The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) held their annual conference and trade show in Seattle this year, which ran from April 15 to 18. There was lots of talk of gourmet/premium coffee, together with cupping, roasting, brewing as well as the skills and nuances required to make espresso. CoffeeGeek has some excellent coverage of the event, including the seminars, ed sessions, the machine manufacturers and the gestaltic zen of the coffee subculture. The star attraction at the show, from an espresso machine and gadget perspective, was almost certainly the La Marzocco Consumer Machine. La Marzocco is the preferred machine for many, if not most, espressoholics. LM’s current offerings are the Linea and the FB70, costing about $6,500 and $10,000 respectively and intended for commercial use. The “La Marzocco Consumer Machine” (a temporary assignation) is LM’s first foray into the household. If La Marzocco’s build quality and attention to detail hold up, this new espresso machine should do well among aficionados, when it becomes available later this year. Features include :
- Two boilers with preheater
- Automatic with 110V
- Paddle Wheel and GS2 grouphead
- PID built in (Proportional-Integral-Derivative boiler controller)
- 1 gallon reservoir
- 13 inches high
Specialty Coffee Association of America website. CoffeeGeek article on SCAA 2005. La Marzocco home.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh man, I’m putting the Specialty Coffee Association Conference on my bucket list. Caffeine heaven!
La Marzocco must be really good to satisfy those espressoholics. I know a few of them, and man, are they picky!