Any true coffee lover (snob) will tell you that one cup manual brewing is the best way to enjoy the black elixir of the gods and that the art of crafting the perfect cup is almost as enjoyable as drinking it. It is with that in mind that we fell in love with MANUAL, a "slow coffee" appliance that is designed to sit beautifully and unobtrusively on your countertop while providing the control of the pour-over brewing process in a single-cup preparation.
Unlike other pour-over coffee makers for which you have to get all the pieces together and set up, this beauty is is designed to be left out on a counter for fast access, less set up, and a clean, simple aesthetic. The glass construction allows full visibility of the process instead of precious measuring or guessing before you overflow your cup. The "double-wall" design retains more heat to help maintain ideal extraction temperatures, which any barista will tell you is paramount for the perfect cup.
They have also designed the MANUAL to have a slower extraction speed in order for the grinds to be in contact with the water for a longer time—like that of an immersion method, such as a French press—to allow for the grinds to fully bloom.
We already have a spot all picked out in the Dwell kitchen.
MANUAL was launched with "Chicagoland," a curated exhibition for ICFF 2013. The prototypes will be further tested and refined for a Kickstarter launch in late Summer 2013.