Fancy coffee comes to Senate office building

There’s a new fancy-pants way to get a caffeine fix in the Russell Senate Office Building.

A Wolfgang Puck-branded “estate grown” coffee vending machine was recently installed in the Russell Basement. The coffee-making appliance will whip up anything from an espresso to a cafe latte for the flat rate of $1.10.

The price likely pales in comparison to what coffee lovers would pay for a cup of Joe at Puck’s upscale D.C. restaurant, The Source, where chocolate chip cookies set diners back $12.

A black-and-white image of the famed Austrian chef looking astonished at the coffee cup he’s holding adorns the front of the large brewing whiz. The coffee creator adds a bit of luxury to the vending landscape in Russell, which also offers the typical soda and juice fare in its other machines.

Puck has already garnered a following of sort for his coffee-making contraption. In a 2008 YouTube video, a man appears overjoyed as he films his caffeine-filled drink being made from a similar-looking Puck-branded machine: “It’s so awesome. I love it. It is worth the money just to see this thing in action.”

As a “robot arm thing” prepares the man’s coffee, he cries with delight, “Watch it. Oh my gosh. This is what I’m talking about.”

While a worker told ITK the Wolfgang Puck machine was installed a few weeks ago, both a staffer with the Senate Rules Committee and a Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. employee didn’t get back to us about the latest addition.

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