A method to make your coffee taste better, Paragon, at a home improvement store
The first topic for 2023 is the soon-to-be-released PARAGON from NUCLEUS COFFEE TOOLS . If we win the battle for one, we plan to introduce some to you.
Unlike the occult coffee goods that are flooding the market, PARAGON is a method that has solid evidence. Roughly speaking, by rapidly cooling the coffee extract immediately after extraction, the aromatic components that would otherwise evaporate can be trapped inside, resulting in a tastier coffee.
So you'd think that rapid cooling iced coffee would be the same, but whereas that uses ice to cool it, PARAGON uses stainless steel balls chilled in the freezer. Therefore, the coffee doesn't become diluted like ice does.
The original paper is not publicly available, but it is said to have been thought up by Dr. Chahan Yeretzian, founder of the Coffee Excellence Center in Switzerland (where Japanese coffee makers are known to commission various studies). He is a real person.
PARAGON is a stand for conical drippers such as the V60, with an added arm for setting chilled steel balls, making it like a slightly better dripper stand.
This means that if you have a dripper stand, you may be able to make PARAGON using only materials that can be purchased at a home improvement store. Yes, you can. So I went to a home improvement store to buy the materials, but it was hard to find large steel balls. I'll have to rely on Monotaro for this.
The steel balls used are 1-inch generic SUS304 steel balls . PARAGON steel balls are about 30mm in diameter, but 30mm steel balls are ridiculously expensive, so I thought I could just buy a 1-inch one to try out.
I decided to use a garbage collector that is often installed in bathroom sinks as a tool to support the steel balls. After washing the steel balls thoroughly, I chilled them thoroughly in the freezer. Basically, if they are made of stainless steel, it should be fine from a hygienic standpoint.
The diameter is slightly off, so I'm supporting it with a toothpick.
Our store does not have a dripper stand (the one I wanted is out of stock so I'm waiting for PARAGON), so this time I decided to PARAGON an espresso.
Since you need to hit the ball with the coffee, a single outlet is best for espresso. With a bottomless coffee maker, it is difficult to hit the ball accurately.
Then just extract as usual and you're done.
I have compared PARAGON with other types of coffee before, and I definitely got the impression that PARAGON had more pronounced aroma and flavor.
This time we used a 1-inch stainless steel ball, but we believe that PARAGON works best by rapidly cooling the strongest part of the coffee at the beginning of the extraction, and the size of the ball is probably adjusted to be optimal.
I'll check it out in detail when I get my hands on it. I'd like to sell it, but I'm not sure I can win the battle. Until then, I'll enjoy this generic PARAGON.
*The release of PARAGON seems to have been delayed until February. The specifications of the steel balls have been revealed in advance, so we will introduce them here.
Steel ball: 40mm stainless steel ball, titanium coated
I was like, "Was it really this big?"
