Lehmus Roastery honors the name of its roastery and the beautiful linden trees of Lappeenranta by launching coffee measuring spoons made from local linden.
The origin of the raw material for the dimensions can be determined with an accuracy of one meter, as the dimensions are made from linden branches felled at the intersection of Valtakatu and Suonionkatu in Lappeenranta.
"In the spring, we contacted the city's gardener Hannu Tolone and announced that we would be interested if the linden trees were ever cut down and there was no other use for the wood. Hannu promised to be in touch if and when some trees unfortunately had to be cut down," says Lehmus Roastery's Marketing Director Arttu Muukkonen .
Due to the renovation of Valtakatu that began in the spring, a couple of linden trees had to be felled. The trunks themselves were rotten, but there were a few branches that the Lehmus Roastery staff were able to see.
"Otherwise, these would have been taken to the landfill, but we saved a few branches without a more specific plan for their intended use. While staring at the trees, the idea of wooden measuring spoons came to us," Muukkonen says.
Ville Naumanen from Luomus Woodworks and Arttu Muukkonen from Lehmus Roastery checking the goods in early summer.
Ville Naumanen, a woodworker from Luomus Woodworks in Lappeenranta, was involved in the project at the beginning . Naumanen makes various creations from wood in his workshop, so a log of linden was a suitable challenge for Naumanen.
"We had heard that Naumanen strives to use natural joints and avoid all kinds of screws and nails in his work, so we thought it suited this kind of coffee shop vibe perfectly."
Soft hardwood is shaped from a branch into a delicate measuring spoon
Naumanen accepted the task and set about designing a measuring spoon that would fit the Lehmus Roastery vibe. But before that, the logs lying on the ground had to be quickly dealt with.
"Fresh wood is very moist and downright wet in this early summer , so first it had to be sawn into planks and then dried so that the wood wouldn't start to mold and go bad."
The project has not been time-consuming or labor-intensive. At first, Naumanen sawed planks from shorter logs with his own band saw , but he took the larger logs to the field circle at the end of the airport. There, the wood quickly took on its smooth shape.
At the Luomus Woodworks workshop, Ville Naumanen sawed test batches of logs during the summer.
After that, the trees were transported to a carpenter in Taipalsaari to be dried.
"We've been really pleased to have received help from colleagues on this project in general. During the three weeks of drying, the planks became dead. After that, the planks no longer start to warp, and you can even make larger products from them."
At the same time, Naumanen had already begun to draw the shape of a measuring spoon and made the first models from planks he had cut himself . He could have carved a single spoon by hand, but now it was known that spoons would have to be produced almost in series.
"The roastery wanted the shape to be Scandinavian, clear and simple, but with a bit of roundness. That's when I started drawing different designs and at the same time thinking about what was annoying about the coffee dimensions . Pretty quickly, the idea of a graceful Scandinavian shape just came to my mind.
The source of the irritation was found: the length, or rather the shortness. It's miserable to put your whole hand into a coffee packet to pick up the bottom of the packet .
Naumanen first planed the 32-millimeter planks that came from the drying process into 28-millimeter straight planks. From there, he sawed 25-millimeter-wide blanks, which he finally planed a third time into 20-millimeter-thick strips , which he cut into pieces the size of the measuring spoon he had outlined .
Summer testing behind us
There is a hook on the back of the spoon that allows you to hang the measuring cup, for example, on the corner of a Lehmus Roastery coffee package for storage.
The first trial batch was put into test use in July.
"We still had to make some fine-tuning through use, so we shaped the hook on the back of the spoon so that it could be hung outside the Lehmus Roastery coffee package. We also trimmed the stem and end a bit. I also changed the size of the cup so that you can easily take coffee from the package with a spoon and 15 milliliters of powder can be easily measured without having to level or measure it by hand."
Naumanen milled the spoon shape using a modern CNC milling machine. Computer-controlled milling was necessary when the goal was to make more than one product.
"After milling, the frantic finishing begins, which must be done by hand. The spoon is rough, so it must be sanded by hand on all sides, sawed into the final shapes, surface treated, lightly sanded, and a second layer of surface treatment."
Milling several spoons required a lot of brainstorming, thinking, and testing.
"I just took it as an interesting challenge. As an old engineer, I had to strive to optimize the work stages. I built my own fastener molds that made some kind of series production possible. Using a milling machine was also challenging in a completely new way in this project. In itself, this was an engineer's dream to be able to create new, functional solutions."
Finishing and packaging add an extra touch to the measure
After all this, the finishing of the product began. The logos on the spoons were laser-burned at Varkaus Laser Marking .
"Yes, it took a couple of evenings, as we brainstormed with Lari from Laser Marking about the appropriate technology and placement for logos and other things."
In addition to the laser markings, Lehmus Roastery's visual team, led by artistic director Samu Koskinen, designed a package for the spoon. The spoon itself was beautiful, but such a valuable and beautiful product wanted to be packaged in its own gift-like package. The spoon is cushioned with shavings left over from planing the linden tree.
Naumanen has been creating things and objects from wood as his main job since the turn of the year, and before that as a side job for about 15 years. The request for the measuring stick was the first of its kind.
"What was atypical about this project was perhaps the small size of the final product and the idea of doing something a bit like mass production right from the start. I usually only make individual products. What was typical was that I was able to and wanted to make a shape that was in line with my own vision ."
It was nice to see how, over the course of weeks, you could dig out of a tree lying on the ground what you imagined the final product to be."
For example, a light-roasted Myllysaari coffee package serves as a handy hanging rack.
Linden is not a classic carpentry hardwood because it is very soft and easy to work with . Oak and ash, for example, are very hard, so they are better for making furniture, for example. The advantages of linden are the nuances of its grain pattern and excellent carving ability .
" The varying and colorful grain pattern makes each spoon unique in color and appearance. If these had been made from birch, they would all look pretty much the same."
Lehmus Roastery's unique coffee measures are on sale at the factory store at Satamatie 6 and online store . Price 21.90 euros per piece.
Satamatie 6 open Mon-Sun 12-6pm.
Lehmus Roastery coffees from Lehmus Roastery's online store , order here .
Instructions for use:
The coffee measure is made of Finnish linden wood, which has been treated twice with water, dirt and grease-repellent oil, which is suitable for food use. The measure can be cleaned with a diluted detergent mixture, not intended for machine washing. It likes to be used a lot.