For a few years now, when going to a specialty coffee shop, it is very likely that we will come across a strange object that could have landed from outer space or emerged from the depths of the sea, from a submarine lost in the ocean. If they are not attentive to see how they prepare the coffee, their function goes completely unnoticed. It has a tubular appearance and is usually black in color, it stands next to the coffee machine and, sometimes, a small cloth hangs from it that completes the task for which it is used. It’s the rogue.
A scout is used to deposit the coffee grounds, that is, the ground and wet coffee beans, which have already been in contact with hot water and from which the necessary part to make the drink has already been extracted. Marro is generated in all kinds of coffee drinks, since it is a part that we do not consume and that we must get rid of. However, while removing the coffee grounds used to make drip coffee, for example, using a v60 or Chemex coffee maker, is a simple operation (just remove the paper filter where the ground coffee rests), cleaning the coffee used in an espresso machine is not an easy task.
“Clunk-clonk-clonk!” It is the most common soundtrack in cafeterias, the one that interrupts conversations, the one that gives customers and workers a headache or, perhaps, quite the opposite: the one we traditionally associate with mornings and the first coffee of the day, the hustle and bustle that activates us like caffeine to start our day. The classic picamarro, the one in the cafeteria of a lifetime, is box-shaped and is usually embedded in some part of the cabinet that also holds the espresso machine. Made of metal, when it hits the filter holder (the part where the coffee is placed that will later be screwed into the machine), also made of metal, it generates that pounding melody at peak coffee drinking hours.
With the idea in mind of avoiding so much noise and being able to store the coffee jar in a better way, the Australian company Rhino designed a tube 15 years ago that could be placed on the ground, rising to almost a meter high, taking up little space wide and that could even be hidden under the bar if necessary. They had in mind a new type of coffee shop where the coffee bean and the optimal preparation of each cup would be at the center of the business, which would probably be carried out by small passionate entrepreneurs, in small spaces, with little means.
Thus, they created this scout called Thumpa in high-density polyethylene resistant to all kinds of blows, so that it neither breaks nor falls under the onslaught of the barista, who will unload his scout dozens of times a day on it. In addition, they added a base that improves its stability and a wide neck to avoid any type of splash. Sprinters by nature, baristas appreciate not having to stop and clean up the hundreds of wet granules that make up the coffee grounds and are a nuisance when they fall on the floor or spread across any surface.
At Nomad Coffee they have used the Rhino rogue since its inception, in 2014, and they affirm that it has been a satisfactory product and that it has facilitated daily operations for all their baristas. “It is a simple design, in three parts, but very effective: base, tube and neck. Armed with a bag, it is only necessary to remove it to remove all the mess that has accumulated over the hours. Or even easier: if we remove the base, all the sling will come out downwards, and thus we can properly recycle it and clean the sling holder”, explains its founder and owner, Jordi Mestre, who has joined forces to give the sling a new lease of life together with Plat Institute to create coasters based on coffee grounds, resin and beeswax, which will be released in October.
Nomad Coffee today keeps these rogues in their factory, where they roast, cup, and train professional and amateur baristas at their Nomad Coffee Academy, but has implemented a new rogue technology at their Barcelona locations: a digital rogue called Pro-Fondi.
Pro-Fondi, created by the brand that bears the same name, is an Italian machine that is activated by a sensor to remove the coffee grounds from the filter holder. It works like this: the filter holder is placed on the machine, which in two seconds and silently removes any remaining coffee with a breath. “It is present in more and more specialty cafeterias, modern hospitality businesses and large cafeteria chains,” says Filippo Cardi Cigoli, commercial director of Caffe d’Autore, its distributor in Spain. “It is a very useful machine: it respects the coffee, it respects the portafilter, it respects the ears of the client and the worker, who at the same time should not use his force to hit in order to get rid of the marro. Also, it is much more hygienic: it eliminates marro perfectly”.
Cardi Cigoli explains that its sales, since it was added to its catalog in 2016, have grown exponentially, which from her point of view indicates the constant increase in interest in specialty coffee in Spain.
