I designed a new shaker with a quick release drop mechanism for simpler more repeatable espresso prep.
Hi, my name is James, and I've been playing around with making my own tools and espresso makers for the last 4 years. An Industrial designer by trade, I've decided to turn this obsession into a business (with the help of some of my talented friends) and am launching my first product, the Iris shaker on kickstarter this week.
Like most of you here, I've played around with various methods of espresso prep, and when I tried shaking, I noticed an immediate improvement in the flavour. But I had some issues with consistency. For a little while I was shaking + WDT, but that's slightly counter productive, and I wanted to REDUCE the steps, not increase them. I realised that if I could get the grounds to drop centrally every time, I could skip WDT and exclusively use the shaker to prep my shots. And I haven't looked back.
There's a link in my bio to the kickstarter campaign, or search for Iris in product design.
I'm here for your comments and feedback, good and bad!
UPDATE:
Thanks for all the comments! We're going to incorporate as much as we can into the product, the benefit of still being in the last stage of development, so watch/back the campaign for updates!
On a side note, this has been so helpful, I'll be back here on future projects too for your thoughts and reactions!