There’s a newcomer to the cold brew game. ATMOS Cold Drip Coffee out of Australia is looking to raise enough capital on Indigogo to bring their simplified cold brew system to market.
I raised a skeptical eyebrow when ATMOS hit my Inbox, after all, I’ve seen dozens of crowdfunded kitchen gadgets and the number of them that actually have ended up in my kitchen is exactly zero. So I reached out to the developer with one question – Why is this any better than the Bruer system that I currently use?
ATMOS Advantages
ATMOS founder Karl Vaupel got back to me with an impressively in-depth breakdown of the advantages of the system they’ve been working on for the past two years. ATMOS has designed a system that consists of three lab-grade glass bottles, two stainless steel parts to connect the bottles and hold the coffee…and that’s it.
There are no fiddly silicone parts (of which Bruer has four). And the process itself is much simpler. You fill a bottle with water, fill the reservoir with coffee, tamp it down, then assemble the pieces together so that water drips through. The brewing part of the assembly is also air-tight, so theoretically, you don’t have to fuss with adjusting the drip rate (something my Bruer occasionally has issues with).
Questions/Concerns
I admire ATMOS for wanting to stick to a glass and metal system, there’s zero chance of volatile compounds leaching out to make your coffee funky (which can happen over time with cheaper plastic systems). But I have a few questions.
How stable is the system when assembled? It seems precariously top-heavy to me until the coffee is brewed. How does the system account for spreading moisture evenly through the grounds (it looks like maybe the stainless steel tamp is also a spreader)? Bruer uses Aeropress filters to make sure the grounds are wet evenly. And how big is the actual system? Maybe it’s just me, but even with creative staging, the Atmos looks a little bit small in the product pics.
I do like the fact that you can immediately start brewing a second batch of coffee after you’ve filled your first bottle. That’s something that drives me nuts with my Bruer – I have to decant my cold brew stash or wait for it to run out before I can brew more.
How To Pre-Order
The true test, of course, is actually tasting the cold brew it produces. That won’t happen for a while, but if you’re intrigued, you can hop over to the ATMOS home page and sign up to pre-order the system for $90. If you miss the pre-order special, you can grab it on Indigogo starting on November 16.
Remember, crowdfunding campaigns aren’t the same as buying something from a store. You’re putting your money down with the understanding that manufacturing delays can (and will) happen and that you could potentially be in for a long wait even when a project is funded successfully. Check out our Crowdfunding Basics for more tips on how to crowdfund happily and safely.
