Continuing the $365 portafilter theme, I give you ... ta daaaa... the moonraker... https://youtu.be/6Xu3pWOPVdA Let the howls of derision begin!

I may as well get in first: with the cost of a unifilter and a moonraker you could buy a new Breville Dual Boiler. Any yet the Ultra Moonraker sold out in two hours. Not sure how many units that was but I suspect it was a decent number. I guess that there is still plenty of money around when they can sell a moonraker for around $US500 which does the job of a paperclip or Dave's toothpick. Mind you, he must be on at least his third one by now. I know, I know, it's better than a paperclip or a toothpick ... or is it? Not saying I wouldn't buy, just saying it's amazing what's happening at the top end of the market.

But then if it wasn't excruciatingly expensive, it wouldn't be a Weber. I mentioned in another thread that I was fortunate enough to have a chat with Douglas Weber when at MICE last year. I was trying to convince him to develop a hybrid grinder but he wasn't having any of it because he didn't think that it would achieve anything more than a normal pre-breaker on a large conical like an 83mm Mazzer Robur (HG-1 and 2, Key) . There's a slight chance to be knows a lot more about these things than me but nevertheless he was very patient with my persistent pleadings. The upshop of the conversation was that he didn't want to develop any products unless it was going to make a difference. Something new or something better or something different. And you would have to say that he's consistently stuck to that philosophy right from the outset. Color me impressed.

While it’s staggeringly expensive, it is definitely a thing of beauty. I’m going to stick with my piece wood with a few needles I though

This seems to be the way the coffee industry is going……god help us!

Weber moonraker

Cuprajake

Weber at this point are taking the pee with the prices

The guy is using his apple knowledge very well

Fool and his money comes to mind.

But hey if you can afford it then why not

Ive only ever had one Weber product the bean cellers and they lasted less than a year.

Each to their own but this is a bit ott for me.

JonWoo187

Cuprajake And no doubt Apple products are overpriced, overhyped and damn boring…

Ernie1

As a fan of Swiss mechanical watches, I approve.

MediumRoastSteam

Question is… those cogs are needed in a watch or a clock. But why are they needed in a distribution tool? 🤔

Ernie1

MediumRoastSteam

Because without them the $485 markup on a standard WDT tool would be an even bigger ask, even for Weber!

Ernie1

To be fair I do really like it, fantastic piece of engineering and WDT aside I can see it bringing a little moment of joy every time it’s used.

Obviously very expensive taken at face value but I suppose the coffee equivalent of a Leica or Patek.

MattH

They are defo going for the James Bond vibe with that music… I notice Moonraker has the TM after it.. wonder if they had to license the name (or they have).

Love the look - very mechanical watch… but wow.. I like a gadget but would draw the line there !

@tompoland There is a standard version you can still buy - and 150 dollars cheaper 👍

Cuprajake

i get paying for quality etc, …but paying hand over fist.

Dusk

What I always think with WDT is that you can’t guarantee how your ground coffee is going to land in your basket and so you can’t have a one size fits all approach to WDT. I do it by hand with one of those 8 needle things and it’s slightly different every time. Sometimes there’s a high spot that needs spreading to a low spot, sometimes it’s a bit more clumpy.

It’s a very pretty thing they’ve made and it does look expensive but not for me.

DavecUK

Was it an April fools?

Seriously though, an impressive piece of kit for the penile challenged.

InfamousTuba

This seems to be something very similar to this, although the Weber isn’t 3D printed:

https://imgur.io/a/DIKHt7M

Hopefully more companies will make similar tools that aren’t as expensive as Weber the same as the unibasket, eventually there will be some competition

Ernie1

InfamousTuba

Is that the same person? They’ve used the Spirograph reference and everything.

Sham

So unnecessary aha, could they pick a more over the top (and expensive) mechanism to move some needles around? This seems like they’re now making fun of the people who buy these things…

Sham

Just saw this, it seems that after only a few turns it is significantly worse! At least normal WDT tools are more even.

whinmoor85

Sham The website states ‘2+ turns is sufficient for a perfectly prepared coffee bed’ but the diagram shows 10 turns for full coverage 🤷‍♂️
https://weberworkshops.com/products/moonraker?variant=42184882421813

Beverast

Does it come with a makeshift cyanide tipped dart you can shoot out of it like in the film? If not I don’t approve 🤣

caffeinated-carp

This is absolutely ridiculous but as a piece of mechanical art, I do love it. Although actually just looked a second time and it’s not that complex, but it does still look lovely…

I’m not going to buy one.

mathof2

I suppose it (or something like it) makes sense if you’ve had continual problems with channelling that you’ve been unable to overcome with manual WDT. Sort of like a self-levelling, spring-loaded tamper for the tamper-challenged.

whinmoor85

tompoland

Not saying I wouldn’t buy, just saying it’s amazing what’s happening at the top end of the market.

Is it amazing? Weber makes expensive high end products so this follows suit. You should buy one and report back - £388 for a spinning WDT is definitely out of my budget 😂

Barista Hustle have a similar product called the AutoComb but it isn’t released yet and Etsy has similar tools available but they’re 3d printed plastic.

Looks cool overall but the James Bond advert is a little corny IMO.

tompoland

whinmoor85 should buy one and report back

Wasn’t going to but since that you’ve issued the directive, OK.

I mean, it would be rude not to now.

I’m in the first batch for the Ultra (in for a penny…).

ETA August.

(But I forgot to ask which year)

caffeinated-carp

I suppose you could say the puqpress is a bit similar in the sense that it costs a load to do something you could with a manual tool for virtually nothing. Not knocking the puqpress, looks quite cool.

I do think the moo taker is a lot for what it actually is, but then again that happens with everything I guess?