Automatic pour over brewers are definitely hit or miss. We’ve seen some solid options in the past, but often the fact that you have to carefully manage grind and dose sort of defeated the purpose in the “automatic” part. xBloom is doing something different with their new Studio Smart Coffee Machine, and we’re excited to tell you about it!
What is the xBloom Studio?
This machine is a truly automatic pour over brewer. That means it handles grind and brew, with a built-in grinder and scale. The grinder is a single-dose burr grinder, which means that you do need to load the beans each time. To help with this, you can use the scale that the machine uses for managing water to dose your beans, truly making this an all-in-one pour over station. Once you’ve dosed, the xBloom handles the rest, managing water temperature and flow rate.
The xBloom’s built-in dripper is compatible with Kalita 155 filters or the proprietary xPod. The pods are a really cool, unique option that include a dose of whole bean coffee that you pour into the grinder, along with a recipe card that the machine scans to brew the coffee to the roaster's specifications. These pods are a really exciting new way to make coffee hassle-free, and we love them. The spout on the brewer is smart as well, capable of recreating the sort of circular motion that you need to make a proper pour over. Additionally, you can use the grinder separate from brewing, and its perfect for press brewing. This base functionality is great, but there are even more layers to this automatic marvel.
App Connected
The xBloom app takes the Studio to a whole new level. This tool gives you deep control over every aspect of the brewing process, and allows you to save your recipes to recall and recreate over and over again. This means that you can build that perfect recipe for your favorite single origin, then nail it time and again with the app’s recipe system. This is really a game changer for pour over, because even with tools like an Acaia Smart Scale it can be challenging to properly recreate flow rates and perfect temperature stability by hand.
The app doesn’t just let you control flow rates though - it has controls for grind size, temperature, bloom time, brew ratio, pour pattern, and more. You’ll be able to get more precision with this machine than you ever could with a kettle.
Value Proposition
If you showed us this feature-set on paper, we’d assume the xBloom Studio cost at least twice what it does. We’d even be pretty unsurprised if you said that this is a high-end commercial offering that is far too expensive for the average coffee drinker. Instead, the xBloom Studio comes in at a price point that is very compelling. While it’s not cheap, and may be out of reach for some new users, this machine offers an incredible feature set for around the cost of an entry-level superautomatic espresso machine.
Be sure to give this awesome new option a look when you’re next looking to up your pour over game!