TopBrewer: Form and Function for Coffee Lovers

I have more than one coffee maker in my kitchen. To keep the clutter down, I try to limit the number of coffee-making devices that are on my countertop at any given time to two or three. If I could – or, I should say, when I can – redesign my kitchen, I would love to be able to incorporate a TopBrewer into the design. The gleaming stainless steel tap looks as though it might dispense filtered water, but it actually is designed to brew perfect coffee on demand while taking up at least 90% less counterspace than any other coffee making option.

The TopBrewer from Scanomat is operated with the touch of a button using your snartphone or tablet, via an app that contains a menu of all the drinks that it can produce. These include espresso, coffee, macchiatos, lattes and cappuccinos. In addition to caffeinated beverages, you can also get warm or cold milk and hot water from the tap. Milk is dispensed via a milk foamer – the smallest milk foamer in the world – that is incorporated into the design. Located at the very tip of the coffee tap, it heats and foams milk to the perfect temperature and cleans itself after use.

It takes the TopBrewer about 25 seconds to pull a shot of espresso and just 15 seconds to brew coffee. As you might imagine, there is some behind-the-scenes installation that needs to take place. It requires refrigeration for milk and space for both a grinder and fresh beans underneath the counter where the tap sits. There also needs to be a drain in the counter to catch any small drips. There are standalone units available that would be easy to incorporate in commercial settings, but for residential use it really seems best to do your installation while you renovate. The downside is that the unit costs around $8,000 (while my french press costs considerably less), but if you bargain hunt for some of your other kitchen fixtures, you can probably find some wiggle room to fit it in.