There are custom espresso machines and then there are custom espresso machines. And this one is definitely a custom espresso machine, the italics here to be doubly understood because there’s not a single vertical line on the whole damn thing. Copenhagen fashion brand Heliot Emil has teamed up with Scandinavian cafe chain Joe & The Juice to create a completely redesigned La Marzocco Linea Mini.
We have seen countless design modifications to La Marzocco espresso machines—some done in-house by Officine Fratelli Bambi, La Marzocco’s bespoke machine atelier, as well as aftermarket mods from Specht Design—but at the heart of all of those is still the foundational shape; you can tell a custom Linea is still a Linea. But this new customization has done away with all prior resemblances.
Premiering at Paris Men’s Fashion Week, the Linea Mini has been reimagined through the lens of Helio Emil’s Scandinavian industrial aesthetic. The housing was developed and machined by Madrid-based design and fabrication studio Caliper.
The immediate feature of the polished stainless steel Linea Mini is the lack of straight lines and flat surfaces. The choice was made for more than just looks—but what looks!—there’s function behind it. Or an intentional lack of function. Whereas the tops of most machines double as repositories for cups and other busy cafe necessities, this machine is designed to do no such thing. In this way that machine stands on its own, uncrowded and uncluttered. According to the Heliot Emil Instagram, the shape forces interaction with the beverage:
Espresso has a window. Two, maybe three minutes before the crema breaks and the temperature drops, before it stops being the coffee it was. The machine is built to protect that window. The shape is built to make sure you do not waste it. With nowhere to set the cup, you stay with the coffee for the only minutes it is truly perfect. We designed a moment to get the best out of your espresso.
Other design elements include a custom paddle and custom machined adjustment knobs—with the names of the brands involved etched into them along with the number 07, 13, 25, and 34, representing Heliot Emil’s design pillars—and drip tray.
It is, without question, one of the coolest, most unusual and outside-the-box (in that it is not a box at all) espresso machines customizations we’ve reported on in a long time. Is it functional? No, purposely so. Does it look like a brutalist chair that’ll keep your butt warm? A little bit. Do I want it? More than anything else in this world.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
All media via Caliper
