Strietman CT2: Espresso as Instrument
The Strietman CT2 is a manual espresso machine that emphasizes a ritualistic coffee-making experience. The CT2 is marketed as an artisanal tool, crafted from high-quality materials and designed to last, appealing to those who see coffee as an art form.
The Setup
The Strietman CT2 isn’t a push-button appliance. It’s espresso stripped to its essence: a brass boiler, a lever, and your hands. Dutch-made from copper, stainless, and wood, it trusts the user with full control of every shot. No pumps, no plastic, no noise—just the ritual of pressure, flow, and taste.
What Strietman is really selling is pace. Heat-up, pull, sip—it’s a meditation in mechanics, an espresso you compose rather than consume. A tool for those who see coffee as culture, not caffeine.
The Breakdown
Brand Positioning & Identity
Strietman positions itself as the anti-appliance brand: artisanal, minimal, and uncompromising. It rejects push-button convenience in favor of craft, heritage, and hands-on mastery.
Target Segment & Audience
Affluent coffee purists, design-minded professionals, and slow-living enthusiasts. People who already know what a shot of espresso should taste like and crave control, ritual, and beauty in their tools.
Messaging & Storytelling
The story is about purity and precision. No pumps, no plastic, no noise—just raw control. They frame the CT2 as both a teacher (entry into espresso craft) and a timeless companion, with Dutch engineering as proof of durability.
Experience & Journey
The journey they sell is ritual over rush. From heat-up to lever pull, every step is deliberate, meditative, and tied to sensory discovery. It’s not just espresso, it’s immersion in the process.
Community & Culture
They’re speaking to the culture of third-wave coffee, design-conscious consumers, and those who see coffee as an art form. A cross-section of barista culture, industrial design fans, and high-end kitchen obsessives.
Differentiation / USP
- Manual control with precision engineering.
- Design-as-artifact: copper, brass, stainless, wood—crafted like a collectible, not an appliance.
- Transparency: naked portafilter, open build, clear shot feedback.
- Sustainability by exclusion: fewer electronic parts, made to last decades.
Design Language
Industrial minimalism with luxury cues. CNC-machined brass, exposed mechanics, natural woods. The design language communicates trust in the user—“you’re skilled enough to deserve this machine.” Even the packaging kit reinforces this ethos (naked portafilter, brass tamper, service tools).
The Marketing Pitch
The CT2 isn’t an espresso machine, it’s an instrument. It sells the idea of slowing down, taking control, and making coffee an intentional act. By owning it, you step into a culture of mastery where espresso is not just consumed, but composed.
Is This A Winning Pitch?
Would you trade convenience for craft if it meant making every cup a story?
