Hey there,
Johnny here! Co-founder & Product Designer of ICOSA Brewhouse.
And today I’m sharing Part 2 of our behind the scenes journey of what went into creating Avensi Wave–our most challenging & ambitious product we’ve ever developed.
It’s one thing to theorize about if/how something like aeration and ‘micro-bubbles’ can improve your coffee’s flavor, but the real test is having experts use the product and give feedback.
And that’s what led us to create the very first ceramic prototypes!
As the cliché goes: “it’s who you know, not what you know”, and so I commissioned the help of my good friend Robin Boogearts, fellow Canadian, who crafts custom hand crafted ceramic tea cups and tea pots in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
It’s our first time delving into the world of ceramics and I was in awe watching Robin carefully craft each piece. Ceramic ‘Wheel Throwing’ is a marvel to see up close, and takes years to master, especially when you’re creating smaller items with special details like the ‘bi-directional wave ramps’.
Each prototype took Robin no less than 45 minutes to: shape by hand, trim, bisque fire, and glaze. It’s quite the process!
From local coffee shop visits, to meeting with roasters, to travelling to Thailand Coffee Fest in Bangkok, I shared & tested the prototypes with as many experts as I could to get their first impressions & feedback:
- Jose from multi-award winning Abu Coffee Panama
- Cathy, World Brewers Cup Judge
- Elysia, 2x Singaporean Brewers Cup Champion
- Yasuo, founder Origami Cup
- Gabriel, 2x Romanian Brewers Cup Champion
- Seb & Kabir, Kohi Roastery
- Neung, Thailand World Class Cocktail Champion
- Matteo, UK Brewers Cup Champion
- and countless others...
The verdict?
There was a noticeable difference in the coffee’s aroma and flavor thanks to the special internal architecture which aerates the coffee in a unique way!
We had our first vote of confidence from the coffee community!
Serendipitously, I was sharing this new idea with our good friend Mariam Erin, 3x National Competitive Coffee Champion of the UAE.
I would have never guessed that she would ask if I could create two custom cups for her upcoming 2023 competitions for the World Barista, and World Ibrik Championship in Athens, Greece.
From sketching, to 3D prints, to being back in the ceramic studio with Robin, Mariam and I had only 6 weeks to develop and get the prototypes to her in Dubai.
It was a whirlwind team effort, but was it worth it?
Well, Mariam won 3rd place in the world for her Ibrik (Turkish) Coffee Competition using our prototypes–our second vote of confidence from the coffee community!
Those two custom cups I created for her are what our team continued to develop with the coffee community and inspired the final Avensi Wave Collection.
From our humble 3D prototypes to winning 3rd on the world stage, this journey has already been full of incredible milestones and surprises!
But every adventure isn’t without it’s fair share of challenges.
Stay tuned for my next blog to find out about the new challenges we faced with our first ceramic product ever, and how we were able to make the impossible, possible with our new Avensi Wave Collection!
Thanks again and talk soon!
- Johnny :)
Co-Founder
ICOSA Brewhouse
Serendipitously, I was sharing this new idea with our good friend Mariam Erin, 3x National Competitive Coffee Champion of the UAE.
I would have never guessed that she would ask if I could create two custom cups for her upcoming 2023 competitions for the World Barista, and World Ibrik Championship in Athens, Greece.
From sketching, to 3D prints, to being back in the ceramic studio with Robin, Mariam and I had only 6 weeks to develop and get the prototypes to her in Dubai.
It was a whirlwind team effort, but was it worth it?
Well, Mariam won 3rd place in the world for her Ibrik (Turkish) Coffee Competition using our prototypes–our second vote of confidence from the coffee community!
Those two custom cups I created for her are what our team continued to develop with the coffee community and inspired the final Avensi Wave Collection.
From our humble 3D prototypes to winning 3rd on the world stage, this journey has already been full of incredible milestones and surprises!
But every adventure isn’t without it’s fair share of challenges.
Stay tuned for my next blog to find out about the new challenges we faced with our first ceramic product ever, and how we were able to make the impossible, possible with our new Avensi Wave Collection!
Thanks again and talk soon!
- Johnny :)
Co-Founder
ICOSA Brewhouse