SCA Expo just wrapped up for the year in Chicago and it was an absolute blast. I hadn’t been able to make it the last few years, so this was my first time attending. It was incredible to connect with other content creators I’ve created friendships with through the years online, roasters who I’ve featured in the coffee club and tried countless of their coffees, and the people behind the brands I love.
Here are some of the highlights of products and coffees I am excited about from the expo—as well as a gallery of some of the amazing people I was able to meet in person for the first time this weekend.
AeroPress Colors
I got to spend a few hours at the AeroPress booth each day and it was so fun to meet many of you as I brewed coffee on one of my favorite brewers. The AeroPress display was incredible and the highlight was probably the display of new AeroPress Clear Colors that will be launching in the next week or two.
Fellow Aidan
The Aidan is a new automated coffee maker from Fellow that looks pretty amazing. As with everything Fellow does, it appears to be incredibly well thought out with some really nice, thoughtful features (like the coffee being ready at the time you set vs. starting at that time). It is a clean, unique design for an automated brewer and I’m excited to see how it is received by the coffee community. It is currently on pre-order and will be available in September.
xBloom Studio
The xBloom is my favorite one-cup automated brewer and I use it frequently in my coffee-making routine. They just released a new model called the Studio that has the same core features of the original xBloom, but also the ability to grind outside of making coffee with the xBloom, a scale and more. It is a pretty robust machine and one I’m excited to try out.
AllGround Sense
The AllGround Sense is a new grinder from Fiorenzato. It is an incredible flexible grinder that has a range from espresso to filter and doses on-demand to a precise weight. I’ve actually had the chance to use it for a few weeks and love it—it has changed my espresso workflow! It was great to see it in action at Expo and see so many people get to try it out and enjoy it.
Poursteady 2-Pour
Poursteady has had their 3-Pour machine for years and a few local cafes around me use it. They recently released the 2-Pour that in addition to having two instead of three pour over stations, also has some new tech to make it even more accurate and easier to use. It’s a pretty slick machine…now I am just waiting for them to come out with the 1-pour, so I can have it in my house. 🙂
Odyssey Espresso Argos
There has been some cool innovation in the lever espresso machine space over the last year or two and one of the cooler options is the Odyssey Espresso Argos. It’s compact, affordable, and seeing it in person showed it is incredibly well made.
In addition to the cool new products, it was an absolute pleasure to meet so many people. Here is a collection of shots from the weekend.
