The Only History Book You'll Ever Need: The Story of La Marzocco

La Marzocco releases The Story of La Marzocco, detailing the 90-year history of the iconic, family-owned espresso machine company.

BY ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Photos courtesy of La Marzocco USA

We here at Barista Magazine are kind of obsessed with history—in the past we’ve asked questions like, “Why do we do Thursday Night Throwdowns?” or “How did Gesha coffees become popular?” We’re always looking to learn about the beginnings of things, so you can imagine how we feel about La Marzocco’s new book titled The Story of La Marzocco, which details their 90 years in the espresso machine business.

*The Story of La Marzocco* follows the 90-year history of the espresso machine company, from its founding to its current-day releases and highlights.

“Leading up to the 90th anniversary of La Marzocco, we started getting questions from our internal team and customers about the specifics of the La Marzocco history. We felt that it would be a perfect time to try and capture the story,” says Scott Callender, vice president of marketing and consumer strategy for La Marzocco USA. “La Marzocco has such a rich history that we also really wanted to give people a true sense of the place we have come from. All of the baristas and cafés that have made coffee on our machines are the ones who have built our business, so we thought it would be a great idea to share the story with them since they are such an integral part of it.”

The book provides a behind-the-scenes look at how the company has grown and follows its ups and downs over the years.

The book, which is 120 pages in length, starts with the founding of La Marzocco in 1927 by Giuseppe and Bruno Bambi. The pair started the company in Florence, Italy, and chose the logo (the lion holding a shield with the fleur-de-lis, which is on the city’s coat of arms) that can still be found on most La Marzocco machines made today. From there, the book highlights both the ups and downs of the iconic company. “From a broad perspective, people will learn the origins of La Marzocco and how it became the company it is today. There are many interesting twists and turns in the story, and people will find details that help bring a new understanding of the company,” Scott shares. For tech aficionados, the book recounts some of the company’s technological innovations, such as the horizontal boiler (which transformed the way espresso machines worked and were designed), to dual-boiler machines, to the introduction of the PID, which increased temperature stability and made working with espresso much easier for baristas.

Along with a detailed history, the book also shares never-before-seen sketches, blueprints, and photos from the last century.

As much as the book is about La Marzocco, it’s also about the evolving specialty coffee scene. You can track the growth and direction of the coffee world based on the machines, developments, and ideas that La Marzocco chooses to move forward with. “One of the things that stands out is that the beginning of La Marzocco reflects the story of many of the specialty coffee companies we work with today,” says Scott. “It was a company founded on passion and the belief that quality, innovation, and attention to detail will in the long run create a product people value.”

You can get the book now at the La Marzocco Cafe in Seattle or online.