Mirage

The Mirage is Kees van der Westen's interpretation of the classic E61 heat-exchanger machine, built in the Netherlands. One large copper boiler supplies steam and hot water, and a heat exchanger for each group brings the brewing water to temperature; boiler pressure is set on the display and held by PID control. A progressive pre-infusion cylinder in each group wets the coffee gently before full pressure, for a consistent extraction with little channelling. Four programmable volumes and one continuous dose per group, batone levers to start each shot and a foot-activated steam valve make the workflow precise and repeatable. The sides are 10 mm glass with the sandblasted Mirage motif. Available with two or three groups. 220–240 V; two groups 3,600–5,200 W with a 12.6-litre steam boiler, three groups 6,400 W with 18.8 litres. It requires a 220–240 V connection, water filtration and a pressure regulator.