In honor of the holiday we share the best tools to bring that special cafe-level brew to life
Skip sleeping in this Saturday and instead head out to your local cafe to celebrate International Coffee Day. Since every day can’t be a coffee holiday, we’ve pulled together a few essentials that will ensure you’re always pouring a perfect cup of black gold that rivals your favorite coffeehouse….
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I am always fascinated with the different coffee packaging that keeps popping up. This time around we have a finger-cover design that folds inside out. Basically you can use the package itself to stir the coffee, once you have poured out the mix. It looks into hygiene, eco-friendliness and productiveness in a resourceful way.
Designer: Jaeyong Lee
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Yanko Design
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(Fingering The Coffee was originally posted on Yanko Design)
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The ‘Stir Then Squeeze’ is neither the first nor the last attempt in unifying the coffee-creamer-stirrer process. However what makes this attempt stand out, is the perfect methodology involved in the coffee – creamer dispensing. Sorry for being biased, but I am a coffee addict, and anything to do with making it easy to get to my cuppa joe, and I’m sold!
Stir Then Squeeze is a 2012 iF Design Talents entry.
Designer: Yu-Ren Lai
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Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!
(Simple Coffee Fix was originally posted on Yanko Design)
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Il variegato mondo dei caffè riassunti in questo poster di Pop Chart Lab. Lo vedete ingrandito qui.
French designer Patrick Norguet has designed a reusable cup for McDonald’s that makes scalding hot coffee easier to hold.
Named Tasse, each cup has a protective wrap in one of six different colours.
Five million of the cups have been ordered for McDonald’s branches in France.
Norguet previously worked with McDonald’s to redesign the fast food chain’s restaurant interiors.
Photographs are by Studio Norguet.
Here’s some more information about the cup:
With the success of Patrick Norguet’s interior design for McDonald’s now at large throughout Italy, Switzerland and Holland, the French designer has conceived a free coffee cup on offer in French restaurants. A veritable everyday design project for the great majority: ‘McDonald’s asked me to conceive and design an object intended for all of its clients. The idea is simply to use a code present in the world of McDonald’s for inspiration. This project and the problems that large quantities entail, that is five million copies, raises the question about the need for ownership and the symbolic incarnation of a brand through a viable object. A functional basic with its small elastomer sheath to avoid burning and ensure a perfect grip, free with each menu + coffee.
The post Tasse by
Patrick Norguet appeared first on Dezeen.
Royal College of Art graduate Po-Chih Lai has invented an add-on for a stove-top coffee pot that uses pressurised steam to froth up the milk (+ movie).
The Milk Brother is designed to fit into a moka pot, which works by passing steam through ground coffee.
Usually a pump is required to produce enough steam pressure to make hot milk foam, but Milk Brother simply makes use of the steam created in the coffee brewing process.
The aluminium device fits into the moka pot to create a space where the steam can be stored under pressure.
When the coffee has been poured, the pressurised steam is released into a jug of milk to heat and froth it, without the need for additional machine power.
Po-Chih Lai graduated from the RCA’s Design Products course. We recently featured his design for a skateboard that can go down stairs, which is on display at Show RCA 2012 until 1 July.
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Here’s more information from the designer:
The MILK BROTHER / MOKA MILK FROTHER is inherited from the moka pot, also known as a macchinetta (literally ‘small machine’) or Italian coffee pot, a stove top coffee maker which produces coffee by passing hot water pressurized by steam through ground coffee. Moka pot was first patented by inventor Luigi De Ponti for Alfonso Bialetti in 1933. Bialetti Industrie continues to produce the same model under the name Moka Express.
MILK BROTHER is used to create hot milk foam via an intermediary middle valve. Hot milk foam generally relies on steam pressure which normally requires a pump, this pot employs an additional area where steam is stored under pressure‚ ready to be used for frothing milk. The combination of milk frother and moka pot provides a concise concept for a simple, integrated and lightweight solution which continues in the spirit of the original product‚ one which has inspired the public for the past 80 years. This project aims to eliminate any unnecessary tooling, design artefacts and functions. There is no pump machine, hand power, electrical requirement or extraneous function.
The vertical arrangement of the assembled product combination affords an easily comprehensible interaction and usage scenario. Steam breaks through the ground coffee from the bottom to the top, the MILK BROTHER further leverages the thermal transmission to an additional end‚ adding value and potential to the coffee making experience. Same Pot, Same Heat, More Potential.
Artists, surfers, and beach bums unite at new Brooklyn surf shop
by Maggie Roush Mead
Chris Gentile caught his first wave when he was nine years old on Point Judith, a surf destination on the southeastern tip of Rhode Island, just a street away from Pilgrim Avenue. Three decades later, he’s still addicted. “Once it happens, once you catch a wave and you go down the line, you’re done,” Gentile says. “It’s all you think about. It’s all you want to do.”
Pilgrim Surf + Supply, Gentile’s recently opened surf shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, carries all the apparel and equipment a surfer could need, along with stylish outdoor apparel and an array of books. The shop also offers a ding repair service to mend damaged boards and will soon open a coffee and beer bar in the back. As the weather changes, a portion of the Pilgrim’s merchandise will shift too. Though the shop will always be stocked with boards and suits, it will also provide seasonal outerwear to accommodate the needs of any active New Yorker.
Previously overseeing the Brooklyn outpost of Mollusk Surf Shop before it closed late last year, Gentile is now realizing his own vision with Pilgrim, saying he aims “to bridge surf and certain parts of fashion that I find really relevant.” The beautiful boards are handmade by some of the best shapers in the world. Among the store’s other carefully selected pieces are women’s swimwear from Bantu, Basta, and Caitlin Mociun (who shares a studio space with Gentile and has a store around the corner); bags and wallets by Makr Carry Goods; beach wraps by Nomadic Thread Society; and apparel by VSTR and M.Nii.
By cultivating relationships with designers and artists, Gentile hopes Pilgrim can transcend the traditional retail model to serve as both an inspiration and a venue for new creative work. “My hope is that people actually think about this space as a platform to make something,” he says, “to make a product that will be specific for who might come in here.”
A visual artist himself, Gentile oversaw the space’s transformation, with the help of designers Chris Rucker and Robert Hershenfeld. “I didn’t want things to look artfully old,” he says. “I wanted to use modest and pedestrian materials with a high level of craft.” The display tables and shelves are constructed from wood that had been left in the space by the space’s previous tenant, a motorcycle shop. The many sawhorses used as table legs capture a workshop aesthetic, while the live edged slabs and the large front windows connect the space to the outdoors.”I want people to feel like they’re outside when they’re standing in the store, and I want people to feel like they’re in the store when they’re standing outside,” Gentile says.
Pilgrim will host various events and launch parties throughout the summer. Keep an eye out for the official announcement of a surf contest sponsored by Pilgrim on Rockaway Beach, tentatively set for late July.
Coffee for design-minded gourmet campers
Coffee snobs don’t have many options when it comes to camping, a hobby dominated by single-serving packs of less-than-tasty instant brews. For those unwiling to sacrifice fresh brewed flavor on mountain treks (not to mention superior design), Snow Peak and Nau have teamed up to produce a limited edition collection of titanium café ware. Included in the upscale camping set are a lightweight French press, milk foamer and stacking mug—everything you need for a fireside cup of joe. Plus, the durable titanium will resist rusting, making this a generational investment that is sure to remain landfill-free.
Joining the French press, frother and mug is a stainless steel Japanese knife and wooden case, which opens to form a handy travel cutting board. Staying true to their northwestern roots, the brands have also brought in Stumptown Roasters to supply a bag of Organic Holler Mountain Blend, an international combination of South and Central American coffees with earthier Indonesian beans.
The Café Luxe Kit sells from Nau for $125.
A massive collaborative exhibition showcases audio-visual delights
by Naheed Simjee
A resurrected rapper by way of a hologram wasn’t the only technological breakthrough that had people talking last week. Returnees from Coachella Part I flocked downtown on Thursday night for the opening of Transmission LA: AV Club sponsored by Mercedes-Benz and The Avant/Garde Diaries at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. The visionary and creative mastermind of the festival, Beastie Boy Mike D, invited 17 multi-disciplinary artists—including Family Bookstore and Roy Choi’s Kogi Korean BBQ food truck—to create extraordinary site-specific installations that demonstrate the influence and inspiration that audio and visual art forms have on one another. The exhibition runs through 6 May 2012 with a full schedule of live performances.
“It’s the new art, a new audience, new music and new technologies all together, and it’s a wonderful fit with the fabulous new Mercedes that is being unveiled tonight,” explains Jeffrey Deitch, director of the MOCA, who has been actively involved with the project since LA was selected for this edition of the festival’s destination. The first Transmission festival was held in Berlin and curated by Dior’s new head designer, Raf Simons.
The exhibition is an immersive experience in sensory stimulation. Upon entering the massive space, seductive lights and vibrant colors tempt patrons to freely explore in every direction. Immediately, Takeshi Murata‘s zany audio loop of a game show host’s voice enthusiastically announces a series of prizes: “It’s a new car! It’s a new boat! It’s a piano!” Exhibition-goers are lured to a projection of sequentially stacked images of The Price Is Right Showcase models revealing game prizes, and a totally unexpected surprise.
Another showstopper is Ben Jones‘ stellar creation of a triangular tunnel—paneled with Tron-like neon grids and sound bites of racecars zooming by—leading to an enormous room in which computer-animated projections take over the floors and walls, as if you’re suddenly transported into a life-size version of Pole Position.
Ara Peterson and Jim Drain have created a series of hypnotic spinning fan-activated pinwheels mounted at different heights and depths. This segment of the exhibition pleasantly seems to slow things down and makes you feel as if you’ve stumbled into the control room at the Wonka Factory.
Tucked away unassumingly in a room further down is another work central to Mercedes’ vision for the project. Visitors are invited to take one of the pairs of headphones hanging from the ceiling to listen to drum and bass tracks created by Adam Horowitz (Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys), that perfectly sync up to a light performance surrounding the new Mercedes Concept Style Coupe. “The car itself is a sculpture and the original model was made out of hand clay,” says Mark Fetherston, exterior designer for Mercedes. “There’s a lot of shape and it’s an expressive design statement. We’ve taken a more artistic approach and here, we’re mixing with different people, so it’s not just a typical motor show approach. We’re trying to really attract new customers.”
The robust aroma of Miscela d’Oro Espresso beans emanates from Robert McKinley‘s coffee bar installation, based on a concept that Mike D introduced to Deitch when discussing ideas for the exhibition. Mike D and McKinley—who also served as the co-designer of the entire exhibition—are self-proclaimed coffee obsessives and consume a lot of it. “There’s been so many times where I’ve been at an exhibit and I feel like I’ve burned out at a certain point and if I could just get a cup of coffee, I could stay in the game a bit longer,” says Mike D. “I wanted to give all the people here that opportunity. We didn’t want to do it with just a cart, we wanted it to be an impressive cup of coffee, so we took it one step further and actually made it one of the installations in the space. Rob kind of went crazy, in a good way. The beans are from Naples. The coffee has a very classic Italian profile.”
The exhibition also includes works by filmmaker Mike Mills, paintings by Sage Vaughn and Will Fowler, Justin Lowe and Jonah Freeman‘s environmental installation combining fictional narrative with artifacts, Tom Sachs‘ Jamaican sound system-inspired sculpture comprised of several speakers, an axe, a chained iPod and tape deck, video art by Cory Arcangel and Sanford Biggers and a complete build out of a social space in which Public Fiction addresses the topic of the nightclub, that will also host several nights of live performances.
So what are the challenges of putting on a show of this magnitude? Mike D explains, “What ultimately prepared me for being able to do an exhibition like this was that, on multiple occasions, the Beastie Boys had to mount fairly decent size concert tours. Really it’s this quandary of figuring out what’s the visual presentation we’re going to give our music while making it fun and exciting and new. Hopefully, it’s something that people haven’t seen or experienced before, so that’s somewhat analogous to this project. What I’ve taken away from this and have been most inspired by is really just getting to work with the individual artists here.”
“I feel like they really work in the realm of translating the idea and making it into a reality and experience that everybody shares,” says Mike D. “It’s inspiring for me, coming from a world where we have all these parameters, where you want to build something, but someone says, ‘Oh, that will never work!’ or you want to do a record cover, but the artwork isn’t going to be the right size. These artists are really in the job of just being translators of creation. We’ve managed to do this by living here for the past two weeks and working 14 hours a day.”
Mercedes is using the creative platform to redefine itself by associating with the art of tomorrow; as Deitch confirms, “This is exactly what we want to be doing at the MOCA.” Transmission LA: AV Club will run through 6 May 2012 at the Geffen Contemporary.
Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
152 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Eight places to eat, drink and shop in the bustling metropolis
by Joanna Prisco
Designer mega-brands have established Hong Kong as a luxury shopping destination for some time now, but recently, a surge of smaller, independently minded businesses have been infusing the city’s neighborhoods with a bit of bohemia. Craft coffee culture joins the city’s world-famous tea houses, while a vibrant food scene anchored by dim sum now welcomes speakeasies for the cocktail-crazed and a growing number of ex-pat chefs and dine-in kitchens. Here’s our round-up of eight small treasures to seek out among the city’s 7,650 skyscrapers.
From pre-warming the glass for your piccolo latte to distilling the nuances between flavor profiles of single-origin roasts, the staff at industrial-chic Barista Jam in Sheung Wan offer a level of service exclusive to bona-fide bean geeks. House coffees are roasted in Hong Kong and blended on premises, while a rotating menu of guest coffees from around the globe like Square Mile from the U.K. and Sydney’s Mecca Coffee offer customers the opportunity to try new brews. If you’re feeling inspired, browse the retail area upstairs stocking all manner of French presses, La Marzocco machines, Cafelat tools and slow-drip filters.
First of all, yes—you should hit all of the dim sum joints you can squeeze in. At some point, however, you will inevitably want a break. When that moment arrives, head to Yardbird in Sheung Wan. Opened last year by Chef Matt Abergel—previously at Masa in New York—this chicken-only yakitori den is as laid back as it is seriously legitimate. Try the oyster—which is actually two plump pieces of dark meat, near the thigh—the spicy, citrusy hearts and the large, juicy meatball with egg yolk dipping sauce to start. Then order one of everything else.
Fungus Workshop in Sheung Wan is divided into a retail shop for fine leather goods and an artist’s salon. You’ll go to admire its unconventional yet sophisticated wares and leave wanting to sign up for one of the hoiming classes, no doubt discussing fashion or design philosophy with another patron in the convivial atmosphere while you’re there. Take note the shop’s limited hours—three days out of the week, it doesn’t even open before 6 p.m.
After draining your bank account in Causeway Bay, take time for a repast at c’est la B in Tai Hang. The eatery marks the first in a new collection of tiny cafes that trendsetter Bonnie Gokson is launching around her signature jewel-box cakes. The bite-size desserts, artfully capped with butterflies, flowers, pearls and dramatic spikes, are almost too precious to eat—but that would be a waste, because they are infinitely tasty, too. Say you were there before it appears everywhere.
Central Hong Kong has no shortage of loud and rowdy bars. Housed behind an unmarked door in the middle of a wet market, Speakeasy 001 (LG/F Shop G1 Welley Building 97 Wellington Street) offers the opposite experience. This hard-to-find haunt invites you to unwind with its quiet atmosphere, colorful cat-house decor and cocktails like the Midnight Manhattan, using homemade vanilla and cherry-infused bourbon.
One of the best parts of returning from a trip abroad is bringing back gifts you can’t find elsewhere. Kapok Shop in Wan Chai is known for supporting young local brands, and the outpost on Sun Street stocks an eclectic selection spanning elegant goldfish rope soaps, diminutive travel candles, sharp canvas totes, beautifully packaged teas and many other curios.
A proper gentleman in Hong Kong would certainly have his entire wardrobe made by Moustache in Sheung Wan. Not only does the tailor specialize in well made, tropical ready-to-wear, but Moustache also regularly prints its own indispensable guide to Hong Kong, spotlighting new and exciting stores, restaurants, and experiences.
Alongside its own whimsical collection of clothing and accessories, Dream Nation in Wan Chai curates the work of other local fashion designers, musicians and artists, going as far as staging small performances and happenings inside the shop. I was so taken with Dream Nation’s fantastical atmosphere that I bought a cream leather crown, and haven’t regretted the decision since.
If you tire of all of the eating, drinking and shopping, fear not. There are plenty of things to see in Hong Kong without opening your wallet. Wander the alleyways and ladder streets and you will quickly find a world of street art on display. In the evening, ride the Star Ferry over to Tsim Sha Tsui and take in the light show that goes off across the harbor every night at 8:00 p.m. as a dazzling finale for any adventure.
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