Coffee Legend Killed After Being Crushed By A Brewing Machine

Sad news out of Chicago today, when a legendary coffee expert was killed while installing a brewing machine. The coffee expert, Jim Karr, a former employee at Intelligentsia Coffee, was on the job when he was fatally injured after a coffee machine fell on top of him.

Karr, who also founded a coffee start-up company, sustained fatal injuries while setting up a large coffee machine. According to DNA Info Chicago, Karr was trying to steady his balance on the machine, but instead of securing his footing, the machine fell on top of him.

According to the authorities, the coffee expert’s head and chest were injured, and he was quickly taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead a mere twenty minutes after the accident was called in.

A former employee of Chicago’s Intelligentsia and a valued member of the coffee community, Karr gained prominence as a director of brewing technology at Intelligentsia Coffee. In 2012, Karr left to found the startup company SteamVolt.

SteamVolt is a startup that takes the mechanics of craft coffee to the next level. On their page, it states that their experts, “perform emergency & episodic repair, installation, preventative maintenance, refurbishment & modification.”

The machines they service are espresso machines, coffee brewers, espresso & coffee grinders and hot water dispensers.

DNAinfo reported, “Karr was a technician who installed, repaired and modified coffee brewing equipment, and those who knew him said he was one of the best in the country.”

Karr’s start up company, SteamVolt, lists its service as, “a progressive technical service agent offering a new approach and methods to the unique and nuanced needs of the craft coffee industry.”

A local coffee shop in Chicago, Dark Matter Coffee, released a statement about Jim Karr’s death via their official Facebook page:

“This past Saturday, we lost one of our own. Our friend, Jim Karr, legend and mentor to the entire specialty coffee community, passed away by a freak accident while setting up for Bike The Drive.”

The online eulogy continued:

“He believed in and supported our views on business and coffee and constantly ideated with me new ways for us to do both better. Jim will be missed dearly, but his work will be forever be lived out by the people he has touched in life. My team and I are lost, but will move on and only become stronger because that’s what he would want us to do.”

[Image via PondPond]