The best way to look like an idiot in Italy is...

[oton]

... talk with a barista about "home-baristism" and 3rd wave coffee.

Oh yeah, I just returned from visit Bologna, Venezia, Firenze... A nice trip... and of course I visited a lot of caffes. In one of the best caffes of Italy I had a conversation with the staff. We talked about their coffees, the taste, the bussiness, the machines, so I asked about La Marzocco... It's not very usual to see LM machines in Italy, something that always puzzled me... so I asked about it:

Barista: La Mar.., what?
Me: La Mar-zo-cco... from Firenze.
Barista: Oh yes, nah... not very popular, not a great company.
Me: But, LM is very popular in the rest of Europe and U.S.
Barista: look (pointing to the caffe machine) this is FAEMA, this is the Ferrari of espresso machines. Absolute quality. The very best.



Next I mentioned I have a La Spaz, so the barista asked me which model.

Me: "An S1"

And all the staff have started to laughing his ass off following with a big facepalm For the staff the S1 is nothing but a toy, indeed the S5 isn't a very good machine. So after this answer, all you can do is say "grazie mille per la conversazione e il caffè" and leave the local.

[GDK]

Do not feel bad. It is like a Mercedes sales person being condescending because you do not drive the latest SLS AMG model. Who knows what he goes home with at the end of the day - a B class perhaps?

[secuspec]

Asking for a LM in a shop using a Faema is perhaps a bit screwed. My experience in Italy is that the Baristi take their stuff serious but do not care about 3rd wave or any hipster fancy barista dance. But there's the exception when you appear open minded and do not try to argue any claims made. Had very nice chats with some in Firenze and Florence though by mentioning involvement in Barista Guild or championships. They honor you taking your stuff serious :-)

[LDT]

I was in Italy in October, 2011 and saw Faema, La Cimbala and an interesting lever machine, but no La Marzocco. I had two barista's in Nice, France tell me Faema was the best machine in their opinion. Photos below were taken in Lucca and Sorento, Italy.









Enjoy.

[Endo]

Those are some fancy looking machines!

But just like those with red clay roofs, red Murano glass and white lawn ornaments......it only looks good in Italy.

[JohnB]

LM is popular over here thanks to Starbucks. Having one of their machines in every S/B put them on the map in the U.S. but I haven't been impressed with them as a company either. Took them ages to sort out the GS3 issues & they made the owners pay for most of the fixes. If you compare the LM saturated group to the Speedster's
you'l find the LM design much more difficult to service.

That Faema is stunningly beautiful. A friend of mine just ordered a new E61 Legend to replace his La Cimbali Junior.

[jbb]

Hi Oton and LDT

The machines in those pictures are works of art-beautiful.

How did you end up feeling that your espresso at home compared to what you were served from the Ferraris?

[oton]

Hi Oton and LDT

The machines in those pictures are works of art-beautiful.

How did you end up feeling that your espresso at home compared to what you were served from the Ferraris?

The espresso in my home is better than all espressos I've tried is this trip. Espresso in Italy is not bad but, in my opinion, the tradition is killing the espresso scene in this country. I'm not against tradition, it's a good thing, but when it stops the progress and the development, then you have a problem. Go to some of the specialized coffees of London, Berlin or Copenhagen... they puts italy coffee to shame. I'm tired of seeing bubble bath cappuccinos and dirty portafilters... I've only see clean the baskets from shot to shot in one local, but not with a cloth, only with a brush, so this means the baskets are still dirty with the coffee oils of the last shot.

[LDT]

I felt all the coffee drinks I had there were good, but not any better tasting that what I can make with more time and effort. The baristas I observed all were very efficient and had their routines down. After thinking about it I don't recall watching any of them wipe out the baskets. I was too busy with other sights and sounds and sometimes trying to figure out the proper drink ordering procedure. I do recall one guy who leveled the coffee, but did not tamp. Still tasted good! Another observation was that many wore some sort of uniform, as in the photos and took pride in their profession.

[jbb]

Thanks. Having never been there was curious. Perhaps it's true-"the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

[Endo]

When I was in Italy, it seemed the personal presentation, speed and attitude was big. The prep and equipment cleanliness was rather poor.

Can't say I had a great shot anywhere in Italy, or a real bad one either. Kinda felt like I was filling up gas in my car. Just part of everday life.

[dgasmd]

I spent a month in Italy this past summer with my family. We spent about half of that time in a rented apartment above a coffee/sandwich shop. The owner and wife were there all the time. He was awesome and she was barely OK. Every time I went down for my daily addiction (about 4-6/day), I would start praying as I opened the door to the apartment hoping it was the guy there. He was courteous, but quick and all business. His espressos and latte were outstanding. His wife was extremely friendly to me and the kids and was extremely personable. Coffee was not so good though, but her personality overcame quickly all of that. I may spend a couple of weeks in the same place this year, so if we do, I may get behind the counter and share a heck of a lot more than just my tip!!

[Giuseppe]

Italy is Italy. My family here has everything faema and when they asked what I got I told them of a company they never heard of. I spent many months in Italy/Sicily over the years and just because your in Italy I can assure you that you will not get great coffee.

As a recent new owner of the spaz I can tell you that I have my girlfriend and some of my cousins pulling better shots than I have ever had at their houses. Even with the clumping on the mini e all their shots are well tiger striped and taste lovely - I honestly believe that the pre-infusion helps a ton with distribution issues. We do not do any of the fancy techniques that you see on hb or cg as we all think it's over the top.

[fantastigg]

No doubt, Faema makes great machines. I was looking at one myself however I love the Mini so no regrets. If money wasn't a problem, I'm sure we'd all get fancy $10k machines but the Mini is capable of producing equally great shots.
I'm Italian, grew up in an Italian household and have been to Italy 9 times. I've had coffee from every machine imaginable, almost every region. I don't care what machine they use, or how clean/dirty it is - if it's a great shot, that's all that matters. Even a bad shot there is better than 90% of the coffee shops here that charge $3-5 (considering I never paid more than 1,50 € for an espresso there; sometimes as low as 0,80 €) Hell, I'd take an espresso at the Autogrills any day over some of the crap that's served here!

Had some amazing espressos in Amsterdam, London, Paris, Madrid and Barcelona too...