All Photos Courtesy of Goat Story

And you can get it on Kickstarter now

Maxine Builder
February 06, 2018

Whether you're trying to up your coffee game and learn how to master the perfect pour-over, or you simply want to minimize the number of coffee accessories in your kitchen, this Kickstarter-backed three-in-one coffee maker might be the perfect device for you. It's called Gina, and it's a smart coffee maker with a built-in scale that brews three different styles of coffee: pour-over, immersion (which is like French press coffee), or cold brew. "That’s why we also have to give her a female name, because she’s a multi-tasker, multifunctional," jokes Anze Miklavec, the CEO and founder of Goat Story, the company that designed Gina and is now looking for backers for the project on Kickstarter. 

Miklavec and Stella Korosec, COO of Goat Story, came up with the idea of the Gina while on a trip. "We went on one trip and we took a Chemex with us, and we just forgot the scale," says Miklavec. "That's when we said, let's integrate it," adds Korosec. "You will not need two separate pieces," continues Miklavec. "You'll have everything integrated into the brewer." And that all-in-one artisanal coffee maker is Gina—with everything you need to make a pour-over, an immersion, or a cold brewed coffee in one device and accompanying app.

Trying to figure out how to use a smart three-in-one coffee maker with a built-in scale and an app for your phone sounds intimidating, especially if you're used to throwing grounds into a drip coffee machine in the morning. But Gina is designed to be as simple as possible, limiting the number of tools you need to make a perfect cup of coffee and helping you explore the nuances of brewing along the way.

"When you're preparing coffee, the right ratio between water, coffee, and time is really, really important," explains Miklavec, and Gina makes it simple to understand the relationship between those three variables. So rather than measure out the amount of coffee needed on a separate scale, simply pour the grounds into the ceramic funnel, and the weight will be displayed in the app, helping you keep track of the amount that's being brewed. 

"Everything will be measured in the app," explains Miklavec, and the app can either guide you, explains Korosec, or it can follow you, tracking the brewing process as you do it. The app also keeps time for you, letting you know when to pour more hot water or release the valve to complete the brewing process. And if you come up with a brewing recipe that you really love, it will be saved on the app, so you can repeat that method again and again.

That flexibility is why the Gina is as rewarding to use for expert baristas as it is for folks who are just learning the ropes, especially in combination with the three different brewing methods.

"Overall, our whole concept is to educate people and to tell them more about coffee and how many different flavors it has, and in order to be able to explore all these flavors and types of coffee, it's really important to have everything measured," says Korosec. "That's how you play with different techniques."

And Gina lets you use one of three different methods to brew your coffee. The first is pour-over coffee. Place a standard filter into the ceramic funnel and fill with grounds, then pour hot water and let it drip through, controlling the flow with the valve at the bottom of the funnel.

For immersion coffee, which is kind of like French press, turn the release valve so it's shut off. Put the grounds into the ceramic funnel, pour in water, and let that steep for a few minutes, depending on what the app recommends. Once it's done brewing, release the valve, and let the coffee out.

To set up the device to make cold brew coffee, place the grounds in a glass filter that comes with the Gina and sits at the top of the glass beaker. Fill the ceramic funnel with cold, or ice, water, and use the valve to control the speed of the flow. Several hours later, you'll have cold brew coffee, ready to drink.

And unlike other coffee makers, you don't feel embarassed about leaving the Gina on your kitchen counter when it's not in use. The device itself is simple, designed to stand out on your countertop, and it comes in one of three colors: white, black, or chrome.

If you're sold on the Gina, and want a multifunctional coffee maker to replace all of the coffee accessories in your life, you can back the project on Kickstarter. For $150, you can preorder the device and become a master barista in the comfort of your own home.

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