La Marzocco Getting Back Into Grinders with the Swift and Swan

The La Marzocco Swift Mini grinder, which made a public debut at the HOST Milano show last week.

Italian espresso machine giant La Marzocco has announced a renewed focus on grinders that will result in two major new products — the home-focused Swift Mini and the commercial model Swan — expected to be released over the next 12 months.

The company made the announcement in conjunction with Italy’s largest hospitality trade show, HOST Milano, writing an “open letter” to the coffee world at large discussing its intentions in the competitive fields of home and commercial coffee grinders.

“No matter the work done by the farmer or the barista, the espresso coffee grinder always limited their impact on espresso coffee quality,” La Marzocco stated. “Nearly twenty years ago we began again to research and learn what can be improved in espresso coffee grinding. We feel now is the time for us at La Marzocco to expand our efforts, to set out down a new pathway, and to bring the same innovation and evolution to espresso coffee grinding machines as we have brought to the espresso machine.”

The first grinder to be introduced by the company in the new line is the Swift Mini, designed for the high-end home and office espresso markets.

La Marzocco drawing.

At 47 centimeters tall (18.5 inches), the grinder features 32-mm conical burrs; an automatic grinding dosing and tamping system; a 0.25-kilogram (8.8-ounce) hopper; and three finishes, in black, white or red. The machine is already listed as “coming soon” among the products offered in La Marzocco International’s Home division, with a pre-tax price of €1,615 (approximately $1,800 USD).

The second major release from LM will be a commercial espresso grinder called Swan. Though the company yet to disclose any product specs, its recent announcement suggests the grinder will offer solutions to the common high-volume grinding problems of dosing consistency, heat, clumping and retention.

Though the estimated price for the La Marzocco Swan has not been released, the price point for the Swift is approximately twice as high as the existing grinders offered in the La Marzocco Home line, the Lux D grinders made in collaboration with fellow Italian manufacturer and grinder specialist Mazzer. La Marzocco and Mazzer also collaborated nearly a decade ago to reintroduce the Vulcano grinder, based on the original 1960s design by La Marzocco Co-Founder Giuseppe Bambi.

As La Marzocco ventures forth with the new grinder line all its own, we’ll have more on each of the two new grinders as they get closer to reaching the market.