A Long-Time Favourite Arrives in Dubai
At the end of May, I visited the newly opened La Marzocco showroom in Dubai. If you have followed my blog for a while, you will know that La Marzocco is probably my favourite Italian espresso machine maker. In fact, when I moved to Cape Town in 2010 to open my first coffee shop, Escape Caffe, one of my non-negotiables was that I had to have a three-group La Marzocco Linea espresso machine. So yes, La Marzocco has always had a soft spot in my heart. Geek moment.
So, when I saw that they were hosting an event at their Dubai showroom on Saturday, 23 May 2026, together with RAW Coffee Company, one of Dubai’s original specialty coffee roasters, I was naturally excited to go.
First Impressions
Upon entering, you are immediately greeted by an impressive array of espresso machines, well it was a showroom highlighting all their machines, GB5, Strada, etc. Very briefly, La Marzocco was founded in Florence in 1927 and has been building handmade espresso machines for nearly 100 years. Every machine still carries the Florentine lion on its badge.
For this event, they had partnered with RAW Coffee Company, so all the coffees served that day were roasted by RAW. Perhaps intrigued by my nerdy coffee look, I met Eric, a former Venezuelan barista champion, who kindly showed me around the showroom.
The Modbar and the Swan Grinder
We went upstairs to look at the Modbar, which now has a filter unit attached to it. This means you can have a clean, minimalist counter setup with both espresso and filter brewing built in. Yay!
I still remember when I first saw a Modbar at Colonna & Smalls in Bath in 2017; I thought it was one of the best-looking coffee shop setups I had ever seen.
After that, I went downstairs and chatted with Filippo, an engineer who has been seconded to Dubai for a couple of years. He introduced me to the impressive Swan grinder, which has 83mm conical burrs, stepless grind adjustment and three speed settings. The demo showed me exactly why the right grinder is just as important as the espresso machine itself.
Never forget that the machine is very important in espresso making.
We pulled two different espressos, and I could clearly taste the difference based on the grinder settings alone.
Machines, Collaborations and Coffee Geekery
Walking around the showroom after my geek moment, I looked at some of their other machines. One that stood out was the La Marzocco collaboration with Porsche: a special-edition Linea Micra. Only 911 units were made.
Porsche 911, get it? Clearly intentional.
I also spent some time looking at the Linea Mini and the Linea Micra, which Eric had shown me earlier. We played around with the Acaia scales and explored how different settings can be used to manipulate the taste profiles of espresso coffee. The Linea Micra is La Marzocco’s most compact machine, but don’t let its size fool you. It still has dual boilers, commercial-grade temperature stability and a PID controller.
This machine is still on my dream list, so if anyone reading this wants to gift me one, send me a DM and I will happily share my Dubai address.
Coffee, Conversations and Final Thoughts
After that, I chatted with the baristas from RAW Coffee about the different coffees being served, had a few pictures taken (see top pic).
In all, I had a couple of milk-based coffees, a few espressos (one with a little bit of robusta blended into it, to give the authentic Italian espresso experience) and thoroughly enjoyed the whole geeky experience.
I must confess that I thought that there would be more people at the event but that was fine for me in that I got to spend lots of time with then team and learn more about the machines.
Located just off Sheikh Zayed Road, the La Marzocco showroom in Dubai, is open for walk-in to visit during the week, Monday to Friday. On Saturdays, they often host collaborations with Dubai-based roasters fortnightly, so check their website for more. So, whether you are looking to buy a high-end professional home espresso machine, set up a café, speak to experts, or simply play around with beautiful espresso equipment, it is well worth a visit.
If you’re looking for something a little different to do on a Saturday and want a proper coffee geek moment, I definitely recommend visiting the La Marzocco Middle East which is located at Shop 4, 80 Sheikh Zayed Road.
Ciao!
From Coffee With Love 