There comes a point in every person’s life, somewhere around the middle of it, where one is likely to have a crisis of an existential bent. (If only there were a name for such a thing.) Historically this particular moment is accompanied by a large—some would say impulsive—purchase, maybe a sports car. But for those coffee minded, like the ones reading this article, there is a decision to make come major purchase time. Do you buy a motorcycle or an espresso machine? I mean, they cost about the same at this point, though one is certainly more beneficial, life-expectancy wise.
But what this espresso machine presupposes is: can’t it be both? ECM has released the Big Coffee Boxer, a single-group espresso machine made out of a BMW Boxer motorcycle engine.
Created by the German-based ECM (which stands for, quite Germanly, Espresso Coffee Machine), The Big Coffee Boxer is a limited edition espresso machine, combining an E61 brewing group into an original BMW Boxer engine block. Weighing in at a scant 64kg (a little ove 140lb), and measuring 90cm across (almost a full three feet), the statement espresso machine features a heat exchange system and a 1.9L boiler, with the ability to be plumbed in directly to a water line and an optional pre-infusion.
And it looks every bit like a motorcycle engine. It certainly look possible to mount it, assuming you were able to make espresso upside down. It kinda reminds me of the time in Aqua Teen Hunger Force when Carl painted flames on his above-ground pool, which is to say the Big Coffee Boxer looks like it’s tearing ass around the backyard, but it’s staying still.
Only 80 of the Big Coffee Boxer espresso machines will be made and will cost a cool €7,900 ($9,180 USD). Each unit is made by hand, thus there may be a waiting period come purchase time.
The only thing left to do now is pit the Big Coffee Boxer against a La Marzocco Leva and a Kees van der Westen Spirit against one another in a race. Germany versus Italy versus the Netherlands. It’s all very Formula One.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
