Few objects but coffee machines can inspire such lust (and such snobbery) among creatives. They're like the designer's version of the football team – once you've picked a favourite, you're probably going to shout about it from the rooftops to anyone who'll listen. No wonder I've written so many articles about my own machine, the Moccamaster KBG Select.
And just like the most beautiful headphones in the world, when it comes to coffee makers, there's high end, and there's high end. But thankfully, for every barista-grade beauty, there's a more affordable alternative. Whether the coffee will taste as good is up to the experts, but you don't have to fork out over ten grand for a nice looking piece of kit.
We've brought together some of the most stunningly designed coffee makers around, along with what we think are some decent dupes.
Strietman CTv2
Of course it's made in the Netherlands. The Dutch are famously full of beans when it comes to designing coffee machines, and perhaps the best example is the Strietman CT2. Handmade from solid brass and stainless steel, the CT2 "returns espresso making to its material, manual- operated essence."
"It is a machine to be admired for the audacity of the design, the build quality, its engineering solutions," reads The Lever's review of the machine. "It is a machine that you have to take care of but at the same time when you use it, it makes you slow down, enjoy the moment and take care of yourself." Beautiful.
€2,520 at Strietman
The Strietman CT2 is a manual espresso maker with a solid brass group, stainless steel boiler, and wooden handles. Its open boiler design allows easy filling and maintenance. The lever system provides direct control over extraction, while the compact build ensures reliable performance and long lasting durability.
$599 at Coffee Friend
The La Pavoni Europiccola is a lever espresso machine with a 0.8 litre brass boiler and chromed brass grouphead. It has a stainless steel base and lever with Bakelite or wooden handles. Compact at around 5.5 kg, it heats in about 5 minutes and includes a steam wand and safety valve.
Moccamaster KBG Select Diamond Edition
And now for my personal favourite, the Technivorm Moccamaster KBG Select. Another Dutch design, this beautiful, solid and surprisingly affordable machine makes up to 10 cups of filter coffee.
"If you want a machine that looks stunning and brews a beautiful cup of coffee look no further," Our sister site Woman & Home said in its 4.5-star review. "Whilst this is slightly more expensive than the average drip coffee machine, it's also much more attractive, and incredibly easy to use."
Technivorm released a delightful 'Diamond Edition' (above) in 2024, but alas, it sold out two months later. Fortunately, it doesn't look a whole lot different from the brushed steel version below.
$328 at Amazon
The Moccamaster KBG Select is a filter coffee machine with 1.25 litre capacity that brews up to 10 cups in about 6 minutes. It features a selector switch for full or half jug brewing, a copper heating element that maintains 92-96 °C, a hot plate with 40-minute auto shut off, and a metal housing with a glass carafe.
$149 at Amazon
The Bonavita 5-Cup One-Touch offers single-button pour-over brewing into a double-walled stainless steel thermal carafe. It has a powerful heater (~1100 W) delivering stable water temperature around 91-96 °C. A showerhead design ensures even saturation of grounds. There is optional pre-infusion and automatic shut-off.
Kees van der Westen Speedster
Just look at it. Often described as the holy grail of coffee machines, the Kees van der Westen Speedster is about as iconic as it gets – and you've probably seen it atop the counter of at least one boujee coffee shop. As one Redditor puts it, "The espresso could taste like battery acid and I probably won't care. It looks amazing."
According to Coffee Geek, only six models of the Speedster were originally built in 2001. Designed by Kees van der Westen, it was "immediately considered one of the most desirable espresso machines in the world," and it's not hard to see why.
The kicker? The price. At over $15,000, this one isn't exactly an impulse buy. Which is just as well, because you might be waiting up to a year for a custom order. But if you've got the cash to burn, it's possibly the most beautiful coffee machine money can buy.
$17,499 at Pro Coffee Gear
The Kees Van Der Westen Speedster is a high-end single-group espresso machine with dual boilers: a 2.1 litre brew boiler and a 3.5 litre steam boiler. It features PID temperature control, adjustable progressive pre-infusion, self-bleeding saturated group, and a heat-exchanger to preheat brew water. Built from stainless steel with customisable panels.
$697 at Amazon
The Breville Barista Express is a semi-automatic espresso machine with built-in conical burr grinder offering ~16 grind settings. It has a 2 litre water tank, 54 mm stainless steel portafilter, and 15-bar pump with digital temperature control and low-pressure pre-infusion. Steam wand for milk texturing included.
