cup of coffee.
Do you love our posts about coffee products as much as we do?
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There are countless apps out there that offer great location-based services. Yelp and the recently redesigned Foursquare are two of the best out there when you are looking for something to do nearby. But one of the giants has entered the market and is poised to take them down.
Google announced a new feature for its Google Maps app for iOS and Android that allows you to explore your area. The feature offers you suggestions on what to do based on your location, the weather, and time of day. For example, by just tapping the explore button while at my desk in the morning, it suggests the best nearby coffee shops, but when I check it before I leave work it recommends restaurants, bars, and movie theaters instead. When it’s raining out, you can be sure it won’t recommend that you go to the nearest outdoor swimming pool. If you aren’t looking for something right now, you can easily just enter the time of day that you are looking to go and explore.
What Sparks our Fire: An easy way to explore your city.
What do you think of Google tackling the nearby recommendation category with this update?
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You already know about our loving relationship with coffee. You also know we love innovation that makes our coffee drinking experience better and more convenient. So don’t act surprised that we’re posting about yet another Kickstarter doing just that – improving our morning ritual of consuming caffeine.
Smash Cup is the essential coffee cup for traveling coffee connoisseurs. Nobody enjoys lugging around a big mug with them, enter Smash Cup. Once you’re finished drinking your morning cup of joe, smash the cup and watch it collapse into a pocket sized disk easy to carry around. The Kickstarter has already surpassed it’s goal of $10,000 and ships this fall.
What Sparks our Fire: Coffee. Coffee. Coffee.
How else could our experience with coffee be improved?
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It seems like a pretty easy decision. But when you break it down, it’s actually a bit more challenging. Who wouldn’t pick a trip to Paris in a heartbeat? When you look at what you would have to pass up for that, it makes the decision a little more difficult.
The above infographic from ValuePenguin demonstrates how much money can be saved by brewing coffee at home instead of purchasing a cup everyday on the way to work. It is pretty amazing when you look at the numbers laid out to see how much more a cup of coffee from Starbucks can be compared to using a Keurig or a drip coffee machine. But, as I look at my large iced coffee I picked before coming into the office, I still doubt I will be able to completely drop this luxury from my life. Even if that means 20 years from now that money could go towards tickets to the Super Bowl.
What Sparks our Fire: A look at how much we are truly spending on our coffee addiction.
Will you switch to brewing your coffee at home?
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You already know we love coffee. You also know we love smart innovations that make our lives easier, and more caffeinated. Hey Joe Coffee is here with the newest product to make our coffee addiction even more convenient.
Hey Joe Coffee has created a brand new mug that brews coffee on the go. You no longer need to stop by your favorite coffee shop after leaving your house in the morning. Instead, you can now easily brew it from a portable 14oz mug. Has your coffee cooled off from sitting on your desk? Hey Joe will also heat it up for you just as easily.
The ability to brew a fresh cup on the commute in, now that’s what we call killing two birds with one stone.
The Kickstarter campaign is currently receiving funding and they hope to start shipping this fall.
What Sparks Our Fire: Companies continually being able to find ways to fuel our coffee addiction that much more conveniently.
How often would you brew on the go?
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Many of the successes I’ve had in the field of writing have been a result of the kick in the pants coffee offers, and I took to the internet to research the science behind it. During this search I found the blog I <3 Coffee, and a wonderful infographic on how both coffee and beer affect the creative idea and inspiration process. In order to better harness your creative ability, check it out below.
And, of course, everything in moderation. Except coffee.
What Sparks Our Fire: It could be coffee, beer, naps, or music. Whatever it takes to get those creative juices flowing.
How do you get in a creative mindset?
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A company called Vaporpath has taken it upon themselves to design a lid meant to prevent spilling, if such an odd concept is possible. Their lid is on the left in the GIF above.
The design is reminiscent of a stealth fighter jet, with a wider vertical opening and deep indentation, and is designed to catch spilled coffee. As well, the opening is not directly on the lid, which makes it more like drinking from a regular cup. As a bonus the plastic is odorless and recyclable, and hopefully will replace the old lids before I ruin another white shirt.
What Sparks Our Fire: Solving one of the great modern-day inconveniences.
How would you improve the standard coffee lid?
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