Big news today from our friends and partners at La Marzocco USA, where they’ve officially announced the 2013 debut the Linea PB, “the first full update to the technical and stylistic workings of the Linea in the nearly 25 years it has been in production.” Linea PB will make its first public appearance at the SCAA Expo in Boston, this coming April 11th-14th. Details are still being closely held by La Marzocco as to what exactly these new technical and stylistic elements will look and feel like, but SCAA attendees can expect hands-on demos and plenty more information in Boston.
La Marzocco has a proud history of naming their machines in honor of members of their founding family. For example, the FB series takes its name from “Fratelli Bambi”, or the Bambi brothers Giuseppe and Bruno, who founded the company in 1927. The Linea PB is named in honor of Piero Bambi, son of Giuseppe and nephew of Bruno, who has served as the longtime patriarch of the La Marzocco brand and is intimately involved in the design and development of each new La Marzocco machine. The original Linea was the first machine for which he led the design process, and the Linea PB has been named in tribute to him in advance of his upcoming 80th birthday.
So while we look forward to the launch of the Linea PB, La Marzocco USA is launching a campaign of nostalgia to remember and honor the much-loved lynchpin in the specialty coffee movement, the original Linea. They’re calling it “Linea Love”, and they’ve launched a website filled with tribute essays, video interviews, and even haikus dedicated to the role the Linea has played in specialty coffee culture worldwide in the last 25 years. There’s great content there already, and your Sprudge.com Editors will be contributing content to the project over the coming days and weeks, including original interviews with some of the biggest names in the industry. Best of all, “The Linea Love Campaign invites you to share your fondest memories of the La Marzocco Linea. Tell your story in writing, song, video, a photo, a drawing – whatever helps you express your Linea Love.” Submission is easy, just follow the link on the lower-left hand side of the Linea Love website.
Look for updates to the Linea Love project over the next few months – we’ll be sure to let folks know when our videos and interviews go live! Congrats to the team at LMUSA for their months of work and planning getting this project off the ground, and we can’t wait to finally see the new machine in Boston.