“Why does La Marzocco suck?”
I promise that one day, out of desperation, I actually entered the sentence above as a search term in Google.
If you do your research or speak to knowledgeable people, not only will you find out that La Marzocco is one of the most well-regarded producers of coffee machines, but also that the general consensus is that their equipment is the cream of the crop and among the most widespread.
So, what’s this all about, you might wonder?
Well, let’s start from the beginning.
When I started to notice that many espressos I ordered in Birmingham were not exactly meeting my taste, frequently being a bit too acidic, at first I didn’t think much about it. I assumed it was about the kind of coffee beans used by different shops, the machines themselves, or perhaps the barista skills of the operators.
Then I spotted a common thread: La Marzocco.
Whenever I had an acidic-tasting espresso, more often than not, the machine in the shop was sporting that familiar brand. It almost became a mark of Cain for me.
Indeed, I stumbled upon a few acidic espressos coming from other brands, but never the other way around. In more than two years, I haven’t tasted a single cup of La Marzocco that didn’t have that unmistakable flavor.
Sure, some were slightly better than others, so while the connecting factor is the acidic taste, it’s fairly safe to assume that the final result is heavily influenced not only by the machine but also by the other variables at play, like the beans and the barista’s skills.
This was implicitly confirmed by the fact that I actually had two very decent La Marzocco espressos and, coincidence or not, I sipped both of them when visiting coffee shops in two different countries in southern Europe. In one of these countries, I also had another La Marzocco espresso at a different place, and it was one of the worst I’ve ever tried, so, as you can imagine, it can be a bit of a crapshoot.
The bright side is that, as long as you opt for something other than an espresso, like a flat white or a latte, coffee made with a La Marzocco machine seems to be absolutely enjoyable. My favorite choice is the iced mocha in such cases.
But then again, we’re here to talk about espresso, and this post should make clear exactly what I mean when, while rating a certain coffee, I mention the “classic La Marzocco style.”
Whether or not I’ll ever find a properly tasting espresso made with such a machine here in Birmingham remains to be seen.