OTTO, an Australian design award winning stovetop espresso maker is now available in Japan. At 4 kg of highly polished stainless steel and meticulous engineering, OTTO extracts two 30ml espressos with crema while the steam wand delivers enough pressure to texture the milk.
The OTTO is not a push button machine; it takes practice to master the nuances find the extraction sweet spot. At 70,000 yen, OTTO offers a lifetime of use and will appeal only to real coffee lovers in Japan.
There are only 100 units are available in Japan and come with a custom travel case. It can be obtained through Fabulous Flavours, a Fukuoka specialty cuisine retailer. Email kaori@fab-flavours.com
© Japan Today
24 Comments
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LoveUSA
it is so perfect except the price
cleo
Take a nought off the price, and I'll think about it.
stirfry
just add this to the list of products available in japan for the wrong price
spudman
http://www.ottoespresso.com/video-otto-in-action.html great how to for a great functional coffee maker.
LoveUSA
This will be my Christmas present, i made up my mind.
target
a coffee forum for new OTTO users
http://www.coffeecrew.com/ourforum?func=view&catid=2&id=4123&limit=6&start=18#4225
target
OTTO review http://www.coffeecrew.com/gear/446-living-with-otto-coffee-maker-for-the-new-space-age
sydenham
Still love my 10 yr old Bialetti, at less than 10% of the price of an OTTO.
Oh, and believe me, I've FOUND the sweet spot.
sydenham
OTTO:
OVER
THE
TOP
ORNAMENTATION
LoveUSA
I am obsessed with this product, it seems so cool but I will be an idiot to go for it because it is unobtainable at this price.
Altria
An Australian coffee maker? Real Aussies drink beer!
target
hey LoveUSA....would you like to do try OTTO out?...email us to see if we can arrange something for you?
PepinGalarga
seems like the pressure varies with time, it must be impossible to get the same shot twice. If you leave it on too long, will it blow up on you?
sydenham
Pepin, no it shouldn't. It should have a pressure release valve. It may, however, start a fire if you leave it on for an hour on a gas stove...
LoveUSA
I love this espresso maker but as I said I cannot afford it so I can just look at the picture and say how great it is. You mean there is a coffee shop that serves coffee made by Otto?
LoveUSA
sounds exciting.
target
LoveUSA, you can get to test drive OTTO in your home as part of a consumer product feedback review, there is a waiting list = email kupa@fab-flavours.com
LoveUSA
Thank you very much but I think, for me it is best to save money and buy it. Thanks anyway.
maxpower
It is a great machine, and produces high quality espresso shots. Looks great too. A collectors piece for sure. Though, for the same price I would rather have as Isomatic
LoveUSA
I do not think Japanese people will appreciate this piece of art. They buy bagged in a filter coffee or dry freeze coffee and cannot imagine even that such a machine exists. Is this price specially for Japan? how much does it cost abroad?
target
That’s a good point and you maybe right……the price is $800 Australian dollars, The Japan price includes tax and other import related costs and product support material. Surprising, as it might seem, Japanese are extremely knowledgeable about coffee with a strong consumer network outside of mainstream retail, within my local area there are 3 well-established coffee roasters and a personalised coffee buyer/hunter for a cafes and private customers.
The Japanese imported food & beverage market is maturing extremely quickly as more Japanese travel and influenced by foreign chefs in Japan and TV cooking shows. The recession has created a new consumer in Japan, this consumer prefers inconspicuous consumption, no longer are they buying 100,000 handbags to show off but instead purchasing items for use within their homes and to share with friends. The other end of the market is buying fakes.
OTTO is a niche product just like the Atomic was before it. Interest in OTTO has been promising with January home coffee making workshops at a cooking school over subscribed.
For product details you can refer to www.ottoespresso.com and for a forum for OTTO owners browse http://www.coffeecrew.com/ourforum?func=view&catid=2&id=4123
LoveUSA
your product is very good but as it is not affordable in this economic situation, I just wish you luck.
hotncold
I have a 2 cup Bialetti I use twice a day; the difference between this Otto and a Bialetti is a Bialetti does not make espresso coffee, from what I have read, Otto is designed around 3.5 bar espresso coffee extraction from the stove top, that’s impressive. If your Bialetti did that, it would blow a hole in the kitchen ceiling.
It is expensive, but so is over 40,000yen for a plastic push button machine in a Tokyo department store that also requires you to buy their coffee in a little blister pack.
It has that Dyson design feel about it, I don’t need a new vacuum cleaner but I feel I need to buy one now I’ve seen it….. I will make sure my wife sees and Ill drop a few hints before my next birthday
noOtto
Expect a $200+ repair bill if this $800 stovetop espresso machine “burns out”.
If you are looking for an expensive non-functional piece of kitchen sculpture rather than a durable, affordable coffee maker, look no further.
When a stovetop espresso machine is left on the heat too long, consumers need only replace one rubber component at negligible cost. The trade in replacement gaskets is testament to the fact that it happens often. But if you leave the Otto on the heat, all of it’s relatively complicated rubber components “burn out”. If you follow up with the manufacturers as I did, you’ll be asked to post the machine at your own expense to their Victorian headquarters and foot the $200 repair bill. When this happened to me I was outraged that such an expensive machine could be ruined so easily. It made me question the Otto’s viability and ponder the question of whether this fancy machine is “fit for its intended purpose”.
Perhaps most consumers would find it difficult to "enjoy their Otto's coffee" if they knew that a simple and common mistake could put the machine out of action for good, or cost them upwards of $200.