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#oneoftheseplease: week three

By Jeremy Dunn • 4th December 2012 05:21pm • Posted in Products

It's a hot fact that cyclists love coffee. Caffeine fuels many a ride (according to one source it's also the most popular drug in sport) and cafés provide ideal way-markers for any two-wheeled journey. Here at Rapha we certainly enjoy a coffee or two and with our Cycle Clubs serving exceptional espresso and the finest filter brews around the world, we like to think we know a thing or two. So, here's this week's #oneoftheseplease: dedicated to coffee-related wares for your seasonal salivation.

AeroPress

There were two events that were the conviction behind the need for the AeroPress. The first was John Prolly's post about adding it to his Touring Essentials and the second was photographer Dan Sharp whipping up an essential bit of black gold in the early mornings of Alberta, Canada with Alex Stieda. What is it with these photographers and their need for good coffee? Not that we are complaining.

Rapha Cappuccino Cup Set

For when you are not on the road, this is going to be your go-to cappuccino setup. This should also serve as an official launch as these are new products for us. You heard it here first. Designed in California these notNeutral cups have been perfectly formulated to maintain heat for the longest possible time. They also go extremely well with not only your local coffee, but their sister, the espresso cup.

Espro Press

Have you seen these clean looking stainless steel (double walled) vessels sitting around at your coffee shop and wondered what they are? Believe me, sometimes the scene here in Portland can get a little out of hand. Hailing from Canada, the Espro Press takes a stab at doing something that the traditional French Press pot of coffee cannot do: a clean, filtered, better tasting coffee.

Porlex Hand Grinder

The Porlex is commonly recommended by baristas as simply the best quality hand-grinder you can buy for its size. This stainless steel contraption is made in Japan and allows you to grind very finely for espresso and more coarse for a wide variety of filter brewing methods. It also features replaceable, ceramic conical burrs, so you get a much more even and consistent grind size — even compared to many entry-level electric grinders. It's available in a standard size and a mini version for travelling and conveniently, both sizes seem to fit snugly inside the base of an AeroPress. The side of the box says in Japanese: Anywhere, anytime, coffee time! — We can confirm this to be true.

Able Brewing Disk / Kone

The latest development in filter coffee technology, the Able Disk (fine version) and Kone are reusable, stainless steel coffee filters with thousands of tiny laser-cut holes and are made in the United States. The Disk is designed for the AeroPress and whilst the Kone was originally designed for the Chemex Coffeemaker, it will work with any other cone shaped pourover method that supports its size. From our highly unscientific experiments the both of these filters deliver a cleaner, tastier coffee with more body compared to using paper.

Kalita Wave Stainless Steel Dripper for Pourover

This object of beauty is another Japanese pourover method also made of stainless steel. The flat bottom of this brewing method and wave shaped paper filters allow for a more 'even' extraction compared to other paper cone methods (such as a Hario V60). This results in a fuller bodied and more refined coffee, and allows you to consistently brew a delicious coffee with less skill.

Chris King Rapha Espresso Tamper

We teamed up with our friends at Chris King to produce this little beauty. Well, actually our good friend Tom from the American Barista & Coffee School designed the thing itself, which has been known to inspire purchasing from people who do not even own espresso machines. But, more on that later. We have had trouble keeping this in stock, so keep an eye out for #oneoftheseplease.

La Colombe Cycling Cap

This past summer we spent some time on the road with the Rapha Mobile Cycle Club. This van of unusual proportions was stocked with the Spring & Summer clothing range and made its way through the country visiting cyclists wherever it went. It also pulled an unusual number of delicious La Colombe espresso shots from the back of the van. In conjunction with La Colombe we designed these limited edition caps that were produced through the summer.

Make sure to include a pound of your favorite local coffee with every coffee related gift. Your local shop makes for a personal touch. Side note: find out if your bike mechanic is into coffee, he needs love too.

See our Baristas article for some of our recommendations around the world.

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WINNERS

There have been so many fantastic entries that we've decided to give out some extra prizes this week.

For the most interesting, unique and highly desirable gift requests:

Ben Saunders (@polarben) would like a Limited Edition Ural Yamal Motorcycle (equipped with oar)


Matthew Harrington (@harro_is_mint) would like a Typography Scrabble Set Limited Edition


Kevin Sparrow (@sparrow_kevin) would like a Hand-carved Brooks Swallow Saddle


These guys will each pick themselves up a Rapha Cappuccino Cup Set, and two Rapha Coffee Mugs. Congratulations.

For gifts made by Rapha, creatively requested:

Taylor Darsey (@txd1986) would like a new wallet. So we thought he might like a new Rapha Wallet sans the duct tape.

Alex Rose-Innes (@alexroseinnes) would like a Chris King Rapha Espresso Tamper which we are stealing off the resident coffee geek's desk for him.

Mr. Battery Collection (@chiasticon) picks himself up a Rapha H-Van Miniature for his future peloton collection


Honourable mentions:

@magnusls would like a Limited Edition Rapha + Paul Smith Team Issue Jersey for Rapha Condor Sharp which we created to raise funds for victims of the 2011 Japan Earthquake.

@ecardinal would like her stolen Trek Transport back

Jeff Ernst (@TheJeffErnst) would like a 2-group Slayer Espresso Machine


@bmcginn would like a dream workshop set up

Jayme H. (@NotThatJayme) would like a Synergy Brewing Systems Microbrewery


We'll be sending each of these guys a Rapha Coffee Mug for their stimulating contributions.

Making sure we stay true to the coffee theme, we were also sent this by the astutely-branded Paniagua (@paniaguacc), who also seems to roast this also aptly named concoction of Brazilian and Costa Rican beans. We'll be sending you a Rapha Espresso Cup Set.




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If you're not familiar with the concept of #oneoftheseplease, visit our blog for more information which includes details on how to enter our competition.

Comments

Bruce Rychlik

5th December 2012 04:45pm

Although I lived in Vienna, Austria for a while, I never really "got the coffee thing" until I recently started drinking pour-over coffee from the Clover food truck near where I work in Cambridge (MA- USA) and then bought (and have only since used) a pour-over set from Ride Studio Cafe for my home. Your coffee-related wares now all make sense to me. AND, as always, a beautifully executed contest.

Leo Tong

5th December 2012 05:02pm

Thanks Bruce, great to hear. Brew on.

James Quinton

6th December 2012 04:54am

Aeropresses are for sissy's. Behold the portaspresso Rossa PG Air Espresso http://www.portaspresso.com/page0031.html

James Quinton

6th December 2012 04:55am

Aeropresses are for sissy's. Behold the portaspresso Rossa PG Air Espresso http://www.portaspresso.com/page0031.html

James Quinton

6th December 2012 05:00am

Also, build like a panzer, the rosco mini-hand grinder puts the other grinder you've mentioned to shame…http://www.portaspresso.com/page007.html

Arco Visser

6th December 2012 12:13pm

I miss the coffee flask… https://twitter.com/avistazz/status/273792692926947329/photo/1/large

Leo Tong

6th December 2012 03:01pm

Hi James, while I haven't personally had the pleasure of using either the Rossa PG Air Espresso or Rosco Mini, comparing them to the AeroPress and Porlex isn't exactly fair.

I would agree with you though that they are they're brilliant bits of coffee gadgetry, and beautifully engineered.

Like the Air Espresso (AE), the AeroPress (AP) is a pressurised brewing method for extracting coffee, but the AP can't actually produce anywhere near the amount of pressure required (around 9 bar/130psi) to produce what most people consider a espresso with crema. At most you can only force about 0.5 bar/7psi using an AP — and as such, is a brilliant method for brewing a filter coffee and you'd can't really dispute that. The AE looks like it can create a good espresso, though.

The AE is also 3 times the weight (750g as opposed to 225g for the AP) and 13 times the price of an AP (£325 as opposed to £25 for an AP).

With the AE you also have to use a bicycle pump with a Schrader valve and pump it up to a basically a full tyre pressure, as opposed to having to press down on the AeroPress just the once per extraction.

Cleaning the AP is also a cinch, and takes about 5 seconds. You can't really fault it.

The Porlex on the other hand is about 1/8th the price (£240 as opposed to about £30 for a Porlex) and 1/3 the weight of the Rosco Mini (1kg as opposed to the standard Porlex's 360g).

If you were taking these travelling, the AP + Porlex combination is quite hard to beat.

I must say though that the Rosco Mini does look fantastic. I'd like to try #oneoftheseplease

James Quinton

7th December 2012 01:44am

Hi Leo,

Yes, comparing the two is not fair because the portaspresso is far superior. I'd wager to say the Rossa PG can produce higher quality espresso than most $600USD electric machines.

I'd say over a lifetime, the investment in the portaspresso equipment will pay for itself. They are designed to last a lifetime. Also, in the short term, you have far superior coffee. In the context of the Rapha demographic, quality tends to be more important than price.

Weight is only an issue if you're touring, when you would carry a pump in any case. I'm seriously considering carrying the extra weight on my next tour.

In any case, all looks well in the future of coffee on the go. I think in the next five years a machine of similar standard to the Rossa PG will be made at less than 500g. The my pressi twist or whatever they are called are out there, but the thought of carrying disposable gas canisters seems stupid to me, even for inflating tires.

P.S. Rapha, #oneoftheseplease http://www.rapha.cc/grand-tour-shoes

colin livingston

11th December 2012 10:25am

Although the engineering of the Rossa looks fantastic I can't help thinking that it might be over-engineered, and it certainly seems to take a long time to make a brew.

If you're looking for something portable check out the Handpresso Wild Hybrid (www.handpresso.com) which is sub 500g, sub £100 and makes decent espresso thanks to the (built in) 16bar pump.

James Quinton

25th December 2012 03:34am

16bar hand pump? Pods? Dreaming.

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