Iconic company unveils new products at the 2019 Specialty Coffee Expo in Boston, MA
“The Great Coffee Experiment” was originally imagined as an elaborate Rube Goldberg coffee maker contraption that the Chicopee-based company would use as a centerpiece to attract attention at this year’s annual SCA Expo – an event for which Chemex Corp. was the host sponsor.
Chemex (left to right): Adam Rodrigues, Operations Manager; Eliza Grassy, Co-Owner; Adams Grassy, Co-Owner; Meghan Dewar, Designer
However, after collaborating with Bruce Rosenbaum, a Steampunk artist and owner of ModVic, LLC and Ben Cowden, an Amherst-based sculptor, the project was soon reimagined as a mid-century modern style coffee brew bar with a row of rotating cup holders in the front and accentuated in the back by a 1961 vintage 36-cup Chemex Samovar as well as other historic Chemex glass pieces – thus, paying tribute to the company’s groundbreaking past while presenting a glimpse of the very near future.
In the coming weeks and months Chemex will release their 2019 product line, which includes a new electric kettle, a single cup coffee-maker, and a flavor enhancing glass coffee cup. The ultimate goal of the brew bar project was producing a “Hit Maker”, a memorable experience that observers would continue to associate with the brand, even after the event had ended.
“The foundational concept is giving the audience an opportunity to interact with the brand in a new or unexpected way,” said Rosenbaum. “In the case of Chemex, their founder was Dr. Peter Schlumbohm, a German chemist and inventor whose vision and work was so renowned that his original design is on display at MOMA (The Museum of Modern Art in NYC).”
“We wanted the audience to think about the brand in this historic and cultural context, while viewing the artful simplicity of the product designs, and getting the “hands-on” experience of aromas and flavors,” said Rosenbaum of the brew bar construction. “We also wanted to have some fun and give it the look and feel of a laboratory, where a mad scientist might be found.”
Known in his time as an eccentric scientist, Schlumbohm developed over 300 patents throughout his career. His style was to combine scientific sensibility with everyday items and give them an elegant design. His eye pleasing coffeemakers were made from one single piece of borosilicate glass and fashioned in the hourglass shape of scientific labware.
Being a chemist, he also created double bonded Chemex paper filters that would enhance the extraction of flavor and caffeine from the coffee beans.
Rosenbaum said Schlumbohm’s lifetime achievements were inspiring and his methods and philosophy of design are akin to the Steampunk formula of Art + History + Technology. Although the Steampunk aesthetic often has ModVic projects drawing on materials from the Victorian era, Rosenbaum loved the challenge of working in the mid-century “modern-punk” style this time.
Regardless of the historic time period, the key factor is connecting Chemex customers with the company’s past, present, and future through a visual, interactive brand-awareness device – making the Chemex Brew Bar a “hit” that transcends time.
Backstory
Every respectable ModVic creation is woven from the fabric of a good storyline, and the Chemex “Time Travel” Brew Bar is no exception – posing a perspective bending question to coffee aficionados and casual observers alike: Can this energizing elixir speed up or slow down one’s time / speed perception continuum?
The brew bar constructed in the shape of a micrometer precision measurement device and incorporating a continuously rotating vessel whereby hot water passes through an hourglass shaped glass funnel with properly calibrated infusion timed filters – this mesmerizing contraption looks like it can transport you through space and time.
Conference attendees were asked if they remembered any past experiences with Chemex and if their Chemex ‘X’ One Cup Pourover experience now made time stand still or jumped them into a happy future state? Thus, furthering the audience’s interaction with the brand through email and social media responses.
“We really wanted to fuse together the past, the present and the future, where we’re going. Bruce and Ben really helped us pull it off with their design and fabrication of our Chemex ‘X’ Brew bar ” said Eliza Grassy, Co-owner of Chemex.
