La Marzocco South Africa goes national

La Marzocco South Africa goes national with La Marzocco Local nationwide events, a GB5 national tour, and the Johannesburg showroom opening! What a busy month, read the team’s re-cap below.

On the 22nd of November, the team embarked on a cross-country café and roastery tour. Hosting La Marzocco Local events in Durban and Cape Town, the final leg of a national tour of the new GB5s, and the official opening of the Johannesburg office. Starting in Durban, a sub-tropical port city along the east coast – the team spent a few days reconnecting with the local Durban coffee community, exploring the city, and hosting a “get to know” La Marzocco session/La Marzocco Local event at Lineage Coffee in the misty village of Hillcrest. Durban is an emerging player in the South African coffee scene, and we were thrilled to be able to see old friends, as well as make new connections with some of the newer members of the community.

Following Durban, the team split – with some heading to the country’s judicial capital of Bloemfontein, where the final leg of the GB5s national tour was held at Urban Brew. A small town in the middle of the Free State – Bloemfontein has a vibrant coffee community with an eye for detail, from the precise dosages of coffee into the portafilters to the beautiful displays of latte art shown in the throwdown. The other half of the team jetted off to the coastal city of Gqeberha and made their way down the picturesque Garden Route, connecting with café owners and baristas as they went, with their destination of Cape Town.

Reuniting in Cape Town, we were fortunate to be hosted by the crew at Tribe Coffee for another La Marzocco Local/” Get to know” event in the historic neighborhood of Woodstock. The Tribe team really know how to put on a party – with beer, gin, some of the best barbecue ribs this side of the Mississippi, and plenty of laughs, it was an excellent and much-missed opportunity to reconnect with our friends in the Western Cape whom we have missed over the last few years. We look forward to many more soon.

Returning to Johannesburg, the team geared up for the official opening of the new Johannesburg branch office on Thursday the 2nd of December. With plenty of outdoor space and a beautifully clear evening, we were hugely proud to welcome the community into our new space and humbled by their enthusiasm to engage with the brand. While in Johannesburg, the La Marzocco team attended the annual 2021 Coffee Magazine awards and were proud to sponsor and present the Barista of The Year award to Marcus Tlhomelang.