After a two-year hiatus, another OOTB took place in Milan. Out of the Box - a great coffee holiday, not only for fans of La Marzocco coffee machines. Compared to last year, the venue has changed, which was a wise solution given the expected attendance. More than 3,000 guests from 70 countries arrived.
From the beginning, the organizers promised us many surprises and I can say that they kept their word. Most of them were brought on the first day, which was a closed event for the La Marzocco family, understand distributors and friends.
La Marzocco will face major changes in the coming years - not only new models of coffee machines will come, but also the expansion of the factory in Scarper. The big news for "home baristas" is the new Linea mini created for home use. This coffee machine is derived from the classic Liney, but is much smaller, connected to the water supply and will only have a paddle system to control the extraction. A novelty will be a choice of many color variants. Inside you will find everything an LM coffee machine should have - a double boiler and a saturated head with precise water temperature control. It will be much more affordable than the GS3 model, but let us not be surprised by what the final price will look like. The coffee machines will go into production in 2014. Even though the photos are secret, perhaps the factory will not be angry that we will show you a little tasting here.
Another surprise was the new coffee brewing system - the so-called "Caffé Florentina". So far, this revolutionary coffee brewing system is still in its infancy. It's not espresso as we know it. At OOTB, one head of the Strada coffee machine was modified to prepare this type of coffee. I will briefly describe the principle. Compressed air at a pressure of 15 atmospheres and then hot water at a pressure of 20 atmospheres are blown into a specially designed lever with seven grams of coffee with a shut-off valve. After this thorough pressurization, the valve at the lever outlet is opened and essentially cream begins to flow into the larger cup. The resulting drink is almost just a "crema". It is very distant in taste from espresso, it can be compared to a coffee filter, but with an incredible creamy consistency. This method of preparation is being developed with La Marzocco by Francesco Illy and the University of Florence. We'll see if we ever meet Caffé Florentina at the bar.
In the evening we were introduced to the complete treasure - the Alfa Romeo 2 van. The van, which you may know from promotional posters, has been completely restored to its original form. The whole reconstruction took 3 years and the result is worth it - the car looks like new. You can also watch a video of how the reconstruction went.
The atmosphere of the event was great, no one was bored, it was crowded at all times. In the lower part, which was reserved for True Artisans Café, it was possible to taste coffee from the world's leading roasters, prepared by their baristas. I will just mention some of them: Union Roasters, Has Bean, Small Batch Roasters, Stumptown, Intelligentsia, Ozone Coffee, .... on the table top you will find only the controls and dispensers for steam, hot water and espresso heads. He ended the party every night, as is the custom with LM. In any case, the lion from Florence has once again shown that the award for the most innovative company in the industry has been rightly awarded to him. We definitely have something to look forward to, maybe even the 2nd year of OOTB in Prague.
