Our story started eight years ago, after another expensive service for our espresso machine, we decided to find a way to make electricity redundant and create a robust but straightforward espresso tool. The challenge was achieving the 9 bars required for an ideal espresso. After many years of trial and error, we have now found the solution! Many testers are already enjoying Superkop. We are proud to tell you that even one of the best known baristas was impressed.
We are Geert and Sabine,
the innovators of Superkop.
How did we get here
Once we got the idea and decided to find a solution we first studied everything that you possibly can learn about the ideal espresso. You need 9 to 11 bars, water of 92-96 degrees Celsius, 7-9 grams ground beans for 30-35 ml espresso.
There were no secrets left after reading many books and online studies. We tried all products that had manual power instead of electricity. But nothing came close to our ideal espresso maker.
To make it a lively project we thought about the look and feel, and created a mood-board for that. It was obviously that whatever the outcome would be it would be well and functionally designed, It should be a robust tool and be in the spirit of a Zippo, Leatherman, Opinel or another ever lasting brand that really serves its function. The first name was GreenPresso. Much later we changed that to Superkop.
But it was also obvious that we needed some technical expertise to make it happen. With our mood-board and the idea we contacted our uncle Gerard Verrest (engineer) to think with us if, and how we could make this happen.
Once he understood the idea, he also understood the major challenge we were facing: to achieve the 9 bars with purely manual power. But he was enthusiastic and the next meeting he created a set-up with a wheel to measure what was the maximum bars one can handle manually.
Since then it took off. We involved a technical designer and we started prototyping. It started with a simple tube, but the principle still stands.
And now… Superkop is growing, and so is the organization. That is why we started looking for a partner who can lead Superkop to the next phase. Klaas Fokkema is this new partner. Together with Jorine, they take care of the daily business. The focus of Geert & Sabine will remain on product development.
That was the start of 7 years of trial and error to get to the Superkop that we now like to show the world.
