Coffee Tao

BMW and manufacturer Saeco recently designed a Starbucks-branded home espresso machine, dubbed the “Sirena”, which at the moment is only available in certain Starbucks stores and online:

The press release conveyed an almost comical degree of intensity about the design:

[…]experts from BMW Group DesignworksUSA were intensively involved in the entire product development process. It was imperative that the new design language reflected both quality and functionality of the newly developed espresso machine as well as the fundamental values of the Starbucks brand. In this crucial stage it was necessary to translate the specific brand values into the appropriate product character with regard to product architecture, gesture, color, material, surface, operation and proportions.

BMW DesigngroupUSA reportedly spent two years developing a unit that looks more or less like any decent midrange espresso machine and comes with zero extra features. It doesn’t look like a bad machine, but I’m not sure what exactly it is I’m supposed to be excited about or why it took three companies two years to produce. It doesn’t even carry the BMW roundel, though considering how loose some car companies are with their brand name, that may not necessarily be a bad thing.