The highlights are amazing, I have two. I also like spoons. But if you want a consistent amount of coffee to make a great espresso or drip, using an accurate scale is a practical, if slightly inconvenient, solution.
I still remember how every morning to weigh my coffee beans, I placed a small measuring cup on a digital scale, pressed the button on the scale, and waited about a second for the scale to read. Please zero the coffee beans before pouring them into the measuring cup. Back in the sands of time, I think it was October 2024, and I didn’t think this was a terrible inconvenience. That’s how a coffee scale works.
But you probably don’t need to. Over the past year or so, several coffee brands have taken root with the simple idea of being able to combine a measuring cup and a measuring device into one device. Trigger the light bulb on the forehead and the blue bird on the shoulder. Perhaps the most elegant of these is the new Subscale from Singaporean coffee brand Subminimal (also the maker of your favorite milk frother).
The subscale is in the form of a black-and-black cup that holds approximately 60 grams of coffee, with a scale accurate to tenths of a gram on the bottom. Since getting this device, it has stuck with my countertop and has made my morning coffee ritual a little more enjoyable.
keep it simple
The key to Subscale’s appeal is its radical simplicity. The world of craft coffee is currently full of new, complex, and sometimes confusing conveniences. Once a humble tool, the coffee scale has grown into a hub for coffee shops of all kinds. Fellow Tally Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends) does the math and also tabulates the recommended weight of water to get the ideal extraction ratio. The Bluetooth-enabled Acaia Pearl S tracks brew time and water flow while playing music.
Subscale does not do this.
It’s a cup. It’s a lightweight, refreshing, minimalist cup with a scale on the bottom that detects the feathers and accurately measures the weight of the contents. No Bluetooth, no apps, no special learning curve. It takes up very little space on your counter and looks great.