Two years ago, my friends and I from Delft University of Technology ran into a recurring frustration with the “within-budget” espresso machines: great espresso… but weak or inconsistent steam power.
We noticed a clear gap in the coffee machine landscape: there are almost no standalone milk steamers designed for home hobbyists. We emailed several manufacturers asking why, and they told us that milk steaming is an “afterthought,” which pretty much explained the inconsistency. So as engineering students (and coffee nerds), we thought: why don’t we build it ourselves?
Over the past two years, we tested multiple heating concepts including several; flow-through heaters, thermocoils and boiler variations. Technically, the results were clear to us: boilers give the most stable and consistent steam for microfoam. We built a series of prototypes, tested them with baristas and hobbyists, and refined the design step by step.
Our goal was to build a small, powerful and beautiful standalone steamer that fits into any coffee setup. Because there’s no single right way to make coffee, only your preferred way.
Which brings us to today:
The first 50 units are now available for pre-order.
This batch will be hand-built by us after the pre-order closes, a process that will take around 9 months. For everyone who believes in SteamUp, we’re offering 25% off as a thank-you for taking the risk. That brings the price from €400 down to €300.
Check out the website → www.steamup.nl
Check out our instagram → https://www.instagram.com/steamup.nl
On the website you’ll find the finalised design, more info and the full pre-order process explained.
Curious what you all think of the design. Anything you’d change for a future version?
by SteamUp_nl
21 Comments
How does it compare to morning dream?
i don’t need this at all because my bambino has more than enough power to get the proper results, but i wish you all the best with this and hope you get these things sold. Love to see people working to make coffee more accessible for everyone
Congrats and best wishes for the venture!
Meticulous owners rejoice. I believe I heard meticulous is making a stand alone steamer but based on the machine track record we can probably expect that in 2037.
Upvote for engineer and espresso. I had this thought in my head if there exists a portable milk steamer. Genius
Great job!!!
Out of interest, what made you avoid going the physical steam valve route?
I’ve often thought a compact boiler based steamer would be a safer long term option compared to the less serviceable flow through heater options from morning and meticulous (when it releases). But not using a simple mechanical valve seems to go against the long term serviceability benefits of a boiler machine.
Good work either way though, it’s always nice to see more options on the market, particularly for manual lever owners.
This is exactly what I looked for, for a LOT of time.
I’m an engineering student as well tbh from germany (right on the border of the Netherlands) and I thought of building one of these of my own at some point.
This steamer really solves me a problem, since there are no really good milk steamers that aren’t linked to an espresso machine, or that aren’t dependant on creating pressure using stove top.
Good fucking luck with your journey there.
You know its literally just a single boiler espresso machine that your removed the grouphead from. I don’t see why this isn’t/hasn’t been a market item since there is a demand for it. (I mean you could just get a gaggia classic and use it for steam for the same price).
Half the price of a pro 100 so yea… pretty good.
Can you guys get it to the US without doubling the cost? I may buy one to bring to work honestly.
If priced right, this will be a huge hit. Otherwise, i can see quite a bit of struggle. Why get this when you’re 2/3rds of the way to a decent espresso machine with a decent steamer. Unfortunately, the bambino exists.
Regardless awesome product and best of luck.
When you making an expresso machine?
I would totally buy this, but I’m not comfortable with the pre-order model. Let me know when the retail version is here (and has been in the hands of independent reviewers) and I’d be glad to buy it for the full 400 EUR.
I believe you have tested many milk brands in NL. 😆Which one do you recommend for the best taste?
Price this right and you can probably capture some of the market that have a single boiler but dream of a dual boiler. There is certainly a void in the market for this to fill.
Despite being a Morning Dream owner, I’m very happy to see this, as with the MD630 I have two main worries, repairability and back-to-back performance.
It already looks like tinkering with the Dream is just simply a no-go, no documentation or anything, no off-the-shelf parts and the thing is part computer. I think Morning does give decent warranty service on it, but that is limited to 1-2 years.
The Dream is also not suitable for pumping out drinks at all and it can damage the device if trying it anyway.
I’m honestly loving this so much that I’m pondering pre-ordering it and selling the Dream, the auto-feature is nice, but yeah, as I said, the downsides are pretty substantial. (Wonder if I could pick it up even as I live in the Netherlands.) 😁
Interesting. How long does the pre order last?
Have you compared the ability to other commercial machines? There’s a huge difference in if it will compare to a budget machine at that price, or if it can match the power of a full blown prosumer machine. Especially if it can steam drink after drink after drink.
Also, what electronics do you use? It looks to be more than an on/off system like a regular single boiler machine.
Water reservoir, what is the capacity and how does that work?
I’d absolutely love to try this. It’s great to finally see someone making it.
It’s been almost a year since I bought the Sage Barista Pro. Before that, I used to make pour-over lattes with milk and would microfoam using a French press. I really enjoyed the process, but cleaning the French press filter was always a pain.
I looked for milk steamers back then, but couldn’t find anything reliable. There was a stovetop steamer, but it wasn’t very user-friendly. This, however, looks like something I would have bought instantly.
The future of espresso is moving in two directions, either extreme disaggregation or high quality integration (ala meraki)
I’d be very interested in this, but I have a few questions:
1. Can I change preorder address info once the unit is ready to ship in case our address changes?
2. Since the price is in euros, electronics are set up for 220V power, correct?
3. Do you offer US-based power options?
4. Have you tested performance for the US-based 110V power? I’m curious on warm-up times with 110V.
5. Can you ship overseas to the US?
Huge kudos for going after this market. I contemplated attempting something similar, then got seriously overwhelmed trying to even begin the engineering process. The standalone steamer has been a huge void for lever espresso owners. I’m excited to finally have an electric option coming to market.
My 40$ market place bellman works better than la Marzoco, how is this better ?
https://preview.redd.it/zzux4rmfjwgg1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=68214d68177b6710ad9f0c6b5533373609a2426b