MILAN, Italy — Gruppo Cimbali – with its Faema and Slayer brands and its MUMAC Academy – is starring at the Milan Coffee Festival which, after a two-year hiatus, is returning for its third edition from 12 to 14 November 2022. A busy programme of events, competitions and performances will transform Milan into the ‘coffee lover’ capital.
This year, the Italian edition of the international event celebrating coffee in all its forms will once again be held at Superstudio Più at 27 Via Tortona, a symbolic location in one of the city’s most vibrant and historic districts.
After London, Amsterdam and New York, the festival is now an unmissable event for all lovers of the iconic drink: in addition to the countless ‘live’ experiences on offer, the public will be able to taste the best specialty coffees, attend workshops and watch the best Italian roasters compete in the prestigious The Roast Masters competition.
Gruppo Cimbali sponsors the prestigious Roast Masters contest
As part of the event, Slayer – which handcrafts high-end espresso machines in Seattle – will sponsor the new The Roast Masters format: The competition, which focuses on the art of roasting speciality coffees and involves Italy’s best coffee roasters, will involve 20 roasters who will compete in teams of 3 in frantic knockout head-to-head competitions.
The candidates will compete in four disciplines – The Espresso Smackdown, The Latte Art Showdown, The Brew Faceoff and The Signature Drink –, examined by a jury of experts.
During the competition, participants will have access to four Slayer Steam EP espresso machines.
In the Espresso Bar area, set up to allow the different roasters to let visitors try out their own bar coffee, there will also be a Slayer Steam LP and a Slayer Espresso Single Group, a real must-have in the high-end café world thanks to its sophisticated design, intuitive interface and exclusive technical solutions.
MUMAC Academy sponsors The Lab
Mumac Academy, Gruppo Cimbali’s Coffee Machine Academy, will sponsor The Lab, an extensive programme of workshops designed to offer visitors interactive demonstrations, lectures and lively debates on topical issues relating to the coffee world.
The public will be able to learn how to create the perfect espresso coffee and improve their Latte Art performance. Gruppo Cimbali will be present with Faemina, the new Faema-branded machine designed for the home, a true design object with an elegant style and minimal, geometric design.
This machine masterfully combines innovation and aesthetics, offering a product that equals the standards of professional machines.
The programme of talks involving Gruppo Cimbali and MUMAC Academy in The Lab is as follows:
- Saturday 12 November – 3pm
“Patisserie & Drink Pairing” with Fabrizio Barbato, owner of L’Île Douce: together with Fabrizio Barbato, we will discuss how to best pair coffee, tea and pastries during the day for a comprehensive selection in your business. - Sunday 13 November – 11.15 am
“Beans vs. Leaves: Coffee or Tea?” with MUMAC Academy Coffee Specialists Rita Saiu and Alessandro Coda: Gruppo Cimbali’s Coffee Specialists, Rita Saiu and Alessandro Coda, will take us on a tasting tour to understand and appreciate differences and similarities between coffee and tea, from the supply chain to the final cup. - Sunday 13 November – 2.30 pm
MUMAC, Gruppo Cimbali’s Coffee Machine Museum, will also be present for the occasion with the “MUMAC presents: history, lab and coffee” talk by MUMAC Curator Anna Cento: the evolution of habits and customs in the consumption of the beverage and of coffee machine technology over time, taking a new perspective starting from the restyling carried out for the museum’s tenth anniversary. - Monday 14 November – 11.15 am
“How to become a champion”: a panel discussion with champions: Carmen Clemente (World Latte Art Champion), Andrea Villa (Italian Coffee in Good Spirits Champion), Davide Cobelli (Italian Roasting Champion), Giacomo Vannelli (Italian Brewers Cup Champion), Matteo Pavoni (Italian Barista Champion), Niki Di Landa (Italian Ibrik/Cezve Champion) and Alessandro Coda as moderator (MUMAC Academy Coffee Specialist).
Visitors to the event will also find the Faema Bee, a Faema-branded ‘Ape’ vehicle equipped with a President machine and a Groundbreaker, designed to entice people to visit the Faema Flagship.
The Flagship at 7 Via Forcella is reopening during the Milan Coffee Festival: the space will be open from 10.00 to 17.30 over the three days of the event to welcome participants and visitors for a coffee and to enjoy a moment of relaxation during the Festival.
It will be an opportunity to discover Faema’s products designed for the various segments, as well as the Slayer STEAM EP competition machines and the laCimbali S15, the machine designed for the Office segment.
And it is precisely to enhance Gruppo Cimbali’s official entry into the Office Coffee Service (OCS) segment that for the 3-day event, a collaboration has been set up with Foorban, a start-up that offers smart and innovative solutions for healthy lunch breaks in the office. In fact, a Foorban fridge with healthy proposals designed for offices will be made available for lunch.
The calendar of events planned at the Flagship is as follows:
- Friday 11 November: the Flagship will host the roasters, who will perform pre-race calibrations;
- Saturday 12 November: from 10.00am to 12pm, breakfast will be offered together with the Latte Art world champions, Manuela Fensore and Carmen Clemente, while at 5.30 pm there will be an event with Italian champion barista Matteo Pavoni;
- Sunday 13 November: the Flagship will open from 10.00 am to 5.30 pm. From 5pm to 9pm, Gruppo Cimbali will organise an aperitif open to the public by Rita’s Riki Room with the participation of Chiara Buzzi and Alessandro D’Alessio featuring street food and a DJ set, for a pleasant evening dedicated to all coffee lovers!
On Monday 14, the ‘trade’ day of the Coffee Festival, the flagship will still be open during the indicated hours to welcome visitors and customers.
Gruppo Cimbali
Gruppo Cimbali is one of the leading manufacturers of professional machines for making coffee and milk-based drinks, as well as coffee shop equipment. The Group, which includes the La Cimbali, Faema, Slayer and Casadio brands, operates through three production plants in Italy and one in the United States (in Seattle, where the machines are produced under the Slayer brand), employing a total of around 700 employees.
The Group’s commitment to promoting espresso culture and the local area led to the foundation of the MUMAC Coffee Machine Museum in 2012, the first and largest permanent exhibition dedicated to the history, world and culture of espresso machines, located at the Gruppo Cimbali headquarters in Binasco. MUMAC is home to MUMAC Academy, Gruppo Cimbali’s coffee machine academy, a training, promotion and research centre.
MUMAC Academy
MUMAC Academy is Gruppo Cimbali’s Coffee Machine Academy, an international training centre for professionals and coffee lovers. Headquartered in Binasco (Milan), MUMAC Academy has established eight branches in Barcelona, Lisbon, London, Paris, Porto, Rome, Seville and Vienna.
There are also ten LABs, training centres twinned at the Gruppo Cimbali distributor sites. A benchmark for the promotion of coffee culture since its foundation in 2014, MUMAC Academy has helped to train more than 10,500 professionals with over 1,300 days of in-person and online courses.
MUMAC Academy is a certified SCA Premier Training Campus and IIAC Academy, one of the most prestigious venues for coffee tasting and knowledge. Its training programme, taught by internationally acclaimed instructors, is divided into two categories: courses on coffee with SCA, LAGS and IIAC modules, and courses on coffee machine technologies for the transformation of the product, on which the Academy carries out research in collaboration with various universities.
