Coffee Mayhem

Officina Rancilio Museum Visit On my first full day in Milano, I was very pleased and honoured to be invited out to the small town of Parabiago where Rancilio, the famous Italian espresso machine manufacturer had their original factory. This wasn't a tour of the factory -- that would come later -- but instead, was a private tour of something that is the Rancilio family's pride and joy: the Officina Rancilio Museum.

This museum is the product primarily of Luca Rancilio, the grandson of Rancilio's founder. You can tell within just a few moments of meeting Luca that he has a serious passion for the history of his family's business. He gave me a private tour of the museum and as he discussed each machine, you could tell he had not only intimate knowledge of the machines and the family history, but he also relished in it.

Rancilio started this project about 8 years ago. The family had several historical machines in their possession, but Luca went on the hunt for more, and was able to find (and restore) some amazingly rare models of Rancilio machines. He estimates that in Rancilio's pre-World War II era, the company was only building machines in the single digits every month, so finding versions of these machines today is incredibly difficult.

Rancilio was able to track down what he believes is the first machine his grandfather (Roberto Rancilio) built for commercial sale, and it is in the museum, along with another machine from 1927. There were machines from all eras up until the 1970s inside, showing a wide range of technology and design styles through the decades.

It's important to note that this museum is housed in a building located in the exact same part of Parabiago that the original Rancilio Factory was located. That building was torn down many years ago, and a new multiple-use building (offices, residential, etc) was built in its place. Though very modern, the building does evoke memories of the old factory.

The Officina Rancilio museum is not open to the public, but can definitely be visited upon appointment. It is in Parabiago, which is about 30-40 minutes outside of Milan by car (also accessible by train) and trust me, well worth the visit. If you are interested in checking out the museum, contact Rancilio in Italy for more information.

Still can't get enough of the museum? Additional outtake pictures are now up on CoffeeGeek's Flickr pages.

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