Richard Penney

Male

Menomonie, WI

United States

Profile Information:

What is your position in the coffee industry?
home barista, coffee enthusiast, service tech/repair, supplier
Where are you located? ( City and Country )
Menomonie, WI, USA
How many years have you been in the industry?
four
If you are a barista or shop, are you interested in a barista exchange with another coffee shop/barista?
no
Tell us more about your coffee shop or barista skills.
I am almost to the point of realising my errors!
What cities or countries are you interested in traveling to?
None
About Me:
I am a retired Craftsman and I have been designing and making prototypes of products all my working career.
Since retirement, I have been making repair and custom parts for the professional and home barista. These take the form of fitted personal tampers and custom wood accessories. I also dabble in custom Jewelery and hand hammer formed hollow ware.
About My Company:
I am a small shop at this time. I do supply Orphan Espresso with some of their Un-obtainium parts for ancient machines. I can usually duplicate a replacement for a part that has broken. There a few parts for home machines for which I am the only manufacturer left. Old machines do not have a Original Equipment Manufacturers best interests at heart. So, often, they do not stock parts after only a very few years.
What is your favorite thing about the coffee industry?
The Aromas! and ... The friendships!
Website:
http://none

Comment Wall:

  • Gina Palandri

    Love all the pictures!!!!!

    May 1, 2008

  • Ray(mond) Wyatt

    Simply... Awesome!

    Jun 14, 2008

  • Peter Tam

    Hi Richard,
    I would like to know how does your lever spring machine work. Since, I never use that kind of machine, so I would like to know whether it make one shot by one pull, or several pulls. Does the pressure can be even through the whole pulling procedure, and the shot can be properly made or not.

    Thank you if you can spend some time to let me know.

    Jul 11, 2008

  • Peter Tam

    Thanks Richard,
    I may ask you more questions about your lever machines when necessary. Thanks for your detailed description.

    Jul 12, 2008

  • Taylor

    Where do I order?! Incredible.

    Jul 16, 2008

  • Barry Zeitlin

    Richard,
    As do I. Must be a sign of age, but there is nothing like a lever.
    --Barry

    Jul 16, 2008

  • John Van Domelen

    Namaste

    Richard,

    Thanxs for the nice comments.
    WOW - you make some stunning pieces yourself.
    Very nice work!

    Aug 5, 2008

  • Steve MacDowall

    Wow what a collection – Were did you get most of your collection living in Wisconsin? – My wife is from Wisconsin and it was hard at that time to find a place to get good coffee. It was some time ago. - Steve, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada

    Aug 24, 2008

  • Richard Penney

    Well, I have a bunch of friends and they and eBay have helped overfill the home. New shot of the Addiction alley today.

    Aug 25, 2008

  • Coffee Monk

    Nice work!

    Sep 16, 2008

  • Devin Pedde

    Hey Richard. The tampers look beautiful! Let me know the paypal info and we'll make it happen. Can't wait to use it on bar!

    Sep 24, 2008

  • Mike

    Nice Toys!

    Sep 27, 2008

  • Mike

    Did I say nice? Beautiful!

    Sep 27, 2008

  • Kevin Selig

    Richard, thanks for the reply!

    Jan 29, 2009

  • Steven Wendt

    I found Intelligentsia it looks amazing and there is one near me. I'll go apply this week. Have you made custom tampers for them? How did you find out about them?

    Sep 28, 2009

  • Joseph Robertson

    Yes, Richard, I do remember you from another web exchange. great to see you again. I would love to have you make some special wood Portifilter handles for me someday when the $ is ready and there. I have a new two gp Nuova Simonelli Aurelia with the stock black rubber/plastic handles. There is a craftsman in Oregon you may know, he sometimes gets coffee wood for work like this. His first name is Les, I met him on Sweet Maria's list and in person at a homeroasters gathering one summer.
    Love your site and work and look forward to meeting you one day,
    Warm Regards Richard,
    Joseph

    Nov 25, 2009

  • Joseph Robertson

    Richard, yes I figured you would know Les and his Thor tampers. I was just wondering if you knew him. The Speciality Coffee World is a small one but the custom tamper world is way smaller one. I saw some of your work, very beautiful.
    Your espresso machine work is to die for. My coffee dream is to get a hold of an old or new lever machine. If I get enough shops open like i would like I would just buy a new one. On the other hand the older ones are probably just as stable. My neighbor / grocer where I sell my roasts gave me a La Pavoni Pub V, needs to be gone through but I don't know where to get parts.
    Richard would you know or have any idea where I could locate parts for this older model?
    Joe

    --
    Ambassador for Specialty Coffee and palate reform.

    Nov 26, 2009