Acaia Pearl Model S Review

The Fundamental Coffee Brewing Scale

For our last coffee equipment review of the month, we decided to bring you something very special. After some discussion with our friends from abcoffee we finally decided that was time to team up with our friends from Acaia to end this month in the best way possible. So, without further ado, let’s start this Acaia Pearl Model S Review.

The Acaia Pearl Model S is a professional-grade smart scale that brings consistency and insight to your coffee brewing. It provides all the help you will need to make that perfect cup of coffee with its essential brewing modes, real-time flow-rate display, and the all-new built-in Acaia interactive coffee brewing guide.

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A New Generation of Scales

The Acaia Pearl Models S is the successor of the original Pearl. A scale that stood for years as the premium coffee scale of choice in the industry. Whether you work with espresso or pour over, this was an excellent tool. With the new Models S, Acaia expands on its capabilities.

The first difference in this new model is its new dot matrix LED display. The denser display allows the Acaia Pearl S to provide more information at once. The best way to access all the capabilities of this scale is by downloading the Acaia’s Brewguide app. Through the app, you will be able to adjust settings and quickly navigate through the 5 different brew modes.

The flow rate mode is one of the three new modes in this scale. As the name suggests this mode display flow rate, time and weight. By taking a rolling average of the number of grams of water added per second, it gives you a live display of how heavy you pour is. A handy tool for keeping your brews truly consistent. You’ll also have the flow rate practice mode, which gives you a visual display, allowing you to practice keeping a steady pour.

Last but not least, the third new mode is the Brewguides, which we’ll talk about further in this review.

Besides these new modes, you have two more modes, espresso, and portafilters that are Acaia staples that can help you streamline your workflow by automatically taring your portafilter and timing your shots accordingly.

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Brewguides

The main attraction of the Acaia Pearl S is the new mode Brewguides. This mode, that is controlled through the app, will let you create your own brew guides. You can personalize them with just simple information on the dose of water and coffee, or with detailed information, like the time you need to bloom your coffee.

Having the ability to programming things like time and weight of each pour, and wait periods in between, let you create a road map for your favorite pour over recipe. To access the Brewguides mode, you simply need to press and hold the tare button for two seconds. After entering this mode each step that you programmed will happen in sequence.

This kind of walkthrough integration is perfect for newcomers to pour over. Even in cafes, this type of information could be very helpful, guiding baristas through each pour over and cutting down on training time.

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The Same Pedigree

Behind all these new app features, the Pearl Model S is still the same powerful, durable scale that Acaia is known for. Water-resistance will protect the unitfrom splashes during brewing, and it is accurate to a tenth of a gram.

This new model is an excellent upgrade to its predecessor. Although the existing Pearl is still a powerful scale, the Acaia Pearl S steps things up a notch. On the surface, both scales look identical but the Brewguide app will take this new model to a whole different level.

Acaia’s scales have been a reference in the coffee industry and the new Pearl Model S it only reinforces Acaia’s place of reference, as the best brand of coffee scales in the world.

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Product Information

Technical Specification

Product Dimensions: 6.13 x 6.13 x 1.26 inches / 16 x 16 x 3.2 cm
Item Weight: 1.3 pounds / 606 g
Item model number: PS001/PS002
Battery: lithium ion, USB rechargeable
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0
Display: LED Dot Matrix Display
Capacity: 6.6 pounds / 3 kg
Measuring Units: oz / g
Permissible Error Range +/- 0.2 g
Increments: 0.1 g

At the End of Acaia Pearl Model S Review

All in all, the Pearl Model S is an incredible scale and a considerable upgrade to the original model. It has useful new features, fast response time and also a bigger display. It’s clear that Acaia used their experience and its strengths in app development to create the best coffee scale experience we’ve seen.