BeanScene Magazine

Brewed coffee has made its way out of the plunger in your mother’s back cupboard and onto the main stage, as a relatively new movement in Australia.
As with any new wave, the sexy tools to make the most of the new medium are also emerging and the UberBoiler might be the cream of the crop when it comes to perfecting brewed coffee.

The machine’s key characteristic is its ability to tell you exactly what temperature the water is at when it pours out. While other brewing machines will read the temperature in the tank, the UberBoiler has two thermometers, one at the tank and one at the mouth. When the machine is set to “brewing mode” the cold water intake shuts off and the hot water circulates from the tank to the mouth to keep a set temperature. This allows the operator to see via the thermostat reading exactly what temperature your water is as the nozzle is opened to pour out the water.

The machine incorporates a few other handy tools, including a built-in scale and timer. The scale can prove especially useful when measuring out different coffee and tea brewing recipes, something most baristas who have been playing around with brewing methods will be familiar with. The timer can also be especially useful in this regard. 

The UberBoiler has a 6-litre boiler that is plumbed in and can hold water to 0.1 degree Celsius accuracy. The handle can rotate, and this allows for the manipulation of the flow of water for various pour over methods.
The UberBoiler was designed with the help of 2007 World Barista Champion, James Hoffman of London’s Square Mile Coffee and Marco’s Research and Development officer, Paul Stack. The machine started off as merely a pet project between the two as they yearned to nail down the variables in the brewing process by perfecting the water’s temperature.

“It wasn’t initially meant as a commercial product,” recounts Ben Bicknell of Five Senses Coffee, who distributes the machine in Australia. “However, when the word spread of the machine they were bugged so much by the coffee community they had to start selling it.”

While Bicknell admits it’s likely not the “be all and end all” of brewing machines, he says it does present a unique combination of tools that make it useful for café owners and roasters to explore brewed coffee, which is a relatively new movement in Australia. 

“Coffee is a really complex substance. There are a lot of chemical compounds – far more than wine,” explains Ben. “Different temperatures will bring out different compounds, because some are more soluble than others. Being able to modify the temperature allows you to get the most out of your coffee perspective.”

Ben says that while lower temperatures will bring more acidity, brightness and sharper notes, higher temperatures will bring about a decrease in acidity and will increase the body and sweetness.
“If you want to fine tune what you showcase, you have the ability to pick up what you think tastes best.”

Nolan Hirte, who runs the Proud Mary café in Melbourne’s suburb of Collingwood, purchased the UberBoiler in September 2010, and says he uses it at least 15 to 20 times a day, for both brewed coffee and tea.

“It’s not really anything too ground breaking, but it is a lot of tools in a single device that makes it really unique,” he says. For his really specialty coffees, like one Panama single origin that costs an astonishing $110 a kilogram green, using the brewed method allows him to serve the coffee without too much wastage in passing it through a machine, where you may need a few test shots.

Nolan also uses the machine for fine-tuned tea brewing.

“Some teas are $350 a kilo,” he says. “You want to brew that correctly, you really don’t want to mess it up.”
In brewing, he shows how handy the machine is as he can just weigh the water and tea or coffee directly on the machine, and set the timer for the perfect brew.

You can read more about the Uber Project site