Balmuda's New Fancy Japanese Coffee Maker Is as High-Tech as You'd Expect

I had high hopes when I heard that Japanese design company Balmuda was releasing a coffee maker. Like, a bean juice machine from the people who designed the internet-famous high-tech toaster that produced the best piece of toast I’ve ever had? Sure, run it. Naturally, I wondered what kind of Breaking Bad-level wizardry would go into this new way of making my favorite liquid. Steam technology like the toaster used? Discreetly infusing Xanax into the coffee? A Balmuda technician shows up at my house to do my taxes? I was committed to finding out the answers to all these questions and more, so I procured one. I needed, at the very least, to know whether it was better than the Moccamaster, aka probably the reigning big hype coffee machine.

The Balmuda coffee maker, called simply The Brew, immediately comes at you with the same tech-heavy, minimalist-vibe jargon and art that the toaster bears. Reading the coffee maker’s web page, you have to bypass waves and waves of ad copy promising “true flavor,” “artisanal taste technology,” and “the perfect cup, just for you”; but once you do, you hit the thesis of what makes Balmuda truly next level. As with the toaster, its temperature regulation and precise timing helps you get to a perfect final product. Here, the carafe warms up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit and a “bloom” of sorts (reductively: the first, short pour meant to “open up” the coffee grinds for ideal extraction) happens when a 199-degree steam release coincides with a short beginning drip. Water continues at .2-milliliter increments until a final product ends at 187 degrees Fahrenheit. I include all this information because with coffee, if you want to dial in the perfect cup, it’s apparently extremely important. Like, I’ve watched countless AeroPress videos that boast “ideal” (and conflicting!) water temperatures; and whatever third-wave barista you chat with is bound to have their own ideas about perfect bean-to-water ratios, pour over pouring intervals, and the perfect grind size for this or that kind of brew. The truth is, really, that you have to trust the tech to people who know what’s going on, and just figure the rest out for yourself based on what tastes good to you. TL;DR: Coffee is good; when it comes to making it, be like Burger King and have it your way.

Before brewing, I wanted to figure out exactly how Balmuda was approaching pour over. I measured out the “large” brew size (i.e. a full carafe) and found that it was about 480 grams, meaning that if I wanted to use a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio—again, people argue about these ratios, but this is where I usually begin—I’d need about 32 grams of good beans (I’m a longtime Counter Culture subscriber, so that was covered). I did a medium-coarse grind on my Fellow Opus grinder and checked the included scoop to see what Balmuda recommended vs. what I calculated. Surprisingly, the directions suggested about three scoops of coffee for a full large brew, which came out to almost exactly the amount I’d grinded. Somebody who really knows what they’re doing designed this, I thought. At that point, I knew I was in good hands, and waited for somebody from Balmuda to show up to finish my taxes.

Once I was square with the government, I smashed the start button on the machine. Visually, I liked the way the coffee bloomed, but when the actual brewing began, I felt that the water distribution wasn’t quite as broad as I’d have liked, and that there were some grounds around the perimeter that weren’t getting as saturated as the ones in the center. On that point, the Moccamaster appears to have better distribution, because the spout holes are more spread out. But it ultimately didn’t matter—the coffee that came from the machine was absolutely delicious. Like, it was extremely tasty—rich, clean, plenty of depth, and not sour or bitter. It was in the ballpark of the better manual pour overs I’ve made at home. Because the carafe is on the smaller side, expect enough coffee for two people to enjoy one cup each from each batch (that’s also true of most good manual pour overs that aren’t Chemex). As for the machine’s aesthetic, it’s gorgeous, modern, shiny, and sleek—everything you’d expect if you’ve seen the company’s toaster. It looks like it’s about to blast off to space in a Christopher Nolan movie.

TL;DR: In the end, the Balmuda coffee machine looks cool as hell and makes extremely good coffee. If you’re a solo-dolo java enjoyer or a couple that each needs one perfect cup to get going in the morning, this is an incredible option. Plus, when people see the machine on your counter, they’ll think they’ve accidentally entered your local museum of contemporary art. Now, all that’s left to do is sit back and wait for Balmuda’s next product, which will hopefully be either a vibrator or a TV.

Buy Balmuda’s The Brew on Amazon.

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