Technology & Coffee

Building Blocks

We’re fortunate to live in an era where technology is cheap and access to information is easy. With a little bit of search engine sleuthing and a few clicks of a shopping cart, the average home user can build complex mechanisms with a modicum of effort.

This blog focuses on how certain pieces of technology (micro controllers, sensors, and basic electronic supplies) can be used to improve the world of specialty coffee. There are a lot of talented writers that discuss the end results in the cup, I’d like to focus instead on the technology used in order to get to the results into the cup.

Each post will discuss an aspect of technology as it relates to coffee that the reader can experiment with. This isn’t designed to be a comprehensive tutorial and may require additional reading. The good news is that there is a tremendous amount of information on the internet and whenever possible, I’ll try to post links.

The idea is to provide a foundation upon which the reader can continue to explore different ideas. Specialty coffee is a unique industry where home enthusiasts and baristas often innovate as much as or even more than the large scale manufactures. This is an introduction to some of the readily available technology and tool sets that will hopefully spark innovation in the industry

Here’s a small bit of advice. Don’t be afraid of the technology. It’s easy to be intimidated by something new and even more so when confronted by something seemingly complex. All of the hardware that we’ll be discussing is inexpensive and readily available on places such as Amazon. You’re going to be frying and melting PCBs. You’ll be hacking code. Don’t worry if you don’t have a background in any of this, if there’s a will there’s a way.

To note: while we’d love to be able to support everyone who’s willing to learn, we won’t be able to offer any technical advice apart from what is written in these posts. There are a multitude of online forums with a tremendous amount of information as well as dedicated communities of individuals who are best suited to offer assistance.