Technology changes coffee: Onecup turns you into a top barista in seconds and beats Starbucks

As an imported drink, coffee has gradually been accepted by Chinese people with the promotion of coffee shops and the integration of foreign cultures.

In recent years, it is obvious that the number of street coffee shops is increasing, and Starbucks has begun to expand into third- and fourth-tier cities. But for some people who pursue a high-quality life, being able to drink a cup of fine hand-brewed coffee after getting up every day is an enjoyable and extremely luxurious thing.

So is there a way to allow ordinary coffee lovers to drink affordable boutique coffee while making the process of hand-brewed coffee simple and quick? In order to solve this pain point, Joyoung launched China's first hand-brewed boutique capsule coffee machine - Onecup K6.

Has specialty coffee been “melted” into China?

In recent years, there are more and more coffee shops in China that can provide specialty coffee, and the number of consumers of specialty coffee is also increasing year by year. Instant coffee can no longer meet the needs of most people. Whether it is coffee shop practitioners or coffee consumers, the number of people paying attention to specialty coffee is increasing, which has also created conditions for the further outbreak of the domestic specialty coffee wave.

At present, slightly higher-end coffee shops are equipped with expensive coffee machines, Japanese siphon pots and other professional equipment, combined with on-site hand-brew technology to ensure that every cup of coffee has a superior taste. According to a report by the International Coffee Association, China's coffee consumption has increased year by year, with a stable growth rate of more than 16% in the past 10 years.

However, compared with ordinary coffee, the price of specialty coffee is relatively high, often costing tens or even hundreds of yuan per cup, which makes ordinary consumers stay away from it. More people choose instant coffee to save time and money. This is in sharp contrast to major coffee-consuming countries such as Europe, the United States, and Japan, where consumers often choose commercial coffee or single-origin coffee, and more people will buy coffee machines at home to satisfy their taste buds.

Capsule coffee machines are a new type of coffee machine that has appeared in recent years. The so-called capsule coffee machine is that the manufacturer pre-loads coffee powder into a plastic capsule, and then fills it with nitrogen to keep it fresh. When the user drinks coffee, he only needs to put the capsule into a dedicated machine, and he can quickly drink a cup of fragrant coffee. In a broad sense, capsule coffee machines can not only make coffee, but also support the production of natural flower and fruit tea, etc.

Capsule coffee machines can be called the killer of bean-grinding coffee machines. A fully functional capsule coffee machine can complete the work of an entire water bar and has changed the entire history of coffee making.

At present, the capsule coffee machines on the domestic market basically make espresso and fancy coffee based on it. However, the Onecup intelligent simulation master hand-pour mode can brew coffee that is almost the same as the excellent hand-poured coffee made by professionals. This is the magic of K6. In the blind test at the press conference, seven guests tasted ordinary hand-poured coffee and the premium hand-poured coffee made by K6, and six of them thought that the coffee made by K6 tasted better.

It’s not difficult to make a cup of specialty coffee yourself

When it comes to coffee, the most direct feeling is the taste, which mainly depends on the quality of the coffee beans, followed by the professionalism and care of the barista when making it.

Onecup's coffee beans are all from high-quality coffee producing areas such as Ethiopia, Kenya, and Indonesia. For example, the Sidamo Candle Coffee, which retains the aroma of mature fruit fermentation through sun drying, is imported from ninety plus, a well-known American coffee bean supplier. Ninety plus's coffee beans are the "holy land" in the hearts of coffee lovers. The coffee produced by it can be named "Candle", which can be said to be the best among boutique coffees; the rich-flavored Colombian coffee, which perfectly blends the three tastes of sour, bitter, and sweet, is imported from Huilan County, Colombia; the rich-flavored Mandheling coffee is imported from Aceh, Indonesia; the free and casual American coffee comes from the three major producing areas of Brazil, Colombia, and Guatemala in Central and South America, and is carefully blended by senior baristas.

In order to simulate the hand brewing process of masters, Cheng Ke, the founder of Onecup, specially invited Mr. Yoshizo Ono, a famous Japanese coffee roaster. Mr. Ono helped Onecup select the most suitable raw beans from more than a dozen coffee beans, and designed the best roasting curve through dozens of roasting experiments, and also designed the most matching brewing program according to the characteristics of the beans.

To restore the hand-drip process of the coffee master, the smart hand-drip (SmartDrip) technology developed by Onecup itself is used to achieve this: the smart camera in the machine can identify the taste information on the film sealing the capsule. After reading the capsule information, the machine starts the corresponding master brewing program. The precise brewing system can restore the master's brewing process: including the control of water temperature. After heating to a specific temperature (such as 92 degrees for Candlelight and 86 degrees for Mandheling), the coffee powder is first steamed, and then water is added in sections after the coffee powder expands, simulating the turbulence process of hand-drip to achieve full extraction of coffee.

When brewing, users put the capsule into K6, and after one-touch operation, they only need to wait for 90 seconds to prepare a cup of premium coffee, milk tea or soy milk. The price of the capsule is also very affordable. For example, American coffee is 3 yuan each, Mandheling is 4 yuan, and the top-grade Sidamo Zhumang is only 6 yuan, which is in line with the mass consumption level.

2016 is the beginning of Joyoung's transformation. In September last year, Joyoung's smart product strategy was released, and Joyoung's smart ecosystem was built through the integration of hardware and software: the hardware includes Joyoung smart products; in terms of software, in addition to mobile apps, it also starts with the analysis and collection of diet, health and other data, and eventually extends to personal diet and health management. Reform and innovation in the home appliance industry has become a consensus in the industry. Wang Lei, vice chairman of the China Home Appliance Association, believes that in 2016, as the first year of the "13th Five-Year Plan", supply-side reform in the home appliance industry is imperative. The home appliance market has ushered in a new round of consumption structure upgrades and product upgrades. The arrival of the era of networked, personalized and diversified consumption has promoted the rapid development of emerging home appliance categories.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.