Anita Tam’s career as a musician, founder, teacher and specialty coffee professional has been a continuous pursuit of sharing a feeling. As she moved from spending decades teaching and performing music to founding her company Slow Pour Supply, Anita is sharing her knowledge and expertise in a whole new way: by honoring and reinventing the tools we use to create and enjoy specialty coffee.
A beautiful piece of music moves us in a way that nothing else can. It’s the feeling we get when we hear a perfectly composed soundtrack to a film or the way a song hits us with the windows down on an evening drive. It’s the awe we experience when we witness the sound of hundreds of voices singing in unison as it moves us to tears.
It’s the reason that music has been an integral part of the human experience since flutes were made from bone and reed more than 40,000 years ago. Over time, our cultures have developed more and more ways to share in this experience together, always exploring new ways to create the feelings that we can’t always express through words.
photo: Slow Pour Supply
“For the enjoyment of the one who pours.”
Throughout these developments, we’ve also become increasingly diverse and precise in the way we express ourselves through our art. We’ve explored tone and harmony and cadence and rhythm and everything in between as we continue to find an infinite combination of sounds that produce works of art that are momentary.
And while the Art of Music is fleeting as we feel it float through the wind to be lost and never experienced again, the feeling itself is never lost. It stays with us.
That feeling is what we’re all seeking, and you can tell that there’s an art to every part of Anita’s work
Just listening to her talk about this project has you sitting in the moment, on the edge of your seat, taking in what is a simultaneously palpable-yet-illusory passion that can’t be described as anything other than that surprising, unnamable moment where work and art meet.
This passion manifests itself as attention to every single detail, whether it be the art we’re experiencing, the tools we use to create, or the process of self-discovery that happens within any great artist along the way.
For Anita, a barista’s tools are just as important as a musician’s instrument. Making coffee is an opportunity to communicate without words, a chance to share one’s art as a daily practice that is oftentimes disguised as a familiar habit and might otherwise go unseen.
The Kimera 450 is the updated tri-spout latte art pitcher designed with such attention to detail that it conveys the type of timelessness that magically keeps you locked into the moment. For baristas, you’ll notice an immediate difference in the look, feel and quality of this design:
• Three Distinct Spouts offer a balanced way to grip the pitcher, as well as 3 separate tools to utilize, offering an opportunity to concisely pour hearts (WPM Spout #06), finer lines for rosettas (WPM Spout #07), and high precision drag & draw pours (new to the Kimera 450, Slow Pour Wide Spout #22).
• Workflow Design from the matte pink and black pitchers are equipped with a futuristic soft silicone, designed just as meticulously as the rest of the pitcher with comfort in mind, anti-static and slip resistant to ensure ease and repeatability in workflow.
• Tactile Control with ergonomics and 120-degree even spacing of the spouts create relaxed control and ease with pouring while providing the diversity and precision required by a professional that needs their tools to support the creativity and repetition required in their work.
The Kimera changed how I poured, instantly.
Ok, I’ve got to break the fourth wall for a moment: I had the opportunity to speak with Anita regarding this pitcher, to hear her story and enthusiasm surrounding this new release. While I quickly saw the vision, I still hadn’t used the pitcher, so the excitement was certainly building.
And damn I wasn’t disappointed.
I’ve been pouring lattes for almost two decades, and when using this pitcher, I quickly realized the significance of what I had been missing all of these years. Immediately, the tool felt completely different from so many others that I’ve used over the years. And once I adjusted my technique after 1 or 2 pours, I started to realize the implications for how easily my pours shifted in technique to produce the results that I wanted.
It reminded me of all of the moments I’ve tried a new instrument in my music or a new tool for woodworking that I hadn’t yet discovered. It was like the opportunity to create just became easier and repeatable in a way that was so much more accessible.
Tools are for the Artist and the Aesthete.
And for the ones experiencing the art? You might receive your cappuccino at a cafe and briefly appreciate the rosetta right before drinking, or you might capture a photo before sitting down for your meeting. For the more involved coffee drinker, you might pursue one of these pitchers for your own journey of making drinks at home.
Regardless of where you are on your journey to appreciate coffee, a professional, an enthusiast or a casual consumer of coffee and cafe culture, the Kimera 450 provides such a wonderful opportunity to experience the convergence of art and work in your everyday routine, oftentimes allowing the feeling to move through you without noticing…but I would argue the feeling never leaves you. It’s what keeps you coming back for more.
We’re moved toward our own self-discovery as we are compelled to witness the artist at work, and celebrate the creation that they have shared with us; the creation that we share together.
