Loewe aura.pure: A gorgeous and very pricey coffee machine debut

Luxury German brand Loewe is best known for soundbars and OLED TVs but is throwing its hat into the coffee machine ring with the new Loewe aura.pure. 

It’s an espresso coffee machine costing a cool £1,925 and launched alongside Loewe’s first projector, the We.BEAM, at the YDF Interiors showroom in Knightsbridge last week.

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I was there to check out the products, and both blended in seamlessly with its swanky west London surroundings. The aura.pure is primarily constructed from matte steel painted in basalt grey and has oak integrated into its base, handles, portafilters and tamper. There are two baskets included – one for single shots, the other for doubles shots. Those accessories are all included, along with a 350ml milk pitcher, cleaning cloth, tamper mat and blind sieve.

The overall look is super-premium, which should be a given considering how much the thing costs and it made a mighty fine brew, too. Sadly, I didn’t get the opportunity to make a coffee of my own but professional barista Mario talked me through the process while whipping up an oak milk latte and it looked very simple.

To help ensure the aura.pure delivers high-quality coffee to match its sky-high price tag, it incorporates several customisable features and settings. There’s a programmable pre-infusion option, which is particularly useful if you’re using lighter beans. An adjustable extraction timer lets you select exactly how long you want your coffee brewed for and this is easily controlled using the aura.pure’s rotary knob.

The integrated burr grinder has a whopping 66 different settings, allowing you to precisely dial in the grind size to create your ideal espresso, filter or French press coffee. That grinder operates at 1,400 revolutions per minute and the hopper holds up to 200g of coffee beans.

On the inside, the aura.pure houses two thermoblocks to heat the water from its 2.5l tank and Loewe claims these get the machine up and running within just two minutes. Once ready to use, you can input all of the key parameters using buttons located on the front of the machine, with the settings you’ve selected visible on a 1.5in LCD display. 

The water pressure delivered by the aura.pure’s dual vibration pump system is a stated 15 bar and there’s a small pressure gauge in the bottom right corner of the machine that you can refer to when brewing.

Those who like milk with their coffee will appreciate that the aura.pure houses a third thermoblock specifically for handling the steam output of its integrated frother. This means you can make your coffee and prepare your milk simultaneously, saving a bit of time when you’re in a rush to get out of the house in the morning. You’re also able to save custom settings for daily use and the cup tray is passively heated to help keep your coffee hot.

Measuring 36 x 49 x 36cm (WDH) and weighing a hefty 22kg, the Loewe aura.pure isn’t the kind of coffee machine you can just squeeze onto a work surface in a one-bedroom flat. Nonetheless, it’s a serious piece of kit designed for coffee aficionados with an eye for snazzy design and deep pockets. 

I was impressed by its build quality and attractive design but more importantly, it efficiently created tasty coffee. It offers everything I’d look for in an espresso machine, but it’s only going to be a viable option if you happen to have the kind of riches that enable you to own a seven-figure property in Knightsbridge. The rest of us will have to make do with one of the far cheaper options found on our roundup of the best espresso machines.