Wouldn't it be cool if, along with your flying car and your robot butler, you had a tap in your kitchen that dispensed hot beverages? You'd just shuffle into the kitchen in the morning, and grab a cappuccino in the same way that you'd usually get a glass of water from the tap in the sink - that said, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to put your mouth right up to the coffee tap. Anyhow, such a thing does indeed now exist, and it's called the Top Brewer.
Designed by Danish coffee-machine-maker Scanomat, the Top Brewer consists of a tap that can simultaneously dispense up to three types of liquid (such as coffee and cream), which runs down to an aluminum-bodied brew unit, that is enclosed inside the Top Brewer cabinet. The brew unit slides in and out for quick refilling, and incorporates dual grinders, so each cup of coffee can be made from actual roasted beans - filter coffee can also be done, at a rate of four cups per minute. Other choices include espresso, cappuccino, macchiato, and latte.
The system is additionally capable of making steamed foam milk, in the tip of the tap, which it automatically adds to drinks when applicable.
Unlike traditional coffee-makers, which draw power continuously to keep the coffee hot, the Top Brewer shuts off completely when not serving up Java. When a user wants a cup, it can go from being cold and inactive to brewing that cup within 45 seconds. Users can wirelessly stipulate the type of drink they want (along with its parameters, such as temperature, cream and sugar content, etc.) using a custom app on their iPhone. For non-Apple types, a keyboard on the unit can be used for the same purpose.
The system also performs an overall self-clean once a day, along with flushing its milk lines after each use.
Non-coffee-drinkers can get hot chocolate or chilled water, milk, or juice from the Top Brewer, if the required optional extra systems are purchased. Speaking of which, pricing for the system is on a "contact us for more information" basis. You can do so, via the Scanomat website.
Source: Uncrate
And it is beyond totally amazing when you look at the specs and designs, etc.
They have a video shot at a trade show ... a champion barista was impressed, actually effusive with the machine and the product taste and presentation.
There are going to be a lot of business models or business applications for this. A lot!
And the coffee is not the really cool part. The cool part is that you can control it by iPhone ... which means that pretty soon, you will be able to control it by voice via Siri.
I assume they\'re working on the app, even as we speak.