Remember when capsule coffee was the sh*t? When you couldn’t wait to get out of bed and slap a fresh pod in your machine, squeeze the handle back and watch that flow of bubbling crema rise to the top? Simpler times, perhaps, but you can’t help but notice how the vernacular around capsule coffee has changed over the past decade. Where once they were seen as the convenient and cost-effective option between Blend 43 and barista brew, they’ve somehow managed to slip beneath the surface of positive public perception, but that may soon change. Coffee stalwarts Leon Foo and Bowen Chiou have headed Down Under to make capsule coffee great again. And if the Morning Machine is anything to go by, they’ve nailed it.
RELATED: Best Coffee Machines in Australia
Starting first as an online marketplace that offered coffee capsules from the world’s most celebrated specialty coffee roasters, PPP Coffee founder Foo and manufacturing expert Chiou recognised the need to revamp the whole process. Taking the guesswork out of the equation, the founders eyed a capsule machine that poured coffee exactly as it was intended by the baristas, roasters and growers behind it. Thus, the Morning Machine was born.
Designed in collaboration with the award-winning Singaporean innovation agency STUCK, the Morning Machine doesn’t exactly look as high-tech and groundbreaking as some of the industry’s established players, but looks can be deceiving. Inside this appliance, you’ll find Wi-Fi connectivity, an in-built weigh scale and the ability to pre-set up-to-10 brews from around the globe. As Foo explained, the machine is IoT enabled which allows users to brew through the Morning Mobile App, while also opening the opportunity for quick software updates down the line.
Now, he’s bringing the handy little addition, which he labels the ‘Dyson’ of coffee machines, to Australia.
“We know how seriously Australians take their coffee and with the local specialty coffee scene consistently growing year-on-year, we are really looking forward to marrying our incredible network of roasters with the innovation of our ecosystem,” Foo said. “Advocacy is huge for us, and ensuring that roasters are empowered to tell their story to a global audience is key. Coffee with a recipe always tastes better than coffee without a recipe. A belief that has guided us at every point when creating our ecosystem.”
Taking a quick flick through the Morning App, it’s easy to see where Foo and Chiou are staking their claim. Not only are the Morning founders plugging convenience and quality, they’re using the platform to advocate for greater globalisation in the coffee market. Through the marketplace, users can purchase specialty coffee capsules from world-class roasters, with partnerships including Australian Roasters like Allpress, Pablo & Rusty’s, St.ALi, Toby’s Estate and Jack Murat. You’ll also find a bunch of international roasters such as Coffee Roasters (Denmark), Colonna Coffee (UK), and Fritz Coffee Company (South Korea).
Through the app, the roasters outline the ideal brewing methodology and protocols for their specific drop, from water pressure to weight and temperature. This information is saved in the app and at the touch of a button, reproduced on demand, meaning your morning cup will arrive exactly as the producer intended it. It’s a bold claim for a capsule coffee machine, but you can’t deny the technology is there to deliver upon it.
Naturally, the sentiment around capsule coffee will remain and as a nation of snobby drinks, it’s an ever-pressing challenge tearing consumers away from cafes. As Foo rightly points out, however, it’s not necessarily about taking coffee drinkers out of their natural habitat, but allowing them to embrace convenience and quality in their coffee each day. Considering it comes in at nearly a quarter of the DeLonghi PrimaDonna Soul, he could very well be onto something.
