For a boss in Shenzhen, Mocha’s (pseudonym) office stands out as slightly unconventional.
In Guangdong, it’s common to find a tea table planted right in the middle of any boss’s office, no matter how basic or cluttered it might be. Mocha, however, opted for a bar counter, lined with his own company Cocinare’s drip kettles, coffee grinders, and mugs. He often lines up a row of cups for guests to sample coffee, introducing each bean as he pours: Brazilian beans carry a subtle nutty aroma, while Ethiopian beans lean bright and acidic.
Before founding Cocinare, Mocha led the home appliance category at cross-border e-commerce seller Aukey. Coffee was one of his biggest passions. In his spare time, he earned a slew of certifications related to the coffee industry.
During that learning process, Mocha came to a realization: the niche world of drip coffee gear still had untapped potential. “It’s a small market. Global shipments of drip kettles hover around just 1.2 million units. It’s a niche, but one that’s stuck in a pre-industrial era,” he told 36Kr.
In the realm of fresh-brewed coffee, drip sits at an intersection of accessibility and complexity.
Brewing a cup of drip coffee doesn’t require much—just a grinder, drip kettle, filter cup, filter paper, and a digital scale. A few hundred RMB is enough to get a basic setup. From boiling water to grinding beans and pouring, it takes under ten minutes to make a cup.
Yet the flavor outcome depends on countless uncontrollable variables: water temperature, pouring speed, hand movements. In specialty coffee shops, drip coffee often serves as a showcase of skill. It reflects not only the barista’s brewing technique but also the roast profile of the beans, and it tends to be one of the most competitively priced items on the menu.
In coffee-forward countries like Japan and the US, drip coffee comes at a premium. In China’s specialty cafes, rare beans brewed as pour-overs can fetch upwards of RMB 1,000 (USD 140) per cup, a price far out of reach for a typical espresso.
“Drip coffee still has room for new brands to emerge. It follows a different path than semi-automatic machines, and there’s a lack of competition. The market is small,” Mocha said.
In 2021, Mocha launched Cocinare as a brand focused on drip kettles. By 2024, its overseas revenue surpassed RMB 150 million (USD 21 million). The brand now claims to ship over 200,000 drip kettles annually and ranks number one in its category on Amazon in both the US and Japan. Its companion coffee grinders sold more than 30,000 units in 2024, and the smart coffee scale it launched in 2025 is said to have surpassed 10,000 units in sales.
Cocinare’s products are anything but cheap. Its bestselling model—part of a SpongeBob SquarePants collaboration—sells for RMB 1,698 (USD 237.7), while its legacy brand Flow typically priced its kettles around RMB 1,200 (USD 168).
Mocha’s entrepreneurial path offers a useful case study: in niche categories where product shapes and formats are largely fixed, a company with a knack for innovation can still achieve surprising success.
Making precision brewing accessible
Cocinare’s edge in a seemingly saturated market lies in its smart redesigns.
For anyone looking to brew distinct coffee flavors, a drip kettle is essential.
Single-origin beans often have unique flavor profiles, but only with precise brewing can these nuances come through. Design matters—the long spout on a drip kettle allows for controlled water flow, helping ensure even extraction of every gram of coffee. Users must also adjust pouring speed, direction, and volume based on the beans’ characteristics.
Perhaps because of the market’s size, competition in the drip kettle category remains thin.
Japanese brands emphasize spout geometry and kettle material. Most require manual pouring and temperature control, making them slightly cumbersome. That’s why specialty cafes may prefer temperature-controlled kettles when speed and consistency is a priority.
Temperature-controlled drip kettles come with built-in thermostats that precisely maintain water temperature, critical to achieving consistent flavor. These kettles heat water quickly and stabilize temperatures to avoid flavor inconsistencies.
Popular brands in this space include Fellow Stagg EKG, Bonavita, Brewista, and China’s Timemore. Their kettles typically offer digital displays, temperature settings (usually between 40–100 degrees Celsius, and spouts designed for controlled flow.
Mocha noticed a gap: many of these kettles use mechanical systems that aren’t particularly accurate. Heating was also slow due to lower wattage.
This became Cocinare’s breakthrough point.
According to Mocha, Cocinare’s kettles manage heating speed using a proprietary variable-speed algorithm that slows down as the target temperature nears, ensuring pinpoint precision. Their kettles operate at double the industry-average wattage, speeding up the boil. The spout design enables ultra-fine techniques, with users able to control water flow to within 0.3 grams.
“Normally, the drip-pour technique takes serious training. But with Cocinare’s kettle, even a beginner can pull it off.”
Lowering the entry barrier while serving users of different skill levels has been core to Cocinare’s product strategy.
Spout design influences water flow rate and thickness, suiting different brewing styles. Most pro-grade temperature-controlled kettles use a standard spout design, optimized for experienced baristas.
“We’ve developed different spouts. One called the S-handle has a weighted design that self-tilts, offering better balance and control. Our 700 series is the first kettle with visible water-level markings, designed for competition use. It makes mid-pour adjustments easier,” Mocha said. Tiny tweaks in design, but meaningful shifts in flavor.
A new SOP of coffee brewing
Drip coffee is beloved for its variability—and infamous for being hard to replicate.
Mocha saw an opportunity to stabilize the process using algorithms and tech, so even hobbyists could consistently brew great coffee.
Redesigning the kettle was just step one. Cocinare’s next big bet? The coffee scale. Its latest scale is projected to sell over 50,000 units this year.
A coffee scale is a standard tool in any brewing setup. Most scales today offer basic weight and timing functions. Pricing depends mainly on precision.
Mocha’s innovation? Adding a smartwatch-style screen and custom algorithm.
Once placed on the scale, the beans are automatically weighed, and the screen calculates the exact amount of water needed for the desired brew ratio. It also supports preset brewing methods like single-pour or three-stage pours, and guides the user with on-screen prompts. The scale can even measure and store flow rate, which is an essential factor in extraction concentration. Users can review and replicate optimal brews later.
“At its core, Cocinare’s product ecosystem is built on standardized hardware combined with a replicable SOP. The grinder, scale, and kettle work as a system to let users replicate their best-tasting brew one-to-one,” Mocha said.
He borrowed insights from the smartphone and home appliance sectors, and his background at Aukey shows. In Mocha’s view, home appliances are driven by mold and mechanical structure. Iterations come fast, sometimes in under eight months. In contrast, 3C products are more or less standardized. Cocinare bridges the two, with a unique product ecosystem and cost-saving production strategy.
Its latest grinder reflects this. The burr unit can be detached and fitted into both manual and electric grinders, interchangeable across all Cocinare models.
“Our products may end up like electric vehicles. Consumers can mix and match configurations to create their ideal setup,” Mocha said.
In terms of go-to-market, Cocinare leaned into B2B, tapping into the global coffee community. The industry’s maturity helped: coffee competitions, exhibitions, and cafes offered natural entry points.
“Most export-driven brands pick either B2B or B2C. It’s hard to do both. But coffee is different. It’s inherently global. There’s the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), and by sponsoring competitions and becoming an SCA member, we’re able to reach pros and place our gear in their hands.”
For a new brand, trust often starts in specialty cafes. Once professionals endorse a product, customers tend to follow. Cocinare’s gear made its way into shops and used foot traffic to fuel online sales—a savvy, if subtle, strategy.
Still, Mocha admits: cracking the coffee world isn’t easy for Chinese brands. Coffee is a foreign category, and one long dominated by overseas firms. Cocinare’s mission is to bring quality brewing into people’s homes. That’s its first step.
Drip coffee is both specialist and universal. Some enthusiasts chase perfection, while others just want a decent cup. The success of low-cost chains like Luckin Coffee proves there’s room for both.
Yet deep specialization in equipment demands a strong brand and user buy-in.
That’s been proven on the ground. A barista using Cocinare’s gear told 36Kr that the smart scale’s ability to measure and remember flow rate helps standardize and control quality. Its temperature accuracy is among the best they’ve used. “We don’t use most of the built-in functions as we have our own brewing habits. But for beginners, it’s a great way to start,” the barista added.
So far, Cocinare has won mindshare in one category. But in more mature markets overseas, whether it can produce breakout hits and scale further remains the bigger challenge.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Leslie Zhang for 36Kr.