“Kid in a sweetshop” would be a pretty good description of the vibe upon pushing open the doors to their showroom. It had been a while since I visited and in the meantime, the offices and demonstration area have undergone a cool refurb, with gleaming new machines on plinths, some coffee-based curiosities on shelves and walls, and some as-yet “secret-stuff” undergoing testing in distant corners.
Chris Austen, captain of the Conti ship, and Geoff Cliff of Compak grinders spent the next couple of hours talking all things coffee and equipment. Conti, born in Monaco in 1956, and Barcelona-based Compak, also founded in the 50s, have certainly both got the heritage and track record as stand-alone companies, but they joined forces some time ago to offer consumers some fantastic all-round package options. It’s uncanny – so similar are the two company’s design ethic and quest for better tech that everything looks like it was born on the same drawing board.
My head’s still reeling from the intricacies of a steam boiler, cold-water infusion, the benefits of a silicon group gasket, and more - I’m sure Chris hardly delved far at all into his engineer-orientated brain, But, basically – are you going to get a great coffee from this kit? Is it reliable? Easy to use, clean, maintain? Yes, yes and yes! Oh, and it looks awesome too. Banish the stainless-steel box – coffee machines are now statement pieces to form part of the décor.
Since day one, Conti and Compak have supported us at Stewarts Coffee Roasters as we’ve put their kit into our wholesale customers’ environments. We’ve never felt “lost in the system” of a corporate giant with these guys, and guidance and assistance is always on-tap.
An interesting couple of hours in great company. Thanks for the tour, the tech talk, and the T-shirts…I’ll be back!
Mark