Those who can look at the above coffee temple and not see a Steampunk automaton staring back at them, are possessed of a different frequency of mind than I posess.  While it looks very much as though it should be able to create and serve the coffee under its own mysterious power, it’s actually the Elektra Belle Epoque Q1 coffee machine (also available in brass and copper, though not apparently in images of any useful size, alas. Also available in chrome – thank you Mr Graham!).  It’s beautiful, a little terrifying, and the sheer richness and the details – from porthole styled water viewport to the wooden looking knobs and handles – cry out to be the beverage maker of the most discerning of Steampunk caffine fiends.  Thank you, Laird Douglas!

It also introduced me to the wonderful phrase, Belle Époque – French for ‘beautiful era’ – which describes that almost impossibly interesting time in world history between the late 19th Century and the Great War.  Prime Steampunk-inspiring times with science and arts leaping forwards in an uncharacteristically peaceful time in Europe.