As an engineer for Nestlé, Éric Favre was tasked to domesticate Italian espresso culture; to bring high-quality coffee into the household. Favre and his team would invent the Nespresso coffee machine but the real genius would be his coffee capsules. The innocuous pods can keep the coffee grounds fresher for longer and its design allows for the machine to pierce one end and pump hot water at high pressure—this emulation of high-end coffee bar machines provides more flavour and crema for the home user.

And the best part of this is the continued reliance on the capsules from Nestlé. It’s a closed ecosystem, where the company has its own machine that uses its own capsules to make coffee. Classic vendor lock-in play. That didn’t stop competitor brands from creating their own Nespresso-compatible capsules but Nespresso sued them, citing an infringement on its patent.

Then, in 2012, some of Nespresso’s principal patents started to lapse. The company tried to put the kibosh on it but you can only delay the inevitable for so long. Among the patents that fell into public domain? The capsules. Classic karmic play.

So, now there are Nespresso-compatible capsules. More coffee flavour options for the masses. Local speciality coffee pioneers Leon Foo (of PPP Coffee) and Andre Chanco (of Yardstick Coffee) launched Morning Marketplace, a hub for the sale of Nespresso-compatible coffee capsules from roasters they have worked with. Rather naturally, the wheel of innovation would steer them to create their own coffee machine called, well, the Morning Machine. This is to counter Nespresso’s one-size-fits-all approach to coffee making.

Designed in collaboration with Stuck, an innovation agency in Singapore, Morning Machine was introduced on Kickstarter and within two weeks doubled its funding. Looking like something that’s hewn from onyx (there is a silver/white colour alternative), the Morning Machine has smart features like cup detection, a brew cycle count and automated cleaning cycles. It’s smart, meaning it is always connected via a built-in Wi-Fi feature. You can also operate the machine via an app.

But what the Morning Machine has going for is its customisable brewing, which will appeal to casual and consummate coffee drinkers. Do you want more acidity in your coffee? The machine can extract it at a lower temperature. Do you want a richer taste profile for your cuppa joe? The machine’s Bloom & Brew feature allows a small amount of water to be injected into the capsule chamber before the brew so as to optimise extraction and enhance its flavours. It can do a long coffee; filter brews; a Kyoto Style Slow Drip… the sky’s the limit. Or as updated as the Morning Machine’s brew modes can be.

The Morning Machine isn’t perfect (the sensor is a little finicky as it sometimes doesn’t detect my cup) but there are always little improvements added as we speak. The wide-ranging coffees that Morning Marketplace offers are something to behold (“Ooh, buttery, honey? Don’t mind if I do…”) and if those don’t fit your fancy, there’s always the Nespresso’s line to fall back on.

The Morning Machine and a Starter Kit of 10 Morning Capsules retail for SGD510. For SGD80 more, you also get a NanoFoamer (for milk coffees) and a Capsule Explorer Pack. Stocks are limited