Barista & Co supply a range of coffee, makers, and accessories for home brew enthusiasts. They came to BEC Group with an initial design for their Brew It Stick– a handheld coffee infuser designed to make a great fresh cup of coffee easily at home. The BEC team then worked with Barista to develop the design to make it functional for customers and manufacturable at a strong price point.
The first design for the Brew It Stick was complex to produce both for tooling and moulding. Our team worked on a design for manufacture to make alterations that would maintain the brewing performance of the stick whilst reducing the cost to create it.
Aspects of the design that made tooling and moulding demanding included the bottom of the handle that clips onto the stem. The bottom of the handle required cone shaped filters and plastic encapsulation – making it challenging to mould and assemble. Clipping the stem and basket sections together also took some tweaks as it needed to provide a solid seal and a satisfying click. A cap was added onto the top of the stem to prevent splashing when brewing the coffee. Once the design was finalised, our tool making department created a two-cavity mould tool to produce two mouldings per cycle- reducing lead times and costs.
Selecting the most appropriate material for the Brew It Stick involved some trial and error- the material needed to withstand being used in boiling water repeatedly without melting or warping. Polypropylene was used for the basket and stem- this material is flexible, resistant to fatigue and impermeable to water. For the Brew It Stick holder, ABS was selected to provide rigidity, maintain a nice surface finish and to insulate the coffee, keeping it warm.
To allow water to flow into the basket and coffee to flow out, a mesh was included in the basket and lid. Selecting the correct mesh involved input from both teams- the Barista team tested out several different micron meshes (the size of the holes in the mesh) allowing for the perfect flow rate, settling on a 120 micron mesh.
Working with Barista & Co across the development and production of their Brew It Stick has been an interesting and rewarding project for BEC. BEC have now teamed up with Barista & Co to create a limited-edition BEC x Brew It Stick in BEC Day-Glo Green.
If you work for a design agency based in the UK and are a fan of great coffee, then get in touch for your free PR pack, including material samples and your very own Barista X BEC Brew It Stick!
Get in touch on 01425 613131 or email.
