Put That Coffee Down!

I really love my Google coffee alert. I know I've mentioned before that it tends to drop random coffee-related stories into my mailbox every morning at 6:30. This morning, one of those random finds led me to Youtube for a video of Alec Baldwin delivering his famous "Coffee is for Closers" speech in Glengarry Glen Ross. I cut this one down to just that part to share it. But then, my coffee obsession kicked in...

...and instead of watching the clip all the way through, I got distracted with wondering exactly what kind of coffee machine that is in the background. That led me to futzing around and trying to get a decent screencap so I could get a better look. Not a very successful attempt, I have to admit:

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/7829/14cb498b15ef419c92790eb.png" hspace="5" height="326" border="10" width="325" vspace="5" title="coffee machine from glengarry glen ross" alt="coffee machine from glengarry glen ross" />

The best I can figure is that it looks like one of those Bunn-style coffee makers with warming plates that burn your coffee to a fare-thee-well, which left me wondering why anyone would consider it a penalty to not be allowed to have coffee. I still wanted to find the machine, so I started poking around in a Google image search and that's when I found this beauty:

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/4926/1cbaf3106f684b788ca686e.png" hspace="5" height="606" border="10" width="475" vspace="5" title="Braun coffee maker c. 1970s" alt="Braun coffee maker c. 1970s" />

Yes, that's an eBay picture because basically, that's about the only place you'll probably be able to find this little beauty. It's a vintage Braun coffee maker dating to about the 1970s so I found it just about 40 years too late. It's a Braun Aromaster KF 21 c. 1972, designed by Florian Seieffert and Dieter Rams, Braun's lead industrial designer for decades. From where I stand, this machine is an absolute stunner -- and when I started poking  around online I found comments on blog posts from numerous folks who said that they're still using this little baby after owning it for 30ish years. Now THAT is stellar design. 

They pop up occasionally on eBay -- this one is priced at $329 -- but that's about the only place you'll find them now. Too bad they don't make them like this anymore!

And as a P.S. note: Yes, I did it. I ordered the Espressione Professional Burr Grinder the other day and it arrived this afternoon. I'm currently drinking the first shot made with beans ground in it and can I just say... bliss! I'll post a review later today after I do other work.