The Concrete Coffee Machine
The ANZA coffee machine is, well lets face it, all abit odd. Coffee is this smooth creamy liquid that effortlessly swirls around in your cup and luxuriously pours from any coffee machine's outlet; concrete is quite the opposite and is this harsh and cold feeling material that is anything but a liquid (We're thinking a scene from the Flintstones). To that comparison, it may seem highly unusual to make a coffee machine out of concrete; the concept of the whole materiality is amiss, the logistics of the manufacture are presumably all abit odd and the overall aesthetic doesn't conjure up much luxury in any prospective customers' mind.
However, that said, the juxtaposition of concrete and liquid is wonderful and is a combination often used in modern architecture, and likewise, the materiality of the machine is all very urban, edgy and cool-cafe-like. Equally, the ANZA coffee machine's concrete comes as one solid piece and the various coffee-making-operation knobs are all porcelain, both echoing high quality.
We think the underlying question with the ANZA Coffee Machine is as follows: is the machine the way it is because it is simply bad design, or because it's actually quite awesome? SATORI & SCOUT feel that the fact that they state on their website: "Is it real? Yes. Are we serious? Yes", shows they've been asked this question before...
Assuming it sits in the awesome category, which it does by the way, you'd be interested to know that all ANZA coffee machines are 100% handmade in Berkeley, California, USA. This locale allows the machine to be fully designed, manufactured and continually used in the epicenter of American coffee drinkers. SATORI & SCOUT agrees with the brand that the bar is set high for coffee drinks' apparatus and they definitely nudged it that little bit higher.
In addition to the concrete structure, the ANZA coffee machine also features quartz stone, and the brand has flirted with teak, corlan and brass finishings. Such a shift in material choice of concrete looks to forge a new kind of aesthetic in kitchenware design, where functionality comes first and shiny (or lack of) chrome finishings come second. Irreverently expanding on the traditional espresso machine vernacular, ANZA wish for a change in opinion upon the traditional coffee house aesthetic. P.s Starbucks use those usual, widely available machines.
ANZA coffee machines are available online at Montaag.com.
Photography Credit : AnzaCoffee.com