Beyond Beans: La Marzocco’s Steamy Secret to Better Lattes
An Innovation report for better Cappuccino
La Marzocco.
The Italian brand famous for making beautifully designed, top-notch espresso machines is like the rockstar of the coffee world.
You’ve probably seen their Linea and Strada models in your favorite cafes — they’re known for being both stylish and high-performance. If you want coffee to taste good and your café to look sexy, look no further.
But form is not all. To sell machines and keep your customers happy, you need function as well.
La Marzocco is not a slack in this regard either. They are very active in research and development and frequently file new patent applications.
But what does innovation of a coffee machine look like? Let’s have a look at a new take on a new way to steam and foam milk for latte art — the easy way.
An innovative diffuser design for better frothing and sexier latte art
This is not what La Marzocco calls it, but I think they should.
Generally speaking, a diffuser is a little metal cap at the bottom of the steam wand. It comprises between one and five holes, allowing the steam to escape.
To create beautiful latte art you need a good amount of skill and perfectly steamed milk. To attain perfectly steamed milk, you once again need a good amount of skill.
The road to feathery light, hot, and fresh steamed milk is stony. You start with cold milk and introduce hot steam to it. The steam draws in air in tiny bubbles. Once the bubbles are intriduced, you want to “roll” the milk for a perfect distribution.
Easy in theory, difficult in practice. (I know from a 3+ year field experiment)
How does the fancy new diffuser work?
La Marzocco uses the diffuser to combine step 1 (introducing air) and step 2 (“rolling” the milk) by automatically creating a vortex during steaming.
The new diffuser comprises multiple holes that are skewed to create a vortex. I fail at describing this better, but have a look:
Benefits
- With the angled steam outlets, creating a vortex to roll the milk happens automatically. No need for skill and sleight of hand.
- No need to tilt the mug or mil-pitcher. You can pretty much just set the pitcher on the work surface and let the wand do its magic.
- Perfect timing. You don’t need to decide when you have drawn in enough air and need to transition to the “rolling” phase. The diffsor does this simultaneously.
Challenges
Time will tell whether this Diffuser works, but it certainly looks intriguing.
However, a certain amount of fun will be lost. Well, for those who know how to do it and consider it fun anyway. Furthermore, seasoned veterans will probably have some difficulty not twisting and turning the pitcher.
Final Thoughts
It’s always good to see that the OEMs are still innovating and also patenting. Most espresso machines seem to work precisely the same way as they did 60 years ago (check out the Faema E61 if you don’t believe me) — so innovation is not guaranteed.
I quite like the idea, even though I suspect application more in a professional environment (which is La Marzocco's primary customer group). However, there have been steam wands and adapters before that automatically create decent steamed and foamed milk. Time will tell I guess.
Lastly: this is yet to be a granted patent. In fact, the EPO (European Patent Office) has published a rather unfavorable examination report. Let’s see what La Marzocco does about it!
