Creation of a stand-alone milk steamer for home use

Abstract

Coffee, a beverage consumed by nearly every (young) adult on this planet. Black gold, the drink that keeps you awake and gets you through the day. Whatever the occasion, coffee is always there to accompany you. Coffee drinks consumed out of house are most often consumed with the addition of milk foam. The addition of milk fundamentally alters the sensory experience of coffee, it reduces bitterness, astringency and adds a degree of sweetness. Frothed milk especially enhances the texture and overall mouthfeel of the drink, contributing to a luxurious and novel sensory experience.

This luxurious feeling is especially present when consuming the drink, served with beautiful latte art, in a café. At home, this luxurious feeling is far from achieved by many people. Most often, the coffee drinks with milk are served with thick, airy and dull foam. An affordable product that can reproduce café quality milk from the comfort of your home currently not offered.

The need for such a product was identified during the master elective Build Your Start-up at the Delft University of Technology. This thesis aims to develop a working prototype of stand-alone milk steamer for coffee enthusiasts that allows them to create café quality milk foam at home. The results of this thesis will serve as a starting point for the further development to one day be used by many people around the globe.

During this project, the target group for such a product was formed and product wishes were identified through user research, market analysis and expert interviews. These wishes were combined to identify the required theoretical knowledge about milk foaming and foaming technologies for the further development of prototypes.

Fluid and thermodynamics models were created to aid the identification of promising technologies. Three heating technologies were identified that could showed promise for the creation of a stand-alone milk steamer. These technologies were evaluated using physical prototypes. Eventually, custom nozzles were designed to complete the prototypes. These prototypes were evaluated with experts and deemed very capable of reproducing café quality milk foam.

The final prototype that is revealed during the final presentation will serve as a prototype that serves multiple purposes. It serves as a technology demonstrator which can be further developed. Furthermore, it can be used as a tool to gather funds for the further development of the concept. All with the goal of eventually manufacturing and shipping a product to many customers.