No two morning routines are the same. Schedules, commutes, and the way people start their mornings changes. But, however different these routines may be, almost all of them share the same ritual: coffee. There are those who don't forgive an espresso at the bar, those who prefer to grab one on their way to the office, those who enter a specialty coffee shop and, before ordering, ask about the origins, the roaster, or the tasting notes, and those who remain faithful to their usual neighbourhood café. There are as many ways to drink coffee as there are ways to start the day.
Whichever coffee people choose, there is often a hidden story behind every cup. Because, beyond the varieties, origins, or preparation processes, it is also the machines, grinders, and utensils that have transformed the way coffee is prepared that explain its evolution. It is precisely this heritage, often invisible, that the new Coffee Museum (Via Laietana, 36), inaugurated in early July, highlights this often overlooked heritage more than 2,000 historical objects that allow us to understand the way coffee is prepared, served and enjoyed has evolved over the centuries.
“Today preparing a coffee is as easy as inserting a capsule and pressing a button. But before, coffee arrived as raw beans and had to be roasted, ground, and prepared. It was a whole process.” With this reflection, Fabio Panasiti summarizes the spirit of the Coffee Museum, promoted by his family, which claims all the story behind every cup: from the first roasters and grinders to the espresso machines that have revolutionized the way of preparing one of the world's most widely consumed beverages.
Although the museum has just opened its doors in the Catalan capital, the project is the result of more than three decades of the Panasiti family's involvement in coffee. The story dates back to 1994, when Giuseppe Panasiti, an Italian businessman established in Barcelona, identified a lack that would end up marking his journey. “When my father arrived in the city, he realized that the culture of Italian espresso did not exist here,” Fabio recalls. “There was traditional café coffee, much more roasted, but not that short, creamy espresso that is part of everyday life in Italy.”
With this idea, Panasiti inaugurated the first Cafès Di Roma, a brand that, through a franchise system, came to exceed a hundred establishments before being acquired by Lavazza in 2001. Nevertheless, today the family remains linked to the sector with three Cappuccino cafés —located on Via Laietana, 23 and 44, and on La Rambla, 76— managed by his children.
Meanwhile, however, Giuseppe Panasiti had developed another passion, almost as strong as his love for coffee: collecting espresso machines, grinders, coffee makers, advertising posters, cans, and all kinds of objects linked to coffee culture. Each new acquisition found its place in the family's establishments, occupying walls, shelves, and even ceilings. Over the years, that collection eventually outgrew the premises, and Panasiti set up a small 20-square-metre room of about twenty square meters in one of his Cappuccino shops to display them. But the space soon became too small.
This first corner is the origin of the current Coffee Museum. Distributed over two floors, the facility brings together more than 2,000 historical pieces and a specialized library with more than 1,200 volumes, transforming a decades-old private collection into one of Europe's most important coffee heritage collections.
The opening of the Coffee Museum coincides with a growing coffee culture in Barcelona. Specialty coffee shops have not stopped multiplying, new local roasters have emerged, and more and more consumers are interested in the origin of the bean or the different extraction methods. In this context, however, there was still a lack of a space that explained the history hidden behind each cup.
“We have travelled extensively and have never seen anything like it. Neither in Spain nor practically in Europe,” assures Fabio Panasiti. "Building a collection like this takes years of dedication”. And it is that the collection that today occupies the two floors of the Coffee Museum is the result of three years of travel and research around the world to recover historical pieces. Nearly 80% come from private collections, and many have had to be restored to preserve and restore historical objects before being exhibited to the public.
When coffee engages all the senses
But this new space proposes a different way of discovering the history of coffee. Here, not only are machines, grinders, and old objects observed: the aroma of coffee fills the space, the movement of mechanisms is heard, pieces that still work are touched, and the museum is toured with a cup in hand. The first thing visitors notice, inevitably, is the aroma. The smell of freshly ground coffee permeates the space and mixes with the presence of hundreds of historical pieces.
Little by little, sight takes center stage. The first impact for the visitor comes from the variety of colors, but also from the dimensions of pieces that are hard to imagine when we think about the world of coffee. Among the more than 2,000 objects that make up the collection, giant grinders, ornately decorated coffee makers, and espresso machines that almost look like sculptural objects whose scale is difficult to imagine. Alongside the large machines and grinders, the tour also uncovers old cans, advertising posters, packaging, and photographs that explain how coffee has been part of daily life for hundreds of generations.
Among the most unique pieces is an enormous grinder manufactured in England for the London Universal Exhibition of 1862. The piece, which preserves the seal of the British royal house dating from the Victorian era, was sold through Harrods in London and Buenos Aires before arriving to Barcelona. Also noteworthy is a Gaggia coffee maker that between 1994 and 2004 was part of Central Perk, the iconic coffee shop from the series Friends, and a 1910 Victoria Arduino "Extra," a large-capacity espresso machine of which only five units were manufactured and which operated for years at the Hotel Le Negresco in Nice.
But beyond the large pieces, the museum also tells the story of coffee through objects that for decades have been part of daily life: manual grinders, domestic roasters, coffee makers, cash registers, packaging, and advertising material. The collection also highlights Catalan coffee heritage, with a wide variety of objects from local brands, and is complemented by a library of over 1,200 volumes in different languages.
And the museum still also offers visitors the chance to explore coffee through sound and touch with an exclusive experience that allows preparing an espresso with an original machine from the 1950s and a restored grinder, recreating the same movements that for decades were part of the coffee ritual. At this moment, the visit ceases to be merely contemplative: one hears the sound of the beans as they pass through the grinder, the movement of the old mechanisms, and the steam of the machine in operation, while the visitor experiences the preparation process. “We don't want people to just come and observe old machines, but to be able to experience the entire history of coffee,” argues Panasiti.
Naturally, the space also engages the sense of taste, the space also awakens taste. The museum also includes, at the entrance, a cafeteria and tasting area, independent of the museum tour, designed both for those who simply want to enjoy a good coffee and for visitors who prefer to continue the visit with a cup in hand. They can do so with a blend created exclusively for the space, the Supercrema Blend, designed to recover the creamy texture of Italian espresso and made with 70% Arabica from Brazil, Nicaragua, and Colombia and 30% Robusta from India; as well as other single-origin coffees from Brazil, Ethiopia, and Colombia, with different aromatic profiles.
With this journey through all the senses, the Coffee Museum aims to be, as Panasiti hopes, an open space for both enthusiasts of this drink and those who are simply curious to discover its history. From neighborhood residents to industry professionals, collectors, or tourists looking for a different experience, any visitor can find a way to discover the world of coffee. Open daily from Monday to Sunday, with an €8.50 admission fee for adults, the museum recovers objects that have often gone unnoticed to to look back and understand how today's simple cup of coffee is the result of centuries of history, technology and ritual.