A couple weeks ago while visiting Florence Italy we were able to make an appointment to tour the La Marzocco factory; a short but scenic 30-minute train ride from Florence. We were met at the San Piero a Sieve train station by Massimo and shuttled 5-minutes by company van to the La Marzocco headquarters and factory where we were greeted by Silvia Bartoloni, Hospitality Coordinator for La Marzocco.

Silvia started our tour by pulling some nice espressos and cappuccinos for us on a Linea which serves guests and company employees alike. The day we visited they were using beans from Ditta Artigianale, a partner roaster and cafe in Florence (which we visited at least once daily during our stay in Florence).

The tour was pure magic for me! And as much as I thought the wives in our little group would be bored to tears with this side excursion to our Tuscan visit, they found it to be most interesting! Silvia does a wonderful job explaining the company history which began in 1884 by founders Giuseppe & Bruno Bambi, brothers.

Kind of the cherry atop this cake for me was getting to meet meet Piero Bambi, son of La Marzocco co-founder, inventor and metalsmith Giuseppe Bambi. The tour lasted about 90-minutes but as most of you can surely appreciate I could have spent days crawling around the La Marzocco factory! If your travels take you to Florence I highly recommend contacting Silvia and making an appointment to take the tour of the La Marzocco facility!

Grazie mille Silvia!

A few pics from our visit.

Yes...in retrospect a video with audio would be even more precious. Silvia did a wonderful job relaying the history and side-stories including my near endless ad hoc questions about everything we saw apart of that tour.

One story Silvia relayed comes to mind: Sometime after 2009 when La Marzocco moved into this new large factory (related to the success driven by Starbucks <then> procurement of hundreds of La Marzocco machines) workers refurbished some of the brilliant espresso machines you see in my photos to be used for historical display purposes. One of the machines, sorry I don't remember now, was extra precious to Piero. Apparently he was not privy to the decision to refurbish these prized mementos and was very, very irate after all was said and done with all the proof of the hand build including hammer/tool marks that were evidence of the hand build each of the machines required, etc. and so prized by craftsman...was polished out. These relics from the past represented true artisanal works of metal-smithing art hand made by his father.

The very first espresso machine created by Giuseppe which was commissioned to them by the original designer, "Mr. Galetti", is on display at the La Marzocco factory. Mr. Galetti apparently didn't have the capital resources and/or immediate sales from the original 12 commissioned machines to continue with the business model. Bambi's, being essential "tin-knockers" at the highest level, were impressed enough to change their business model from commercial metal to espresso machines...and the rest is history. One of the original 12 machines is proudly on display. Not knowing much about early espresso machines I was surprised to learn the boiler for these machines was coal fired! You can imagine the time it required to get the boiler up to pressure and also the soot/smoke created...



And as far as I know La Marzocco is the only large scale espresso machine company (maybe the only espresso machine company?) that entertains factory tours; something not to take for granted in this day/age of industrial secrets, etc. I was given permission to post any and all photos I took, numbering over 100, during this tour.

The level of pride and friendliness from all the employees, Piero and down, was truly inspiring.

The photos are fantastic - I feel like I was there. Thank you for posting. Did you shoot more angles of the tin knocker? Its so damn intriguing with the mammoth shape and coal heating ...lol.

^ a couple more...and a couple more

Note the pressure gauge; I think the coal fired machine operated at 1.5bar. The coal had its own drawer (lower left with the long black handle). Also note the gas burner which was a retrofit sometime later. Bambi was the first to turn the boiler on its side...introducing the horizontal boiler in 1939. More history info here: http://www.lamarzocco.com/en/component/ ... ny-en.html

BTW the wood work vise-benches, shown above, were from the original factory; they are works of art in their own right now proudly displaying a sampling of the LM timeline lineage.

spressomon wrote: One story Silvia relayed comes to mind: Sometime after 2009 when La Marzocco moved into this new large factory (related to the success driven by Starbucks <then> procurement of hundreds of La Marzocco machines) workers refurbished some of the brilliant espresso machines you see in my photos to be used for historical display purposes.

Outstanding! (thanks for the photos and stories)

I think I'll venture into a Starbucks today and order a "light roasted reserve pour over something or other that might be drinkable" just as a token of gratitude...

Salute

All I can say is "wow"!! It never occurred to me to visit them (our son was married in Florence about 5 years ago). I secretly dream of a GS3 when we sell the house & move into our apartment in the spring, and after this thread my desire knows no bounds.......

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

spressomon wrote: Not knowing much about early espresso machines I was surprised to learn the boiler for these machines was coal fired! You can imagine the time it required to get the boiler up to pressure and also the soot/smoke created...

Depends which coal they were using. Bituminous (soft) coal does produce a sooty black smoke when burnt. Anthracite (hard) coal burns smoke free which is why the current hard coal stoves are EPA exempt from all the regulations that apply to wood stoves.

Thank you for the wonderful photos (great photo composition too ) and text information. Can see the pride/passion of their employees in the pictures. Glad to see examples of passion for work and craftsmanship still alive and kicking in day and age of assembly mass production.

Thanks for these pix, Dan. Two thoughts about this one:

1. The answer for people who like the 50's/early 60's hot rod Speedster look, but don't want to/can't plumb in, handle the footprint or outboard a motor.

2. The original drip tray is a much cleaner design.