The hessian sacks and wooden pallet decor of Coffee Lab might be about connecting customers to raw processes, but it is smart technology running the Steampunk machine that will grab the attention of many when doors open on Tuesday.

The machine uses a siphon brewing process, where water vapour transfers from a lower chamber into an upper chamber and makes contact with coffee grounds before being extracted through a filter.

The appeal of the smart technology is that it allows a barista to precisely set brew temperature, time, volume and agitation cycles and replicate their chosen formula time and time again. Alternatively, with a few touches of the screen, they can call up and apply a brew perfected by a barista on the other side of the world.

Coffee Lab owner Michael Rose said the US-made Alpha Dominche machine demonstrated how high-tech processes were helping meet the demands of increasingly knowledgable and choosy consumers.

"We have some pretty crazy equipment here," Mr Rose said. "The Steampunk is an alternative way to brew coffee, it's the only one in Canberra and one of the only few in Australia at the moment."

The prized – and pricey – piece of industrial design is not the only thing that Mr Rose hopes will make the Coffee Lab stand out in an increasingly competitive trade.

The store provides consumers with the feel of being in the centre of the process with wooden pallets, stacks of hessian coffee bags and chalk drawings of deconstructed coffee machines decorating the store.

Mr Rose said: "The design process was about trying to do something that no one else was. It's pretty unique and has come up really well."

Mr Rose also owns three espresso rooms in the shopping malls of Woden, Belconnen and Tuggeranong, but this is the first speciality store. Coffee Lab was built with the motivation of providing the people of Canberra with a high end specialty coffee store.

"We thought there was a gap in the market for this kind of store and, with my passion for coffee, we wanted to try and do something different than just an everyday cafe and build a specialty store to really try rev things up," Mr Rose said.

Mr Rose was hoping for a soft opening but still planned on being busy as many people had already tried to enter the store to see what was happening.

"We’re aiming to sell around 150 kilograms by the end of the week," Mr Rose said.

Open five days a week and from 7am, Mr Rose refers to the Canberra Centre site on Narellan Place as a hidden gem he hoped everyone would enjoy discovering.