The Toronto-based Canadian company believes the wine, spirits and beer industry use a variety of glassware to improve the drinking experience, such as whiskey tumblers or champagne flutes, but this is unheard of in the coffee industry.
Aroma & taste
In response to this, it has created Excite, Inspire and Evoke; Excite glass features a bulbous shape and large liquid surface area, which traps and circulates aroma, while softening acidity and enhancing sweetness. It pairs well with full-bodied, chocolatey, nutty, or dark roasts.
Inspire features a narrow inner glass shape and smaller liquid surface area. This focuses and funnels the aroma, while enhancing acidity. It pairs well with fruity, citrusy, or light roasts.
And Evoke is a double-walled carafe to keep temperature stable and can be used with brewers like an Aeropress or Hario V60.
Both glasses are made from heat-resistant double-walled borosilicate glass that tapers into a single-wall at the rim. The double wall keeps the temperature stable so that it’s hot while standing, but the right temperature for drinking.
The double wall ensures it’s comfortable to hold and the single wall at the top is a thin rim which is comfortable to drink from. The clear glass material also allows for an appreciation of the coffee texture and color.
KRUVE glassware highlights
- TOUCH - Both glasses feature double-walled borosilicate glass to keep the coffee warm, yet cool to touch. While the single wall keeps the rim thin, so that it’s comfortable to drink.
- TASTE - Each glass differs in terms of liquid surface area, which affects the rate of oxidation, and softens or amplifies tannins and acidity. They also differ in terms of rim architecture, which affects the flow and spread of coffee on your tongue.
- SMELL - Each glass features a different internal shape and amount of headspace, which can impact the aromatic focus of the beverage.
- SIGHT - The glasses are a perfect inverse of each other on the outside, yet completely unique on the inside.
“The wine glass industry puts a lot of care and effort into helping consumers enjoy their beverage, yet coffee has just as much, if not more complexity than wine, with hundreds of volatile flavor compounds,” said Michael Vecchiarelli, co-founder, KRUVE.
“Instead of matching a glass to a certain type of coffee bean, we developed complementary glasses that will either amplify or soften certain flavour notes - like an audio equalizer – putting the consumer in control of their sensory experience.
“Much like wine glassware, coffee glassware does not and cannot have a one-glass-fits-all shape. However, unlike wine, coffee glassware cannot be paired to a particular bean varietal in the same way one might pair a Merlot glass to a particular grape varietal.”
Bulbous glass shape
According to Vecchiarelli each glass offers a unique rim architecture and liquid surface area, so taste will differ significantly. A larger liquid surface area increases the rate of oxidation, which then softens the tannins and acidity.
He added, a more bulbous glass shape can better soften and retain an aroma, as well as increase nose involvement. Whereas, a more narrow glass shape will concentrate the volatile compounds and funnel the aroma more directly to the nose.
“Coffee contains so many unique flavors, thanks to hundreds of volatile compounds (i.e., chemicals that allow you to sense aroma as they vaporize). Add to that, a plethora of human factors affect its flavor, including: varietal selection, growing conditions, processing method, roasting process, brewing method, and brewing recipe,” he said.
“There is also mouthfeel/body, aroma, acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and aftertaste.”
It is not the first time the company has entered the coffee sector. In 2015 it launched Sifter, which measures, calibrates and refines grind size which won Best New Product at the 2017 Sprudgie Awards.
With two tiers and up to 15 interchangeable sieves, the Sifter delivers up to 105 coffee grind sizes, which means the consumer gets a uniform grind every time they brew a coffee.
With its latest project it has set up a crowdfunding page on Indiegogo with plans to start manufacturing the glasses in February 2019 to go on sale in May 2019. It's target goal was $15k.
The KRUVE glasses can also be used for tea and wine because ‘there are several universal sensation and perception principles that apply across multiple beverages’.
