MEET FOUNDERS
ESPRO was founded by two engineers who love to solve problems. Their favourite problem just happens to be coffee.
What started as a dare to create a better tamper evolved into a goal to take the variation out of everything humans do while making coffee. In 2002, Chris and Bruce discovered the Clover Brewing Systemāa machine that uses vacuum press technology to create a perfectly controlled cup of coffee. It was priced at $13,000. They asked themselves: how could we give everyone that level of consistencyāand make it accessible for home?
ELEVATING COFFEE
We work on coffee and tea methods that havenāt been explored in decadesāsimple inventions that havenāt changed because weāve been told this is as good as coffee gets. But we take that as a challenge.
OUR PROCESS
Better coffee is only achieved through focused research, grit and relentless and curious minds. We unpack every part and every solution thatās already out there, then we reimagine each function independently. Which functions are absolutely required? Does the user truly need it? Is there a better way to get the same resultāor a better result? Only then do we start to imagine a new product. Once we have the perfect solution, we then work to manufacture it as affordably and fairly as possible, so more people can enjoy a better cup of coffee.
BETTER IS NOT A DESTINATION
Our pursuit of a better cup doesnāt end with a signpost that says, āYouāve made itā. The ESPRO Press is on its fourth generation filter in five years. Better is a moving target that pushes us to learn more, listen more and lure more coffee lovers into trying a cup made by ESPRO.
WEāRE NOT AFRAID OF IMPROVING THINGS
We donāt just want you to love our presses. We want you to tell us whatās not working so we can keep making you something better. Weāll never say weāve āsolvedā coffee. Weāre far from done. In fact, weāre just getting started.
THE IDEAS STARTED BREWING
While Bruce was starting his MBA at MIT and Chris was designing fuel cell cars, they spent their evenings and weekends working on ESPRO. After developing their first productāthe Calibrated Tamperāthey started getting curious about the French press.
AN ENGINEERāS APPROACH
Chris and Bruce distilled the essential elements of a great cup of coffee, identifying three key components: temperature, extraction and filtration. They started exploring ways to ensure the water temperature going in was the same as the temperature pouring out. They tested different approaches to āshutting offā brewing by separating the grinds from the water. They imagined a different sort of filterāa very, very fine one.
CAFFEINE-FUELED INNOVATION
Eventually, after a lot of late nights, the first ESPRO Press was born. A double-walled vessel ensured the water temperature stayed consistent. A vacuum seal created by a silicone lip meant that brewed coffee grinds couldnāt mix with the coffee. Two extremely fine micro-filtersā9 and 12 times finer than the averageā removed grit from the brew.
Checkout the ESPRO collection
