Cool Brewing Machines by Alpha Dominche at World Tea Expo [Tech Tuesday]
Brewing tea
Earlier this month at the World Tea Expo, one of the more eye-catching set-ups was a really neatly-designed booth with six sleek tea-brewing machines. Featuring various of their Steampunk MOD models, Alpha Dominche set up a gorgeously minimalist arrangement with their six machines at the front and teas in the back along their wall. With simplistic angled arches supporting the brewing tubes, it is really cool-looking and a smoothly functioning operation.
The process by which the tea is made is pretty simple: a specific amount of water is added to the top of two chambers and heated to a very specific temperature, then one adds the tea, then there is a pre-infusion of steam, followed by a full immersion for the brewing process. Following the actual brewing process, is the extraction of the tea into the bottom chamber by a valve being opened between the two chambers. The low pressure created by the condensed steam draws the liquid down into the lower chamber. Finally, once all of the liquid has filtered into the lower chamber, the tap handle can be opened and the tea can empty from the lower chamber into a serving vessel.
I should mention that this machine can not only brew tea, but brew coffee, as well! There are some differences in its operation, such as different pistons, although the machine does not change.
variables can be adjusted on a tablet using an app
Keeping this all together is an app, which regulates every variable. This app, called the Mincher App, is available on both Apple and Android. At the World Tea Expo, they had the app operating on Nexus 7 tablets, which Alpha Dominche includes with the machines for shops who order Steampunk MOD machines.
Coffee being brewed
I can say that the machine turns out good tea, as I had multiple teas brewed on the Steampunk MOD machines: Seventh Tea Bar’s Darjeeling First Flush (I thought it had a mellow peppery sweetness and I thought it tasted good), Seventh Tea Bar’s Black Pearl Oolong (earthy and dark), Copa Vida’s Apricot Escape from Art of Tea (calm and very apricot-y), Copa Vida’s Jasmine Pearls from Art of Tea (light and nice), Copa Vida’s- Ti Kuan Yin Iron Goddess of Mercy Oolong from Art of Tea (calm and earthy), and Copa Vida’s Assam Gold from Art of Tea (a nice earthiness).
Brew temperatures on the Steampunk MODs range between 140-210F, depending upon on what one would like, as well as allowing up to three different infusions per recipe. The Steampunk offers a new path forward in the tea and coffee industries, bringing specialty coffee and tea to a larger community by transforming quality brewing into a streamlined and interactive process. Alpha Dominche is an American company based in Salt Lake City, Utah that designs and builds all of their machines under one roof, with equal emphasis on innovation, and craftsmanship. Their parts are machined locally whenever possible, and they are proud to work with many talented, small-scale manufacturers contributing to the resurgence of creative industry in America.
