La Marzocco interview with Piero Bambi

Interview with Piero Bambi

Mr Piero Bambi, as the son of the founder of La Marzocco, you are the guardian of the original memories of this small but great company. What do you remember about the dawn of this adventure and, above all, what did your father's work teach you?

Trying to remember specific episodes from the past is like when you want to tell a joke and can't remember a single one, then, once you've broken the ice, they all start coming back to you, lots, too many, so that you don't know where to start.

I was told of many episodes and I was even present at some of them; obviously, they mainly regarded the day-to-day business of a small-scale craftsman who, even at that time, had to compete with rival companies, at the dawn of industrialisation.

However, my earliest childhood memory, still clear in my mind, was the erratic physical presence of my father since he was always busy with new projects, designing and doing manual jobs, (he was skilled at using all the machine tools and equipment of the period: lathes, milling machines, grinding machines etc), negotiating with suppliers and clients and dealing with the all the things needed to run a small business.

Actually, from the start the workshop was right next door to where we lived so I could see my father whenever I wanted to but obviously the time he had available was very limited, so when he did stop working for a special occasion, it was a big event!

While being neither an engineer nor an architect one can certainly claim that he was an exceptional designer; as is shown by all the models of the machines he designed and produced.

Apart from his great qualities in design and production, one of his distinguishing features was, in my opinion, his great determination, so much so that the phrase attributed to Vittorio Alfieri: I wished, always wished, wished so strongly could have been coined for him. His real love and sense of responsibility for the family, the passion for his work and his way of dealing with employees and with clients and suppliers was a great lesson of life for me, something which still accompanies me today.

Specifically, how did the Bambi family develop its passion for good coffee?

In my father I think it developed gradually, initially as a way of distinguishing the company from its rivals and at the same time as an argument put forward for selling the machines; in fact, after producing them with his brother Bruno, they would also go to sell them and that direct contact with the baristas of the period was fundamental for the suggestions, comments and constructive criticism they received from their most reliable clients and from friends; subsequently the excellent results achieved stimulated and encouraged their passion for the choice made.
In me I would venture to say that it's in my genes, that it has grown and that it's a passion which has never been sated; I realise that I'm always learning something new and find great pleasure in that.

What and how much influence has Florentine art and culture had on the creation of the La Marzocco espresso coffee machine?

I think the environment you grow up in and which you live in for a long time has a strong influence on your cultural growth; but I think this happens at a much more unconscious level than one imagines.

However, apart from the fact that each us of has a different capacity to absorb, my family was clearly greatly influenced by the fact of being born in Florence, the city of art par excellence where, wherever you go, you're surrounded by timeless works of unique beauty produced by self-made artisans and artists who had always used the best of materials, who continued this tradition and who very rarely engaged in the production of large scale industry precisely because the words art and craftsmanship were inscribed in their genes.

Among the past activities of La Marzocco there was a period of twenty years during which it designed and produced furnishings for bars and cafes for which my father was solely responsible and during which such beautiful pieces were created that a professor from the Florence Institute of Fine Art brought his students to admire them.

All the models of machine produced so far by La Marzocco, both as regards the mechanics and the chassis, were made to my father's designs, from 1927 to 1970, including the GS series; I collaborated on the production of the GS2 series and afterwards designed the subsequent models myself.

How did the idea of making the first espresso coffee machine with a horizontal boiler come about?

As well as dealing with production and sales, my grandfather and my uncle also installed the machines at the clients' premises and provided some of them with technical assistance.

That was how they built up good relationships and friendships which facilitated the exchange of secrets, recommendations and suggestions. I imagine it was likely that this idea came about in circumstances of the kind.

In fact, to make the work of the baristas easier and to improve the performance of his machines and make the best quality coffee beverage, my father designed and built the first coffee machine with a horizontal boiler, to his own personal PATENT, registered on 25 February 1939, which reads: Horizontal boiler machine designed to produce so-called espresso coffee drinks.

In this machine, for the first time, all the brew groups could be set in a line, in front of the barista, so that the work was greatly facilitated and was under the direct control of the person operating the machine, making them more responsible for the results and therefore improving the quality in the cup.

Unfortunately World War II interrupted the production of coffee machines and since my father was unable to renew the patent when the war was over and work could be resumed, all the rival producers were able to use the idea. That was when he ceased production of vertical boiler machines.

What models and innovations relaunched Marzocco on the market after the imposed stop of those wartime years?

My father was very short-sighted and declared unfit for military service so he did not leave to join the army.

In that long period of forced inactivity he designed and planned a new semiautomatic group for coffee machines.

The automatism consisted of the fact that the groups were activated by pressing a button rather than having to move various levers.

The machines produced using this new group were part of the Eureka series.

What were the novelties during the years of the Boom?

In the '50/60s the lever-operated machines using water pressure called National and Mondial were particularly successful, though they were sold mainly in Tuscany and some versions of them were made with an automised lever action, in the Aurum range.

What is the secret of making a perfect espresso coffee, if one exists? What is it that makes the La Marzocco machines give a performance so close to this ideal of perfection?

Those in the trade have always spoken of following the rule of the 4Ms, where each M signifies:
1 - Miscela [Blend]
2 - Macinazione [Grinding]
3 - Macchina [Machine]
4 - Mano del barista [The barista's touch]
This rule can still be considered valid today, though perhaps with the addition of a 5th M which could be defined as:
5 Manutenzione dei macchinari [Machine maintenance]

So, to make a perfect espresso coffee, it's of the utmost importance that all the aforesaid Ms are fully satisfied, but essential that the barista uses:
- a top quality blend;
- a top quality coffee grinder;
- a top quality coffee machine;

The barista's personal touch is equally important in perfecting the grinding of the coffee. After the first tuning, performed according to the criteria which we will examine below, the barista must make the necessary adjustments to the grind of the coffee whenever the coffee percolates into the cup too fast or too slowly. This may happen several times a day because given its hygroscopic nature coffee is considerably affected by changes in the climate.

The points to follow for perfecting grinding of the coffee are as follows

pre-set the dosage of coffee powder to be used for each cup of coffee (minimum 6.5 grams);
carry out tests, grinding and weighing one dose after another until you achieve a percolation dispensing the coffee into a 35ml cup in approx. 27- 30 secs.
at each variation of the grinding, before tamping and brewing with the new grounds, grind a little coffee at the new level and completely empty the measuring cup of both the new ground coffee and the previous residue.
always use a manual tamper and not the built-in one provided on many coffee grinders and dosers on the market.

Then move on to perfecting the pre-set dose so as to get the same quantity from the doser each time. At this stage the only remaining secret, if that's what you want to call it, is the manual skill, talent and enthusiasm with which the barista does his job. By enthusiasm I also mean an awareness that proper daily cleaning of the filters and filter holders and, at least once a week, of the grinder doser hood and of the ground coffee container, is essential for preventing any possible unpleasant odours due to oxidisation and/or fermentation of the residues of coffee grounds.

It's extremely important therefore that the barista develops a passion and pride in his work which make him a fully-fledged professional, something which is behind all success stories.

What was the reason for moving from a water pressure machine to one with continuous pressure?

It would be more correct to say that we changed from a lever operated water pressure machine, in which the pressure was created by means of a piston, to machines where the pressure was created by an electrical pump. The reason was that this avails of much simpler mechanics and is therefore less subject to technical problems as well as being more accessible for after-sales servicing.

Given the greater simplicity of this type of machine it has also been easier to automise some operations with electronic control systems.

What are the advantages of a machine with a dual rather than single boiler?

By now all manufacturers make machines with so-called continuous brewing, where the fresh water comes into contact with the coffee grounds after being pre-heated, by passing through coils or elements immersed in the boiler, at a pressure of 9 atm. which is developed by a rotary vane pump.

In machines with a single boiler, which is practically speaking a steam generator, the water used to make the coffee is heated indirectly. That is to say by means of the cold water passing through heating elements immersed in the main boiler.

So it's very important that there is a rapid heat exchange between the boiler and heating elements which is, however, subject to considerable variation as a result of the deposit of lime scale on the outside of the elements which has an insulating effect. Moreover, given that the pressure of the boiler is controlled by a pressure gauge, the temperature is subject to considerable variation when steam is drawn off to froth milk or to make other hot drinks.

As far as our machine is concerned, we've opted for the use of two boilers, one of which is used exclusively to directly heat the water for making coffee. That way it's possible to control the temperature of the brewing water by means of a specific thermostat, enabling an easier and more exact calibration of the temperature. This makes our system very easy to adapt it to the different blends of coffee in the market.

What impact has the reorganisation of the company over the last few years had on the people who work there in terms of their devotion and passion for coffee?

The new company organisation, with the opening of a sales office in Milan and the hiring of highly motivated, extremely professional figures who have blended in perfectly with the other staff and, even more importantly, have embraced the company philosophy wholeheartedly, has enabled us to improve our penetration of the most disparate world markets which, along with our sponsorship of the World Barista Championship, has helped the company to analyse various cultures in more depth as regards coffee drinking.

Clearly this has led us to develop our research even further and to a greater involvement with those collaborators with a professional interest in pursuing our commercial development directed exclusively towards a niche of clients who are devotees of top quality coffee.

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