Museo: MUMAC – Museo della Macchina per Caffè Cimbali Group

MUMAC World

Extra: MUMAC is not just a museum but also a Library, a Historical Archive, and an Academy.

MUMAC is not just a museum but also a Library, a Historical Archive, and an Academy. The historical library of the Coffee is equipped with a collection of approximately 1300 thematic volumes. The historical archive, recently digitized and available to all upon request, contains tens of thousands of documents including photos, patents, letters, catalogs, useful for reconstructing the history of the espresso coffee machine. The Academy, with its Training Centre and Sensory Room spaces, is dedicated to training with courses aimed at professionals in the field and coffee lovers. MUMAC also organizes events, special openings, cultural and educational initiatives dedicated to schools and families, university workshops, hosts thesis students, and promotes editorial projects such as the publication of the volume "SENSO ESPRESSO: Coffee. Style. Emotions.", a true concentrate of the Italian way of life. Finally, how do we use the 250 machines in stock? We use them for rotations within the museum or for nationally and internationally relevant loans. To name just a few, MUMAC's machines have been loaned to the Milan Triennale, the Musée des Arts Decoratifs at the Louvre in Paris, the Deutsches Museum in Munich, the Museo do Cafè in Santos, Brazil, as well as for film and television productions, such as the Italian TV series "L'Amica Geniale" and the film "Pasolini" by Abel Ferrara starring William Dafoe.

Introduction

This section introduces the visitor to a dedicated itinerary about the bartender and their work throughout different historical periods.

You have chosen a truly interesting and, at the same time, intriguing path. Yes, because even today, the word "barista" does not have a certain etymology or birth date. In this journey, we will invite you to focus on some specific aspects and machines that can help you understand the evolution over time of the figure who operates the coffee machine. However, before delving into the heart of your thematic path, take a moment and stop here, in the HALL to begin to savor the history, curiosities, and details of this place. This museum was founded in 2012, inside the headquarters of Gruppo Cìmbali, here in Binasco. It was created on the occasion of the centenary of the company's foundation, which took place in 1912 by Giuseppe Cìmbali in Milan, and it is the largest permanent exhibition dedicated to the history, world, and culture of professional espresso coffee machines. It is a corporate museum that goes beyond the concept of a company museum: inside, it exhibits not only the machines of the Group's brands (La Cìmbali, Faema, Casadio, Slayer), but all the brands that have been milestones in the sector. Thanks to the collections of the Cìmbali family and Enrico Maltoni, the world's largest collector of coffee machines, the museum displays over 100 machines and tells over a century of the evolution of an entire sector of Made in Italy, not only from a technological point of view, but also in terms of the design and style of the products and customs related to the consumption of the beverage. If you want to learn more about the museum and the other 250 machines in the collection, we invite you to follow the extended tour.

The beginnings

This section introduces us to the museum visit through some historical coffee machines.

Now, leaving the Hall and the Café on your left (unless you'd like to enjoy a great coffee first!), you can proceed past the brown divider panel depicting the museum map: but before that, if you'd like to get your bearings, take a look at it! To the left, a large "Welcome" tells you about the philosophy of MUMAC (if you'd like to read or listen to it, head to the introductory itinerary). You are in the Origins room where espresso coffee is born, steam extracted and still without cream, and in front of you, you have a series of beautiful machines with Liberty finishes and decorations, column-shaped. Yes, because the first machines didn't come about as we are used to seeing them, horizontal, but were created vertically: as a "column" indeed! Now stop in front of the large original wooden counter from 1929: one of the largest machines ever made is installed there, the Condor. Admire it in its grandeur and then... fear it! Try to imagine what it meant to use it to offer the most modern coffee to the customers of that era. Great bursts of steam, intense heat, pressure to release and very high water temperature, gas, coal, or electricity that couldn't be lacking. Whoever operated this machine needed great skill and familiarity in use to extract the many coffees it could prepare simultaneously from its dispensing groups. In short, the machines, from the dawn to the 1940s, were potentially very dangerous if not operated properly: they were under pressure, operated at high temperatures to generate steam, had types of power supply that could pose risks. This is why, at that time, coffee was prepared by the "engineer", as the specialized operator was called, who had to be equipped with a stoker license and had to take care of the coffee machine's operation, paying constant attention to it to prevent it from exploding. And indeed, there was a real risk of it exploding, as will also be evidenced by the image we will show you shortly.

Technology and Explosions

This section focuses on the period between the World Wars and on the technological gap still present (which often could lead to pleasant consequences!)

Leave the first room behind and enter the second one, completely different from the previous one. We are in the period between the two World Wars, where machines reflect the style of the era: Rationalism. It is a challenging period marked by crisis and autarky dominating the economy. Yet, it is also a time of paradoxes. While nationally consumption decreases, in major urban centers there are peaks of consumption, driven by well-off patrons who refuse to give up a real espresso. Thus, public venues grow and become places of social gatherings and culture. However, technology remains at its early stages. Machines are still operated by a "machinist" and are prone to explode if not handled properly. On the wall immediately to the left, you will find evidence of this: hanging there is a reproduction of a 1946 issue of Domenica del Corriere, featuring an illustration by Walter Molino depicting how patrons in a venue were served "splinters and burns" instead of coffee due to an espresso machine explosion. But how did people in that era drink their coffee? Coffee was an expensive commodity and espresso was not for everyone. The habit of directly consuming at the counter was not common; instead, the drink was served by dedicated staff to patrons who leisurely savored it at their tables. In this room, at the center, you can see some machines lined up one behind the other on a row of white marble parallelepipeds: if you look closely, they seem to resemble a real locomotive where the first machine at the front, La Cìmbali Ala, appears to be the driver's station: this is one of the first horizontal machines. If you observe it closely and are familiar with Milan's trams, you will notice a great resemblance between the type of dispensing groups and the control knobs of the tram driver: another "machinist". Meanwhile, if you look at the last in line, an imposing San Marco 900, you will discover a small burner where pieces of coal were placed to power the machine, just like the boilers of steam trains! It's worth noting that during this period, although the technology remains the same, something starts to change in the forms. Vertical machines begin to turn horizontal, and performance improves: with all the dispensing groups positioned on the same side, a single operator can handle, "comfortably" from the same position, the dispensing of multiple coffees, thus becoming faster and more efficient.

The 1950s-60s

This section focuses on the technical innovations and tasks of the bank teller between the 1950s and 1960s.

Now leave the Room and proceed past the last displayed machine, the D.P. 47 designed by Gio Ponti: it is the most important machine in the museum, but we will talk about it in the extended itinerary. Once you pass the machine, you find yourself in the sparkling room dedicated to the 1950s. An incredible succession of post-war events, the rebirth of industry and economy, the new fervor and trust in the future lead an ingenious Milanese bartender, Achille Gaggia, to invent a new coffee extraction system. Gaggia's invention of the "lever" was first applied in 1948 on the Classica machine, produced at the FAEMA Workshops, a company that manufactures household appliances founded in 1945 in Milan by Carlo Ernesto Valente. The system no longer uses steam for extraction, but a higher pressure combined with very hot water below the 100 degrees required to produce steam. This combination leads for the first time to obtaining the coffee crema that characterizes modern espresso. The Gaggia Classica, with the section of its piston, is the first machine you can see when entering the room. But if you approach the counter in the center of the room, you can try to step onto the platform and take the place of the "bartender": positioned on the counter, in front of the customer, the lever machines are operated by the skilled operator who puts all his strength and expertise to offer the customer an espresso and also a friendly chat! The tasks related to the bartender are less complex, but still dangerous and above all more tiring: operating the lever that acts on the piston to produce the 9 bars of pressure necessary for extracting espresso with crema requires strength and attention. If not used correctly, the lever could literally "send the bartender to the mat", hitting him on the chin (hence the lever was aptly called "chin-breaker" for years).

Machines and barista

This section is dedicated to machines, the figure of the barista, and the famous "Cìmbalino."

Now take a look at the machines: all the manufacturers of that era begin to produce lever machines for dispensing the new and modern coffee with crema! Gaggia names its espresso "Natural coffee crema" specifying that "it works without steam," Faema, as soon as it starts its own production, separating from Gaggia, calls it "Hydro-compressed coffee infusion," not easy to say; while La Cìmbali innovates the market of espresso coffee consumption, simply calling the drink with crema dispensed by its machines "Cìmbalino" (see Cìmbalino itinerary) In the establishments, the consumption of the drink still mainly takes place at the table. The greater economic availability and free time, the desire to spend time together, the possibility of watching TV as a new social ritual, and the carefree desire for post-war rebirth transform the establishments into meeting places where coffee consumption extends to all segments of the population.

1960s and 1970s

This section focuses on the technological innovations of this period and the loss of contact between bartenders and customers.

Continue to the next room to discover the revolution of design and technology in society and in coffee machines. We are now in the room dedicated to design and the 60s/70s. To your right, the evolution of the most iconic and significant machine for technological revolution and for the design that has brought it from then until now: the Faema E61, the most iconic and widespread machine in the world. With the advent of the E61 (by the way, do you know what its name means? Try to find out by reading the caption and exploring the information on the app), the "continuous dispensing" system and the electro-volumetric pump are affirmed, which does all the work previously done by the lever. A small lever operated by the operator completely eliminates physical effort in preparing espresso, and the bartender gives way to the new figure of the barista, who prepares and serves coffee at the counter, where the machine still stands out with its rounded volumes. Continuing along the corridor of the room, almost at the end on the left, the La Cìmbali M15 is exhibited, designed by Rodolfo Bonetto in 1971. A machine with a "pop" color, designed at a time when the coffee machine moved from the front counter to the one behind the bartender, freeing up space for coffee consumption at the counter. This establishes the position of the machine behind the counter to free up space in front and serve coffee "on the go" more quickly. The machine loses its role as the protagonist, and bartenders also have to change the way they prepare coffee: turning their backs on customers, they lose that contact with the customer that so characterized the bars of the previous decades, making the figure more anonymous even though extremely specialized in becoming very fast operators of the machine to serve ever-increasing quantities of coffee to a population that has less and less time to spare and that travels more and more.

80s and 90s

This section focuses on the two decades following the previous section, where bartenders begin to serve more elaborate drinks.

Continuing and turning the corner, you find yourself projected into the colorful and light 80s and the increasingly electronic era of the 90s. If the bar begins to become a place for aperitifs, post-dinner gatherings with friends, or the place to start getting familiar with the first rudimentary electronic games that were so cutting edge at the time, the classic bartender continues to work in the back of the counter to serve espresso-based drinks that start to become more complex. However, trendy venues are emerging where bartenders and mixologists make mixing and juggling for the creation of cocktails their distinctive features. The advent of electronics brought into the coffee machine, on one hand, allows for the technological revolution of controlled dosing with the Faema Tronic that you see in the center of the room, on the other hand, it allows for the initial start of the production of super-automatic machines, whose technology, once again, impacts the figure using them. The operator may not necessarily be an expert barista in all the phases of coffee preparation required with a traditional machine, but they can rely on the machine which, with a simple button, prepares the chosen drink: from the bean to the cup with a small gesture. Here you can see La Cìmbali Dolcevita born in those years primarily for the American market: in fact, Italians still prefer the customs and certainties of traditional machines.

The new millennium

This section focuses on the new millennium and a return to the relationship between machines, baristas, and customers.

If you proceed to the next room, you will find yourself immersed in the era of globalization, which, together with the trends of the new millennium and especially the second decade of the 2000s, leads to a new awareness of consumption and consequently to a new change in the coffee preparation sector. The need to better understand our surroundings, the necessity of not forgetting that sustainability and responsibility are the keywords we should refer to, translate into a consumption awareness that demands greater flexibility in machines and a deeper knowledge of the entire coffee supply chain. Thus, there is a renewed focus on relationships, and today we witness the return of the coffee machine to the counter, establishing a rekindled connection with the customer to whom the journey of the coffee they are enjoying is increasingly "narrated." In many cases, operators are still traditional, with machines often designed for behind-the-counter use, but with increasingly high performance, internet-connected systems that are flexible and sustainable, capable of performing tasks and managing data, allowing for different dispensing adjustments tailored to ever more demanding consumers and to meet the diverse array of requests and new customizations in beverages, such as La Cìmbali M100, which you see at the center of attention in the room.