Australian Gourmet Traveller - (10)October 2019 (1)

SydneybrandLeifis goingthroughan

artisticphase:itslimited-editionrangeof

vaseswithMelbourne’sHeideMuseum

ofModernArttiesinwiththegallery’sAn

IdeaNeedingtobeMadecontemporary

ceramicsshow,onuntil 20 October.The

porcelainvases,whichareshapedby

handandinspiredbyLeif’scosmetics

bottles,areavailablefromthemuseum

giftshop.From$105,heide.com.au

Coffeefarms

overlookingthe

MagdalenaRiver

atSanAgustín

inColombia.

Espresso or filter? Soy milk or almond

milk? Cold brew or iced latte? Ordering

coffee is a multiple-choice ritual – and now

there’s a new option to consider: bean-less.

Food scientist Jarret Stopforth and

entrepreneur Andy Kleitsch are behind

Atomo, a US brand of coffee made

without beans. It’s firstly a response to

environmental threats (it’s been predicted

that by 2050 only half the world’s current

coffee-growing regions will still be viable),

but it’s also fuelled by a desire to create

a brew that’s not bitter. For the project

Stropforth says he analysed “more than

1000 compounds that make up the flavour

and aroma of coffee” and replaced them

with other plant-based versions.

But can a lab-made brew rival the

complexity of coffee made with beans

grown on the slopes of Colombia or

hand-picked from a Kenyan foothill?

Stropforth thinks so. By “using the

molecular dashboard we built through

our coffee-bean breakdown”, he says,

he can mimic regional flavour notes.

“We had nearly 700 backers from

around the world on our Kickstarter,

and a ton of interest from countries we

weren’t able to ship to at the time,” says

Kleitsch of Atomo’s launch this year. The

brand has also received a $3.8 million

boost from Horizons Ventures, one of

Impossible Foods’ first supporters.

But with the taste of coffee beans

influenced by where they’re grown

and how they’re roasted, Dan Yee, of

Sydney’s Artificer Coffee, wonders how

Atomo can compare. “It’d be like making

wine in a lab without grapes,” he says.

Rather, Yee thinks the brand will be

better suited to supermarket aisles than

specialty coffee roasters.

Lachlan Ward, of Melbourne’s St

Ali group, is more open. “St Ali will

continue to work with and champion the

great work that our partner producers do

at origin,” he says. “But if we ever reach

a ‘peak coffee’ scenario, whereby great

coffee ceases to be available, we would

look to synthetic solutions.”

Kleitsch says he doesn’t want to

alienate artisan roasters: “We’re not here

to debunk coffee; we’re creating Atomo

to give people choice.” With production

launching in early 2020, beans could

start vanishing from your caffeine fix

sooner than you think. atomocoffee.com

The bean-less buzz

Could the coffee bean become a has-been?

24 GOURMET TRAVELLER

News

PHOTOGRAPHY NORMAN HOLLANDS/GETTY IMAGES (SAN AGUSTÍN).