10 Coffee Things That Got Us Excited in 2022
Who doesn’t love a good end-of-the-year list? Reading (and writing) them provides a wonderful opportunity to reflect back on the year in coffee. And what a year it was!
The decline of the pandemic and the return of coffee expos led to palpable excitement and innovation in the industry – new espresso machines, brewing methods, grinder designs, and much more. Read on for our top ten exciting coffee products and trends of 2022.
1. The Continuing Rise of No-Bypass Brewing
Home Grounds’ own Steven Holms made an exhaustive study of the trend:
Early adopting coffee nerds might have hopped on the no-bypass brewing trend in 2021 when the Tricolate coffee maker was released. But there’s no denying that no-bypass went mainstream in 2022. The NextLevel coffee maker hit the market, and coffee experts took notice.
2. Rancilio Silvia Pro X
The Rancilio Silvia Pro was announced in 2020 to great fanfare. Finally, a dual boiler version of the Silvia! Plus, the much-requested PID and pressure gauge. In 2022, we saw the release of the Silvia Pro X. It adds a new “soft infusion” stage, fun color options, and a few other nifty upgrades.
3. Fellow Ode Gen 2
The original Fellow Ode was one of the most hyped grinders of 2020, but its release was a bit of a letdown. The burr set just didn’t cut it (no pun intended). Then came the Ode Gen 2 in 2022. Equipped with new burrs, an amazing anti-static system, and more, it exceeded expectations. While we recommended the Fellow Ode with reservations, the Ode Gen 2 leaves nothing to be desired.
4. Creativity in Grinder Design
Speaking of coffee grinders, 2022 was the year that saw many brands thinking outside the box, and we are here for it. There was the Goat Story Arco, which can be manual or electric. We saw a growing number of two-phase grinders, with double burr sets for a more uniform grind. Eureka released the Mignon Libra, their first home grinder to grind by weight. The WUG2 83A grinder lets your swap between flat and conical burrs. We are truly living in a golden age of home coffee grinders!
5. Convenient Coffee Gets Good
Brewing coffee has traditionally required a trade-off between quality and convenience, but that is starting to change. New coffee machines like the XBloom or Drink Morning promise the ease of a Keurig with the flavor of a fresh brew. Brands like Atlas are putting specialty coffee in K-Cups that are prepared fresh to order, and Cometeer Coffee is shipping just-add-hot-water frozen specialty coffee pods.
6. Espresso Accessories Get Weird
Espresso is a finicky brewing method, and serious espresso geeks will try anything to get that extra 1% closer to perfect extraction – just look at the cost of WDT tools! This year saw the wide adoption of puck screens, the release of the Unifilter and Unibasket from Weber Workshops, and the delivery of the Idroprep, the world’s first hydroforming tamper.
7. Profitec Go and Pro 400
Two big releases from prosumer espresso favorite Profitec had the coffee world buzzing in 2022. Both are designed to make the brand slightly more accessible, filling out the bottom of its line-up. The single-boiler Profitec Go is the entry-level model, with user-friendly features and a colorful design. The more advanced Pro 400 is now Profitec’s smallest and most affordable heat exchanger model.
8. Wacaco Picopresso
The Wacaco Picopresso was released in late 2021 but took the coffee industry by storm in 2022. It’s a serious upgrade from its predecessor, the Nanopresso, with better build quality, more capacity, and a non-pressurized filter basket. The Picopresso doesn’t just brew great espresso on the go; it brews great espresso, period.
9. Orea V3
The third version of the Orea pour over brewer was released in mid-2022 and has been charming coffee lovers from day one. It combines the advantages of both flat bed and conical drippers to yield brews of exceptional clarity. No less a figure than Lance Hedrick declared it, “the most consistent dripper I’ve used.”
10. Commercial Espresso Comes Home
The prosumer espresso market continues to expand, and more big-name commercial manufacturers are making scaled-down machines for home use. La Marzocco released the Linea Micra, a more compact and affordable version of the Linea Mini. The first Synesso prosumer model, the single-group ES1, and the Elektra Verve Mini are both set to arrive early 2023. Could we see a more affordable Slayer Mini next? Fingers crossed!
Final Thoughts
Those are the Home Grounds top ten picks of the year, but we’d love to hear from you! Let us know in the comments below what had you excited in 2022. What did we miss? Do you have a favorite new coffee bean or piece of gear? What are you hoping to see in 2023?
