With all the coffee world chatter about $20,000 halogen siphon machines and the breaking news of Starbucks buying the exclusive rights to the technology-driven Clover brewing device. We thought it was a good time to let people know about a trip Caffé Vita took last month to visit the BOSCO plant in Naples, Italy. Below is a choppy little video from our trip to the quaint and rustic little workshop.
BOSCO has been meticulously crafting artisanal espresso machines by hand for the past 50 years – the machines are arguably the most carefully built machines on the planet. The BOSCO requires the care of a trained barista – no push button operation, each shot must be hand pulled, but with dedication the slender and towering levers are mastered and the machine extracts an incomparable shot.
There are less than a dozen BOSCO machines currently in the U.S. – one famously resided in Francis Ford Coppola’s office at American Zeotrope and now has migrated to his Bay Area café by the same name.
Hand Built Espresso in Naples. from hebberoy on Vimeo.
I’ve heard these are very good machines. It’s a shame the barista at Zoetrope Cafe doesn’t have the skill to get everything out of the one they’ve got. The place across the street does better with their humble Faema machine and he’s not nearly the best in town. What other cafes may be putting their Boscos to better use?