The story behind the Orea ICE 💙

I hope by now, many of you have snapped up the first two mini releases from the Orea X Process collaboration. It has been so rad to connect with Orea and find a way to champion each others brands and share with you our FAVOURITE way to brew coffee together. 

The latest release on these collab uses the suuuuper special ICE edition from Orea. It has an incredible story behind it that I feel articulates and exemplifies the journey of the our businesses over these last 3 chaotic years. 

You guys have been along for the ride too, keeping me hyped this whole way so I can’t thank you enough. 

Check out this story from Horia, and make sure you grab a brewer when the next release drops 🤙

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The following format to sell a product is perhaps a bit unconventional. However, I really want to tell you the story behind these brewers. These units have been through a lot in the past 6 months! If you're looking for a more conventional OREA brewer - more stock will come in the new year. Until then, I would like to tell you the story of my proudest release so far.

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The world's first coffee brewer 100% made from waste

The ICE & FROST OREA V3 were not meant to exist. There was never a plan to launch this style of brewer - it's really a story of adaptation to changing circumstances. 

When you manufacture, you inevitably create waste. In fact, in most sectors, manufacturers assume 15-30% of stock is scrapped in the process, removed during quality control before it ever makes it to you. These types of scrap rates can be even bigger at the start of a product's journey, especially if new materials or processes are used. Units that are scrapped are thrown away or sent to some kind of recycling centre. In fact, some of the plastic used in the OREA V3 recycled base comes from this kind of scrap waste from a sports bottle manufacturer. 

I was very unlucky to suffer such a bad early batch - where the majority of stock came with small visual imperfections. This was not only heartbreaking, causing delays and knock-on problems - but it also just did not fit with the philosophy of this company. It's just not acceptable to throw so much stock away - even though that's what everyone else does. 

Rather than going to the recycling centre, this stock went to a storage unit, sitting there until an idea to save them could come. Luckily it did - towards the end of the summer. Working with a local partner here in the UK, we tested various post-processing methods to fix the small issues. This resulted in two beautiful finishes to solve two different types of imperfections, giving birth to ICE (semi-matte) and FROST (matte). Both of these finishes are OREA V3 Clear (the original model), bead blasted with different size media and with different exposure times. 

Each unit is post-processed individually and carefully checked, one by one, to make sure it's as perfect as if we meant to make it this way from the start. 

In a huge triumph, we're managing to save 99.5% of these units. The result for you is an incredibly unique piece with a story behind it. This is your chance to own a unique piece of OREA history and to use the first brewer 100% made of waste!

Limited edition 

Because these units are made from the waste units of previous batches, they are naturally limited in number. There are less than 1000 of each and hopefully there will never be many more! We currently don't have plans to manufacture more of the clear Trogamid units and therefore we are unlikely to create this kind of waste again. These brewers are here only while supplies last! 

The same OREA brewer that people love

Besides the new matte finish, this is the same brewer that people around the world are falling in love with - made from a premium BPA-free plastic called Trogamid. A brewer with superior thermal properties, a consistent and truly flat bed, a fast flow rate and a knack for highlighting the sweetness and brightness in your coffee. In fact, it was good enough for the current World Brewing Champion, Sherry Hsu, to use in her world-conquering routine!

This is a great brewer. In general - it really is. But this model is really the best - because being good is not just about performance. This unit is something that no one has done before. This unit is stubborn. It has personality. It has a true survival story. These units have travelled a lot more than you or I in the past year - they have been checked and re-checked, stored, hated, forgotten, reborn. These units highlight everything that is wrong about how we approach manufacturing in 2022, and hopefully offer some kind of hope too. 

I hope they give you ideas, inspiration and joy every morning when you wake up and make your first cup of coffee. 

Horia,

Founder & Director