Skip to main content

The Voltaire smart coffee grinder aims to bring Starbucks-level coffee to your kitchen

As any seasoned coffee drinker can attest, brewing a quality cup of coffee involves more than just buying the most expensive bag of beans from your local supermarket. Understanding the act of brewing coffee to be equal parts art and science, a New York-based startup called Get It Right has taken to Kickstarter to launch a smart coffee grinder called Voltaire. Designed to give coffee lovers the ability to craft espresso-shop-level java from the comfort of their own homes, Voltaire monitors the freshness of ground beans, orders replacement coffee, and excels at grinding coffee.

Though it may seem a bit excessive on its face, Get It Right’s Voltaire coffee grinder is java brewing innovation you never knew you needed. In addition to its freshness-sensing technology and ability to order more coffee when beans go stale, the device also boasts a compatible smartphone application allowing users to keep tabs on their coffee even while away. For instance, if a batch of ground beans starts to get low, users can choose to replace their coffee via the app itself or set it up to auto-replenish on its own.

Voltaire’s usefulness truly shines with its built-in LiFePO4 batteries which tout the capability of grinding roughly three pounds of beans before requiring another charge. Moreover, a fully charged Voltaire also maintains battery life for over three weeks, meaning you could even take it camping with you without worrying about a lack of electricity. Get It Right also offers a smart-free version of the grinder that’s a bit more cost effective and doesn’t feature the original’s sensing technology — but remains just as portable and capable of grinding quality coffee.

“We wanted to try and take the quality you’d get from those huge professional grinders and give it to you in a beautiful single package that you could have at home,” said Get It Right’s director of design, Mike Egan.

Under the hood, the Voltaire makes use of an innovative conical burr design, a stepless adjustment wheel allowing users to fine tune their grinds, as well as programmable presets which remember exact grind settings. These features coupled with Voltaire’s sensing technology make it an appealing addition to any java lover’s brew arsenal. As of this writing, the Kickstarter campaign has 56 days remaining and has raised nearly $40,000 of its $100,000 goal.

Editors' Recommendations

Rick Stella
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Rick became enamored with technology the moment his parents got him an original NES for Christmas in 1991. And as they say…
Would you skip your daily Starbucks for 6 years to afford this $10K coffee maker?
Royal Coffee Maker

It's unclear whether you're supposed to drink the coffee that comes out of the Royal Coffee Maker, or invest it. Putting Kopi Luwak (the world's most expensive coffee bean) to shame is the latest product to come out of Royal Paris -- it's a 24-karat gold (or silver) coffee maker that features a balancing siphon brewer made of crystal and semi-precious stone that will set you back a cool $10,000. So if you're willing to stop drinking Starbucks for the rest of your life, maybe you can justify this purchase to yourself.

Precious metals aside, part of the price tag is attributed to the extremely limited numbers of Royal Coffee Makers that will be made available (which, to be fair, is also probably linked to relatively low demand for a machine that costs about the same amount as some cars). At the highest end, this particular coffee maker could cost you up to $18,600. According to Royal Coffee, the extravagant cost is linked to the 50 hours of "painstaking workmanship" that must be done by hand.

Read more
Coffee done right: Craft the perfect cup of Joe with the Skagg EKG electric kettle
stagg ekg electric pour over kettle kickstarter stagg1

For some coffee drinkers, the only proper way to start each morning is by enjoying a piping hot cup of personally concocted, pour-over java. With this trend soaring as of late, a San Francisco-based startup named Fellow decided to craft the ultimate electric pour-over kettle and recently took the project to Kickstarter. Dubbed the Stagg EKG — and EKG+ for those who desire Bluetooth connectivity — this minimally designed yet effective device excels at providing the absolute perfect temperature for crafting an ideal cup of Joe. That is if you don't mind spending over $100 for the device.

A fully loaded kettle, the Stagg EKG and EKG+ feature variable temperature control, an easy-to-read LCD screen which displays the current heat level, and a Hold button which allows users to quickly pause on a desired temperature for up to 30 minutes. Each function works harmoniously with one another to not just grant greater control over the temperature of a pot of water but to make the process as easy and efficient as possible. For instance, setting the temperature is done as simply as twisting the EKG's built-in dial.

Read more
Indulge your cold-brew cravings with the Arctic at-home coffee brewer
arctic cold brew system launches on kickstarter with hot and

Over the past few years, cold brew coffee has seen an incredible boost in popularity due to its smooth flavor and powerful punch of caffeine. Problem is, the process of crafting a batch of cold brew can be arduous at best. Well, thanks to a New York-based company named Icosa Brewhouse, the process for whipping up a carefully crafted lot of concentrated cold brew just got a whole lot easier. Launched via Kickstarter this week, Icosa's Arctic cold-brew coffee system requires little outside of a preferred coffee bean and a bit of water (as well as a touch of patience) to concoct a two-week supply of cold brew.

Comprised of a borosilicate glass carafe, a micron filter, and stainless steel lid, the Arctic cold-brew device deftly achieves more with less. Owners simply fill the micron filter with ground coffee beans of their choice, fill the carafe with cold-filtered water (to submerge the grounds), then stick the thing in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours. After the refrigerated brew process completes, a delicious carafe full of cold-brew coffee awaits the Arctic user.

Read more