Have I mentioned just how much I love the coffee machine in our office lunchroom? This machine isn't some random start-a-new-pot-after-you-finish-the-last-cup beater; it's a WMF Bistro Classic, the pinnacle of German hot-drinks engineering. With the touch of a few buttons, you can be served in seconds with coffee drinks that I've never even heard of. Coffee beans are ground, milk is steamed, water is heated -- and all you have to do is put your cup in the right place and wait.
But since I'm a part-time coffee drinker -- an amateur who really only enjoys it when I'm in the right mood -- the reason I really love this machine is because of its hot chocolate attachment. Freshly-made hot chocolate in less than 20 seconds!
Of course, like most precision German machinery, all this performance comes at a price -- the only German site that I can find selling the Bistro online gives it a heart-stopping list price of 12,336 Euro (or $15,056.09 at today's exchange rates!) . . . and that's without the hot-chocolate attachment!
The coffee machine that's on our floor doesn't make any hot chocolate; it's a lowly WMF Cafemat V without any extras. But for only €10,886, I guess that you can't expect too much. As I trudge downstairs for my cup of cocoa, I can take heart in the fact that the company is saving money -- money that I'm sure we'll find in our quarterly bonuses. It's like 1999 all over again!
(Notes: WMF is a German company, but the corporate links above go to WMF Japan because they have a better English-language site than WMF USA. Also, I've found a US retailer selling the Bistro Classic online; they're only charging $12,950. Hurry, before they wise up!)
Posted by Kevin at March 4, 2004 06:24 PM