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Espresso Maker by Patrick Hunt for Matteriashop

03.16.10

Espresso Maker by Patrick Hunt for Matteriashop

This espresso maker designed by Patrick Hunt of Therefore Design is an eco-friendly machine that uses zero electricity because it requires the amount of energy to boil water and human force to operate the press. The product is made out of 100% recyclable aluminum and it’s available for purchase at Matteriashop.

Mike on 03.16.2010 at 17:38 PM

The science behind the mechanism baffles me, especially since I can’t find what it employs.

I figure from the picture that the cup is maybe 12cm tall, and the compression space is about 8cm? If the water starts out at \room temperature\ of 20 C and needs to boil at 100 C, then it needs 2400 calories to get 30 ml of water to the boiling point. The lever arm suggests a 4:1 ratio, and I find that if it boils water in one swing of the arms, it’d take a combined force of 3k newtons or 7k pounds force.

If the arms instead drive a rotating water hammer or similar device, I can see it being much more human scaled but with far more swings of the arms.

Then again, my numbers may be off, or I may have the specific heat of water wrong (water is about 1 gm = 1 ml, +1 cal per 1 gm gives rise to +1 C ).

I’m eager to hear if I’m wrong and/or how this thing works without me having to buy it and ship it to the US.

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Mike on 03.16.2010 at 17:46 PM

I think I get it now… Pour hot water in first… then compress the water through the grounds…

Kinda like a french press?

So, now I’m totally bored by this thing.

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Mark on 03.18.2010 at 17:11 PM

I’ve had one for years. It’s a very simply espresso machine designed to work like a wine cork extractor. Add the hot water, raise the arms and it drops into a piston chamber. Push down hard on the arms to squeeze out your shot. I found the amount of pressure you can generate is on the low side and results in a small amount of crema compared with a more serious electric pump machines. Aesthetically it looks great, however a cheap Moka stove top espresso does the job much better.

Here’s the website: http://www.presso.co.uk/

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Stephane on 04.16.2010 at 02:52 AM

Uses zero energy? After you boil the water with gas or electricity of course.
Typical bad science.

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Flo on 08.04.2010 at 09:51 AM

Compared to a simple and oldfashioned (electric) perculator this is not an improvement both in energy consumption and in quality. Needless to say there is a lot more trouble to go through before you can sip your (hot?) espresso.
By the way, since when is recyclable aluminium a sustainable quality worth mentioning?
To me this is nothing more than a gadget.

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