The Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler Travels With This $6K Espresso Machine

2022-05-14 02:04:17 By : Ms. Tianhong Laser

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Butler's carry-on essentials apparently include the La Marzocco Linea Mini espresso machine.

It certainly seems safe to say that Jimmy Butler loves his coffee. Back in 2020, the Miami Heat forward's love of the bean was on full display when he was was charging his teammates $20 for a cup of coffee during the NBA's Covid-19 bubble. Price gouging? Yes — but Butler was roasting his own beans, brewing pour-over coffee, pulling espresso shots and even honing in on his latte art skills.

Butler's coffee-brewing abilities are no longer contained within the NBA bubble, as shown by recent pictures of the star athlete's carry-on of choice: his $5,900 La Marzocco Linea Mini espresso machine.

You know what time of year it is when Big Face Coffee goes on the road ✈️ ☕️ pic.twitter.com/PXvMozu3pD

The Linea Mini is the at-home version of the café-ready Linea Classic, a beloved commercial espresso maker known for pulling shot after excellent shot. The Mini might be smaller, but it still offers the excellent capabilities of the Classic. The single group head espresso machine has a dual boiler, providing excellent temperature stability and consistently good shots.

Because it's a "paddle group-style" espresso machine, the paddle doesn't actually offer things like flow control; rather, it's more of an aesthetic decision to control on and off. This condensed commercial brewer comes with a hot water spout and steam wand, but with the lack of a built-in grinder, you'll need a separate coffee grinder to dial in your grounds.

The Linea Mini is unbelievably customizable from the color of the knobs to the style of the legs. Butler's machine looks to be kitted out in all black, and you can make yours look just like his over at La Marzocco's website. Also, the thing weighs 71 pounds, so we're impressed with the ease at which Butler carries the machine down a flight of stairs. (Then again, he's a professional athlete.)

In the past year, Butler branched out from his bubble brewing days. In late 2021, he launched his own coffee brand, Big Face, which sells some pricey specialty coffee and branded merch. In April of this year, Butler was at the Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Boston, where he grabbed a picture with United States Barista Championship winner Andrea Allen. If that's not enough reason to believe Butler is going in deep with his love of coffee, he's also the cover star of Barista magazine's April/May 2022 issue.

If a $5,900 at-home espresso machine isn't right for you, Breville's line of espresso machines make worthwhile purchases for both amateur coffee lovers and afficionados. Plus, the one we love — the Breville Barista Express ($600) — is a tenth of the price of the Linea Mini.