A high-end coffee machine – all chrome, brushed steel and Italian branding – is a proven way to “prompt coos of admiration” from anyone who enters your kitchen, says Brad Nash in GQ Australia. “Imagine the reactions you’ll draw if you install one of these bad boys.” The look of the RS Black Edition from South African firm Super Veloce is based on the flat-six engine that powered Porsche’s 911 GT1 car to victory at Le Mans. It has a hand-crafted carbon-fibre exterior and perfectly combines “elegance and muscle”. Is it the “coolest coffee machine ever? Yep, we reckon so”, says Top Gear. It had better be – it’ll set you back £9,000. See superveloce.co.
A barista for your home
For a coffee “as close to a barista-brewed cup of the nice stuff as you’ll get”, look no further than De’Longhi’s Dinamica Plus, says Esquire magazine. It’s “a sizeable beast” and getting it to work will “take some sifting through the rule book” – it has more buttons and features than most machines, allowing you to adjust the temperature and even link to an app that saves your favourite brew and ensures the optimal dose of coffee. This machine is all about precisely customised cuppas, so getting lost in all the options is half the fun. £1,155, delonghi.com
The way to a better brew
“Nothing will improve your morning coffee like making the switch to whole beans that you freshly grind right before you brew,” says Scott Gilbertson in Wired magazine. Sage’s Smart Grinder Pro is one of the best you can buy. It has a programmable interface and more than 60 delicately tuned “grinding options” to help you get precisely the brew you’d like. It is also “incredibly easy to use” and gives excellent results. It makes for “a nice upgrade for homes with several coffee lovers all brewing differently”. £200, sageappliances.com/uk
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Even the best coffee machine is only as good as the beans you use, so why not try the “super premium” brew made from the excrement of a rare South African bird? Jacu, a coffee shop in central London, charges £30 for a cup of the brew. Owner Arif Graca is enthusiastic, saying “you have to try it to understand it”, as you would a fine whiskey or good cigar.
The jacu bird apparently has a knack for choosing the best coffee berries. Local villagers at a small estate in Brazil collect the droppings, which are then dried and packed for sale. The taste is fuller than you may be used to, but it smells more of citrus than of poo and “goes down smoothly”. 75 Page St, Westminster, SW1P 4LT, jacucoffeeshop.co.uk
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Jasper is a former writer for the MoneyWeek and he wrote on an array of topics including travel, investing in crypto and bitcoin, as well as cars. Previous to that he freelanced at The Art Newspaper, PORT Magazine and The Spectator. Jasper is currently a freelance writer at FAD magazine and he has an English literature degree from the University of Exeter, and a Master's degree from UCL.
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