The changing style of espresso business: combining sleek styling and superior functionality, espresso machines from Espressonistic Works redefine the "hands on" approach to coffee making. Here, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal explores the different models of the company, as well as its creator Kees Van der Westen.

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Kees Van der Westen is one of those people who invented himself in his career. He did not come from a coffee background, nor even from a machinery one. He turned to espresso machines somewhat by chance, as part of his studies in industrial design.

His keen interest in the industrial designs of the now classic Italian espresso machines of the 1950s and 60s conjoined with a passion for the same period in American automobile designs. The results are visually striking and unique.

The espresso machine housing Kees' designs have elements from both forms--the classic Italian espresso machine and the post-war American car, yet they also carry architectural touches including usage of very sturdy materials, both opaque and translucent, plus exterior lighting.

His interest in espresso machine design became a career choice at a time when there were no espresso machines being built in the Netherlands. The source for the interior brewing dynamics at that time could only be Italy. After some experimentation he settled for several years on an interior machine by La Marzocco.

Although La Marzocco still sells one model designed by Kees, with its own technology, in recent times Kees has evolved his own espresso works, which may explain the name of his company--Espressonistic Works.

Kees has not rushed towards success, sometimes it has seemed he's been pulled to it protesting. But Kees's work, fraught sometimes as with that of all artists by times of frustration, has brought international recognition. This has now forced him from his "atelier" at his home near Eindehoven into a new small factory of his own in the town of Waalre.

The new facility opened a year ago in April. It occupies 400 sq. meters and is used by four workers. Here, Kees is manufacturing three models of his own creation from outside to inside. These are the Mirage, the Velose and the Speedster. All parts for these models are made by Kees or by unique supplies according to his dedicated designs.

As for the "housing" design, Kees seems to follow certain rules--make it striking, make it sleek, make it fun ("beautiful" ought to be added too, depending on how one might define that). But an espresso machine to Kees is obviously the sum of its parts--the exterior and the interior are a single idea to him, an organism when in operation--and the value of this sum is equally in thirds; how it looks, how it "drives" and the quality of the cup it can produce.

The Mirage family is available in two or three groups, and in two different bodies. The look of the big Mirage Triplette Classic (three groups) incorporates glossy stainless steel and glass. On the customer side, there is a grandly elegant car front-grill-like effect. The Classic (on the barista side) is a lever machine.

Kees Mirage "Velose" model is in a different body style, and is a non-lever version. It features a touch pad, while still giving the operator maximum control of the coffee. Front and rear are distinguished by an intricate polishing design work on the stainless steel.

The Mirage has a single boiler, features the "Idro compresso" system for levers (levers are also available on the semi-automatic model) and thermosyphon heat exchangers

Kees has more than 500 of the Mirage espresso machines running--in far-flung places, but mostly in New Zealand, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

The Speedster is Kees's newest creation. It began in production earlier this year. Speedster is a double, stainless steel boiler machine with one group. It has features like no other espresso machine and one can literally "drive" it--hence the name.

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The Speedster is meant for offices, small-volume HORECA espresso bars and for home use. Its features include "PID" constant water temperature control and a progressive infusion cylinder (PPIC). The housing is of a three-mm thickness over the entirety of the exterior.

The Speedster is operated by a small lever, somewhat resembling that of a Ferrari gear shift, that is actually mounted into a gated holder to give something of a gear-shifting feel to the operations. Speedster also has what could be called its accelerator--that is, a toe button actually on the floor below the machine that the operator uses, hands free, to activate the steam wand.

As a final touch to what is the most unusual espresso machine yet in Kees's repetoire, the Speedster has on its front a small lever that erects itself as the water pressure builds. The brewing process is thus made visual; the dynamics of espresso brewing become dramatic.

And drama--in design, in usage, in function--are as much a part of Van der Westen's espresso "dream" works as is the perfection he seeks in the drink itself.

Espressonistic Works can be found on-line at www.kessvanderwesten.com.

SEI At the Starting Line

Sistema Espresso Italiano, or SEI, has a mirage-like quality. But behind its new name, the fact that it is indeed a new coffee roasting company with several brands, and that it occupies a very new, quite large headquarters and factory facility just outside Rome, SEI is an established reality with coffee connections that give it a reinforced-concrete foundation.

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This is due to some extent to its creator and president, Stefano Palombini. In the Roman coffee business community the Palombini name is among the more prominent. The Palombini family has long been active in coffee roasting and the current Palombini coffee roasting company is the largest in the city in terms of its total capacities.

Stefano Palombini grew up, as so many children of roasters do, with coffee in his blood. A man in his 30s, Stefano's understanding of coffee, especially of espresso and of coffee markets is deeper and more passionate than one would expect for a man of his age.

In Rome, drive and ambition are also associated with the Palombini name and explain why the company is known throughout Italy and abroad. Again, upon meeting him, Stefano shows these attributes in an ever-courteous manner of thoughtful, but guarded intelligence.

Stefano has good help in realizing SEI, which began moving into its new home last October. These include Dante Andrenacci, SEI master roaster for its various brands and one of Italy's respected roasting and blending experts. SEI has further experienced help from marketing manager Roberto Pregel, among the international industry's more knowledgeable sources on coffee in general and specifically on the technical details and know how of the nature and preparation of Italian espresso.

Since Tea & Coffee Trade Journal last reported on SEI, the company's offices and factory have been virtually completed. Located in Pomezia, a few kilometers outside Rome, the building covers 4,500 sq m. The roasting plant is customized to SEI specifications. Robotics are a major feature along with a controlled atmosphere system from roaster to end-of-line packaging. Processing equipment is by Brambati; the various packaging line genres include pod machines by IMA.

As for articulating Sistema Espresso Italiano coffee philosophy, Pregel is ready: "We think of ourselves as part of the avant-garde in espresso. Espresso must change and we think one way is to stop thinking in terms of tons, or specifically of a kilo. We think the 'kilo' must be replaced with a focus on the 150 cups it contains, of making 150 espressos each of which will please the customer."

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SEI SpA is currently established to produce 14,000 tons of roasted coffee annually, with an export quota of 35% of production. The company is networking distribution in 25 countries. But both Stefano and Pregel are seeking an even wider export base.

As it begins, Sistema Espresso Italiano is structured as three administrative groups--SEI Vending, SEI Sardinia and SEI France. This will change as the company evolves.

Its portfolio of brand names--brands already in existence but which SEI acquired to develop to their full potential--include Bascaglione, Kamali and Paradiso. Bascaglione, among the oldest coffee brands in Italy, is positioned as the company's premium espresso line. Market targets for the brands are HORECA, OCS, vending and retail. The house brands now extend into more than a dozen extensions. These cover the major market niches--whole bean, ground, pods and capsules.

The demands of the international espresso business sector are rapidly diversifying and expanding. This is natural as the drink moves further, deeper into global markets. It is also part of the new espresso-delivery products that are altering the serving landscape everywhere, even in Italy itself.

Company concepts like those of Espressonistic Works and SEI are the avant garde reply to demands for new coffee, better coffee--roasting and packaging to supply as many market sectors, as many niches, as possible; giving style and a premium quality image to coffee bar service. In many ways one can see companies like SEI and Espressonistic Works being radical reinventions of coffee--not an update of an old structure, but something altogether new.