as with all great origin stories, modbar starts with two bandmates in a basement. in the early 2000s, corey waldron, guitarist by night, was working as a barista and roaster when he started thinking about the disconnect between drink production and drink consumption. as a barista, he understood the craft going into each drink, but didn’t feel it always translated to the customer standing on the other side of a big countertop machine.

corey’s initial thinking, combined with bassist aric forbing’s experience as a machine pattern engineer, soon turned into a brand new way to design an espresso machine, with the inner workings tucked neatly under the counter.