Case Study downtown pop up

While waiting in downtown Portland for the Max light rail train, I looked across the street and saw this:

I was drawn like a moth to a flame.  It turned out that it was a "pop up" in a retail space that was being built out for a new tenant.  The tiny kiosk was set up in a doorway; and, just a few feet beyond the barista, there was nothing but bare studs and work lights.  What  really made this jarring was the espresso machine: a Kees van der Westen Speedster.   Among the truly espresso obsessed, this is equivalent to, say, seeing a Lamborghini  Countach drive by your house.  Not an everyday occurrence.

The Speedster is, along with a few other machines, on the leading edge of espresso technology.  It is really set apart, though, by its striking aesthetics.  Below is a photo of the Speedster at Case Study; but the lighting, the camera and my photography skills really do not do it justice.

Although I had already had four double espressos that day (intensive blog research!), I was unable to resist the siren song of the Speedster.  The friendly and knowledgeable barista pulled me a very ristretto shot of a medium roasted bean that was complex, slightly citrusy and sweet.  I paid the jangly fried nerve price later, but, for that moment, I understood why the Speedster has earned its reputation as one of the premiere espresso machines.