Innovation Gallery Tour
La Marzocco
The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab and Tasting Room
2535 Broadway
Oakland
Dec. 14, 2023
Are you … coffee curious? Perhaps a seasoned ‘spresso pro?
A crowd of soon-to-be-highly caffeinated folk were unsure as they milled about a tasting room fitted with green tile and white artwork-covered walls, for a coffee-themed “Innovation Gallery Tour.”
A large team (I counted at least seven) from La Marzocco, a high-end espresso maker maker with a rich family history, were in town for a local stop on a national “Innovation Gallery Tour.” They came to show off new, well, innovations, and to teach people how to make better coffee, at home or professionally, at the touch of an app.
Despite having spent a number of my younger years behind a coffee bar, I felt a strange sense of imposter syndrome as the employees explained the ins and outs of the machines, offered to let people pull their own shots, or made them for us while simultaneously educating us on the pressure of the valves or the precision of the scales. The scales are integrated in the larger machines, purchased separately for the home model, both synced to the grinder, the water output, and the app on your phone or computer.
Estelle, the tech working the Strada X (the “mid-range” machine), pulled two shots I got to taste. The first was made with the default settings, the second calibrated with more pressure and a higher volume at the suggestion of a fellow attendee. I liked the second better, with lower acidity, more fruitiness, and a much more pronounced crema on top.
Two short presentations were given with more information on the machines and decades worth of research that has gone into these Bluetooth-enabled chrome coffee making masterpieces.
The newest, highest end model has been 20 years coming and is still yet to be released; each calibration, measurement, static level, and heat output from the burr grinder is tested endlessly. The company has switched from “pressure profiling” to “mass profiling.” Don’t worry; most people don’t know what that means either. Here’s one set of industry definitions: “A Pressure Profile espresso machine allows the user to to control the water pump pressure that is exposed to the coffee. By adjusting the pressure and amount of time at each stage of extraction, the machine can directly impact the flavor of the coffee, especially for single origin coffees. Pressure profiling machines are ideal for experimentation in the search for the perfect shot of espresso.” And: “The mass-based profiling system on the new La Marzocco Strata X utilizes data from scales embedded in the machine’s drip trays, along with flow and pressure sensors. The system allows the barista to predetermine a pressure profile for the machine to execute, as well as a final cup weight at which to cut off the shot.”
As the rep from Mahklönig, the company that produces the paired grinders, pointed out, each and every machine is hand-tested before shipping, which is why some customers find residue of ground beans in their brand new purchases. It’s because they work.
And, with an emphasis on longevity and precision, they eschew touch screens in hopes of “building things to last forever”.
The experience was free for attendees with a prior RSVP. Coffee was, of course, on offer. The table covered in pizza boxes (from a delicious local purveyor, no less), along with hard and soft refreshments (and the option to regroup later at a coffee/bar down the street for a complimentary cocktail) caught me pleasantly off guard. There are have been two prior stops on the tour in Portland and Seattle, and an upcoming one in Spring, Texas, in January.
