When our home-brewed coffee tastes fantastic, we often have one wish: to make it the same way again, for ourselves and those around us. But coffee preparation involves many factors, and it's not easy to master an espresso or filter coffee brewing process exactly the same twice.
Some home baristas use a notepad, some freestyle from time to time, and more and more are using Beanconqueror . Beanconqueror is the app from German developer Lars Saalbach. He provides Beanconqueror to the coffee community free of charge, is constantly developing the app, and is exemplary in terms of data protection and transparency.
We're excited about Beanconqueror and have used it several times in videos. In this article and the accompanying video, we introduce you to Beanconqueror.
By the way: If you want to add information about our coffees to the app, you can now do so easily using a button. You'll find these buttons integrated into many of our coffees.
In short - what is Beanconqueror?
Beanconqueror is available as an app for Android and iOS. The app allows you to track almost all variables of a coffee brewing process. Whether it's the brewing method, beans, grinders, scales, pressure sensors, and much more—everything can be entered into Beanconqueror or even integrated.
"Integrated" means that we can connect many Bluetooth-enabled scales, temperature measuring devices, and even refractometers or pressure sensors (which can be linked to, for example, the Faema E61 brewing group, the Flair , or the Cafelat Robot) to the app. These are displayed as a graph during brewing. However, we don't have to do all of this, although a connected scale unlocks many interesting possibilities.
Beanconqueror not only has an incredible range of features, but is also highly customizable. You can use the app as a flavor database for tasting results, as a recipe book, as a tool for comparing brewing tools or grinders, and even as a green coffee archive for home roasters. There are no limits to the app's uses. And the best part: the app is constantly being developed. Curious?
Let’s dive in and look at different usage methods.
Purchase recording of filter coffee
We're brewing filter coffee. We've already set up the grinder and brewing method, as well as the coffee to be brewed. These are now available for selection. We specify the brewing temperature, note the grind size, quickly check that the scale is connected, and press the start button to begin brewing.
We add the water for pre-brewing. Thanks to the connected scale, the amount of water added is visualized in real time. In addition to the time and weight, we see the real-time flow rate and the calculated flow rate. These graphs can also be deactivated in the settings.
If desired, we can mark the first drops and the end of the pre-brewing with a button. Brewing continues until the final amount is reached. When the dripping is complete, we stop the timer.
If you want, you can now add a note and rating of the coffee. Many other options can be activated in the parameters, such as saving the TDS, photos, or the actual brew volume. Was this brew your favorite? This way, you can save it as such and quickly find it in your brew archive.
Espresso purchase recording
Instead of the filter coffee method, we select a portafilter. Our input window changes, and Bluetooth-connected pressure gauges are also connected to the scale. This creates a new option: we can automatically start the brewing process when a defined pressure value is reached. Of course, we can still start the brewing process manually, manually recording the first drop and the end of any pre-brewing.
The graph now shows not only the weight on the scale but also a pressure curve. With espresso, we can also have the scale automatically stop brewing when, for example, a minimum flow of 0.1 g/s is reached.
And it gets even more impressive. Anyone with Bluetooth-enabled temperature controllers like the ThemaQ Blue or BlueTherm from ETI Ltd can even integrate temperature curves. Naked Portafilter offers a corresponding adapter that allows both the pressure sensor and the thermometer to be connected to the Faema E61 and similar devices. It's simply brilliant!
Functionality and flexibility
While the dispensing process is the heart of the software, its functionality extends much further. The app is also highly customizable. You can choose the functions and input options you want, even for each preparation method if necessary.
Is water important to you? Then you can unlock a water database and track water in addition to mills and filter methods.
If you want to save the Free On Board (FOB) or Farmgate price of your coffee, you can enable it. You log and save whatever you want. Nothing more, nothing less.
You design your views, interfaces and workflows according to your taste.
Open source, transparency and data protection
The app is exemplary in terms of transparency and data protection. When we were thinking about our CO2 calculator for roasters , Beanconqueror was a source of inspiration in this regard.
It transparently shows which data is tracked, how the app is financed, and what financial expenses are incurred. Lars and the supporting developers also disclose the entire source code .
Want to support Beanconqueror? You can do so here.
Supported tools
We're currently testing various Bluetooth-enabled devices, so we've also read through the lists of supported devices on Beanconqueror. There's a lot going on, and the work being done here by Lars and a small community of open source supporters shouldn't be underestimated.
In fact, every Bluetooth scale and every interface must be integrated individually. And while common sense suggests that all scale manufacturers should celebrate this, some behave rather disreputably by not supporting open systems or even actively putting obstacles in their way. Unfortunately, Acaia, the global market leader in Bluetooth coffee carts, must also be mentioned here.
What is currently supported?
scales
- Decent Scale
- Acaia Scales
- Felicita Scales
- Hiroia Jimmy
- Scale 2
- DiFluid Microbalance
- Smartchef Scale
- Blackcoffee.io
- Eureka Precisa
(As of September 8, 2023) Updates are constantly being released. It's best to check the app directly to see which other scales have been integrated.
Pressure gauges
- Press sensor
- Smart Espresso Profiler
- Popsicle - Do It Yourself
Miscellaneous
- Refractometer DiFluid R2
- ETI Ltd Thermometer ( ThermaQ Blue )
Bean storage and statistics
Beanconqueror can also be your bean store. You can create your own beans or import them from roasters that support Beanconqueror. We're doing this with more and more coffees and are constantly adding more. In our case, you can import the bean information from the website. Some roasters even have a QR code printed on the package. Also handy.
Once you've scanned the beans and entered the quantity, Beanconqueror tracks your consumption and shows you how much coffee you have left. All of this fills your personal consumption statistics. How much coffee did you grind? How long did it take you to brew? How much money did you spend on coffee...
But if you'd rather not know, you don't have to look at these numbers.
Thanks to our Lelit Bianca test, my portafilter usage has definitely increased significantly, pushing the V60 and the Hario Switch out of my personal top list, says Beanconqueror.
Currently, the following roasters have imported information into Beanconqueror:
- We 😉 (in the German and Swiss shop)
- The Coffee Board
- Onoma Coffee
- Max Hase
- Roestbar
- Van Gülpen
- Good Karma Coffee
- Hoppenworth & Ploch
If we missed your roastery, please comment below this article so we can update the list.
Conclusion and thanks
Beanconqueror is a truly fantastic tool. It makes brewing easier and simultaneously opens up a wide playing field for us. All this is free, data-secure, and with direct access to the developer, who offers direct support on Discord , by email, on Telegram, and in English and German coffee forums.
Beanconqueror is a great asset and a gift to the entire coffee community. We'd like to thank you and look forward to exploring the app further and featuring it in more videos.
We're just getting started with Beanconqueror. At the same time, the app is developing so dynamically and incorporating so much input from the community that we're pretty sure there's still a lot of potential. With that in mind... here's to more, and thanks, Lars.
PS: We've exported the first espresso shots from Beanconqueror and imported them into the Visualizer, which can also be used to archive Decent Espresso shots. Another tool we'll be taking a look at.
