With The Milan Coffee festival just weeks away, we're excited to share a few vignettes from our people of Milan photo series, celebrating the individuals who make up this rich cultural city. 

MUMAC is Milan's coffee machine museum and academy, a place for training, and spreading the coffee culture for coffee lovers and professionals in the coffee industry alike. Continuous innovation and technology are prerogatives for Gruppo Cimbali, which never stops renewing itself and at the same time preserves the great history of Italian coffee.

We had the pleasure of chatting with Lisa Codarri, Mumac Academy Manager of Gruppo Cimbali, about her passion for coffee. She told us a little about herself, about her exciting relationship with the world of coffee and her idea of ​​style in today's Milan, which is increasingly open to various forms of cultural influence.


Photo by Specialty PaL​​

Lisa, what is your favourite way to take coffee?

Let's say I started following coffee when I joined Gruppo Cimbali. I used to drink coffee from the machine, in an indistinct manner, before discovering that there is a whole world to coffee as soon as I arrived. After less than a year, I took my first tasting course and became a certified IIAC taster (International Institute of Coffee Tasters). This was my first real taste of the sector – I discovered how much the machines could vary depending on the setting or based on the programming, and how this impacted the result of the coffee.

Since then, I have had many other opportunities to taste different coffees. I discovered the existence of specialty coffees, and again through the company was able to go to Brazil.  This trip was born from a partnership with the Santos Coffee Museum, but I took the opportunity to take a plantation tour. It was a wonderful experience because it brought together everything I had learned throughout my time with the company, and here I tasted a botanical variety of arabica, the unforgetable yellow bourbon.

Espresso is the extraction method with which I feel most confident, tied to the company I work with, even though the opportunities to taste alternative extraction methods have not been missed, and I owe it all to the trainers of the Mumac Academy because even though I don't do them at home, I like to confine them to a world where I know there are people who are very good at it. If I happen to be out and about, since now also in Milan you find coffee shops in which they have alternative brewing methods, out of curiosity I try them.

What's your favourite place in Milan?

What I like most about Milan is the area of ​​Paolo Sarpi. Some time ago I lived very close to it, a five minute walk away. It is a nice area to take a stroll, if only to wander around. The shops are always open, there are so many lively and contemporary little places. And there is that slightly multicultural atmosphere because it is still the Chinese quarter, always fascinating and has a completely unique feel.

By the way, I was born in Milan, but I lived outside, near Como. Thirteen years ago I decided to move back here because I always found myself very well.

What's your favourite thing to eat?

I have many! I became a fan of ice cream recently, and I've discovered it a little bit at a time. Thanks to the Gruppo Cimbali I went to the Gelato Museum and even there I discovered a whole new world. But my favorite dish is pizza! Unfortunately being lactose intolerant I can't eat it as often as I would like, but when I do decide to eat it I make a selection of the right places where the pizza is leavened well, with special flour and is really good. And above all: just margherita for me, I don't need anything else!

What's your favourite kind of design?

I like Scandinavian design, both in furnishings and in clothing. I like Design Lake as a brand. It is Italian, has a very clean and refined style. They make beautiful tables!

What is your essential piece of clothing?

I have two: jeans that are timeless, the most comfortable thing that exists. I'm not saying that it can always go from informal to formal... but almost! It can be super casual and sporty but in the right way it can work very well.

And then the shoes. High-heeled sandals are the most beautiful thing. If anything, I can wear them for five minutes but it's always worth it!

I like this Nordic clothing brand Noa Noam, whose clothesare a bit gypsy and have close attention to detail. Unfortunately I can only find them online, but if I'm in Northern Europe or if a friend happens to visit, I always order something to bring back! The other is Lazzari: he has a somewhat French, very chic style!
 

See the People of Milan photo series exhibited in full at The Milan Coffee Festival. Tickets are completely free, and available here.