Some Answered Questions, and a Coffee Book Review!

Thank you to everyone who came to the Illuminati event on Thursday! I emailed Mary at La Marzocco with the unanswered questions: How many machines does La Marzocco produce per year? and How long does it take to produce a single machine? She replied:

“Lead time varies according to the type of machine, eventual special colored panels etc. But excluding lead time issues, if we begin a machine on Monday, it will be ready by Friday.

We produce 2800 machines a year. Indeed, La Marzocco is a very small factory in comparison to other Italian brands.”

So…approximately 5 days/machine, 2800 machines/year. Maybe I’ll try to find out the numbers for other Italian brands…

On another note, starting with some biographical information: I have a degree in literature. No, I do not want to teach. I want to work in the coffee industry. However, I love to read and one of the best ways to satisfy both a love for reading and a love for coffee is to read books about coffee…obviously accompanied by a cup of Doubleshot coffee.

It’s time for a book review.

Today’s book is The Devil’s Cup: A History of the World According to Coffee, written by Stewart Lee Allen around 1999. It is a fabulously entertaining and informative read. Basically, the book chronicles Allen’s travels from Ethiopia to the United States—his route is determined by the route that coffee took in its spread from Africa to the rest of the world. You will learn about coffee’s role in ancient religious ceremonies, key figures in coffee’s expansion—like DeClieu, who risked death-by-dehydration in order to smuggle a coffee seedling to South America (his ship was becalmed, but he shared his scant water ration with the seedling)—other ways of consuming the coffee plant, etc. Oh, and how the introduction of coffee into a culture often coincides with periods of enlightenment (!). Allen is adventurous and has a good sense of humor—so this really is a fun book to read. It ends with a quest through the United States via Route 66 (go Oklahoma!) to find the worst cup of percolated diner coffee possible. Gross. The Devil’s Cup can be bought on amazon for about $11.00. I think Tulsa’s Central Library has a copy, and I believe it’s on the shelves at Doubleshot.

That’s all for now…feel free to comment, share reading recommendations, ask questions, etc!