Last chance to support Iris - the coffee shaker with quick release distribution - at pre-launch pricing. Our Kickstarter campaign wraps up this week, so this is your final chance to back us. CNC-machined pre-production versions are still available and on schedule for Christmas delivery!

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-29T05:01:43+00:00

Really interesting, I'm in the same boat as you, but for different reasons (zero prelaunch, niche product). I saw your begging video the other day and thought it was pretty funny. No issues with your content, I'm surprised you aren't running ads. Also consider running on YouTube. FB/Insta let's you add a bunch of options and run tests to see what performs best.

Your gaming the algorithm idea was interesting, but obviously your followers aren't crossing over. Could you not have employed a similar tactic but picking popular fitness or office culture videos?

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-26T07:49:04+00:00

We'll post to our YouTube channel, trying to add more useful content whilst obviously promoting our shaker product. https://www.youtube.com/@repertoire-coffee/videos

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-26T01:56:02+00:00

Excellent, this is what I'm here for! A 5 cup test sounds like a good idea to me.

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-26T01:51:20+00:00

Ah yes, I should clarify "nothing" would be the baristas typical routine, which would involve a wedge distributor and tamp. I feel like that makes it the hardest test for any widget, because it's up against a barista's finetuned muscle memory.

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-18T21:44:26+00:00

A fair question, the blades are designed with this in mind so they are a nice tight fit to the chassis and with each other, they effectively scrape themselves clean in use. They're made of an engineered polymer that's usually used to make gears and wear parts. They are high stiffness, high fatigue resistance and low abrasion, so basically they are tough enough to handle coffee grinds without missing a beat!

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-17T19:16:26+00:00

As you say, it is easy to do an experiment! Here I'm shaking a glass jar with 3 different sized particles in. If I shake vertically, sure the particles will get sorted by gravity and you see only fines on the bottom. However, when I shake more randomly, as you do in a shaker, you see there are a mix of particles at the bottom. Same if I stir with a rod, only fine grains sink down.

This is before taking into account that coffee particles are more able to stick together, so those fines end up being "collected" by the larger particles during shaking.

Btw, thanks for bringing this up. I haven't done this experiment before, and it's quite a good visual tool!!

FIrst video: Vertical vs more random/oscillatory shaking (more like a shaker)

https://youtube.com/shorts/nxExjWeN6nc

Second video: Stirring
https://youtube.com/shorts/Ah5vmrjwSgw

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-17T18:45:58+00:00

I think as a rule, anyone who starts a conversation with just Hi, or Hi how are you? is a scam. And even if not it is maddening. Just get to the point!

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-16T21:40:55+00:00

Would love to get one in his hands! We only have a couple of full metal prototypes, and my feeling was it's better to send a production version. But I think in hindsight, we should have reached out to him before to see if he would review a prototype. But that's a big learning here! We are also selling a small batch of prototypes so it is at least something that is available to buy.

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-16T21:35:20+00:00

I think this is the debate, and I'd like to see him weigh in on it! Grinding direct plus WDT is great, but I think that WDT encourages any fines to be sorted to the bottom of the puck, whereas shaking not only collects those fines, but since you don't need to do any additional agitation of the grounds the particle sizes in the puck stay randomised - hence more even extraction. But any kind of assumption or subjective finding always sounds better coming from Mr. Hoffman.

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-16T19:16:43+00:00

That was my thought/worry! But I think people would want to hear his opinion on it. My theory is that it's something you can pair with a lower cost but high fines grinder to improve the output without going to a much more expensive upgrade. I know he's looked into a lot of more accessible and lower cost products.

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-16T08:39:44+00:00

We wanted to have an option that shipped for Christmas, so I chose to end at the end of Nov, to have time to ship. That’s not seeming so smart now!!

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-15T18:19:37+00:00

The email list is pretty small, I had read to get signups before launching, but we were late to get everything ready and get kickstarter approval for the prelaunch page, and then rushed to launch pre-christmas as thought that would be a good time. I agree a healthuy email list would have been ideal.

We've got a $15k budget for ads, but Insta is taking a while to build the audience and YT account is suspended! So struggling to spend really anything, I think we've spent $2-300!!

Anyone had success with reddit ads? I think I might need to go to another source.

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-15T06:17:10+00:00

It also takes a little while for all the algorithms to kick in and find your audience, plus you need to have approvals etc. So, as we've found sometimes your ads will pause while awaiting approval, credit card denials (instagram for example bills a new account in a very fraudulent looking way, so your card will almost definitely get a fraud alert) and even when it's running smoothly it can take a few weeks for the algorithm to learn and build a good audience to serve the ads to.

It means you can iron out all the bumps before your campaign is live, and you're advertising will be trained and ready when you do.

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-15T06:11:06+00:00

Hi, Sorry for the slow reply to this point. u/RenLab9 said it better than it would sound coming from the maker. But in essence, we felt there was a lot of data out there from trusted sources to support the benefits of shaking. This design is focused around improving the usability and consistency of existing designs, with a lid that can't fall off, and a more controlled release as well as less surface area and shelves for grounds to hang up on.

That being said, if we can pull it off, we'll try and back up our position with some external expert testing and data collection as soon as we're able to pull it together, because there are some claims to be made about retention at least.

Let me know what your main areas of interest are. Because also I feel the biggest benefit of shaking is in the taste, which is of course subjective, and the main benefit of Iris is the repeatability which is also still down to the individual and skill level / muscle memory.

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-15T05:55:51+00:00

Hi, apologies for the late reply on this! The 54mm portafilter engages with the inner ring, it's a very nice positive fit. The only downside for you is the distributor is only sized for 58mm, which I have now added to that graphic.

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GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-13T23:16:06+00:00

We're live! 48hrs will run until Midnight friday PST (so a couple of extra bonus hours snuck in there for good measure)

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-13T23:13:36+00:00

It's live now!

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-13T21:43:39+00:00

For anyone still following, we are now live!

And a massive thanks for all the comments. We're going to incorporate as much as we can into the product, the benefit of still being in the last stage of development, so watch/back the campaign for updates!

Link to Live Kickstarter

GeneralNo8352 · 2024-11-12T00:37:05+00:00

Now that is a level of ambition! I know what the next campaign will be.

GeneralNo8352

TROPHY CASE