The historical building above is the Palazzo Broggi, which was Milan’s stock exchange and the city’s main post office in the past, before it became the Milan Roastery in late 2018. It is one of only five Starbucks Reserve Roasteries in the world, and the only roastery in Europe. Needless to say, it also happens to be the only Starbucks in Italy at time of writing.
In case you’re wondering, the other Starbucks Roasteries are located in Seattle, New York, Shanghai, and Tokyo…and another one to be opened in Chicago later this year.
The Starbucks Reserve Milan Roastery
The 25,000-square-foot Milan Roastery is manned by hundreds of baristas and serves 115 different kinds of beverages with seven different coffee extractions as well as hand-crafted made-to-order ice-cream, filled with liquid nitrogen served with a shot of espresso. There is also a Scooping Bar where customers can purchase freshly roasted coffee beans. Starbucks merchandise products such as T-shirts and tumblers are also available at the retail area. The Arriviamo Bar, which literally translates to “We Come” Bar, offers cocktail drinks infused with coffee.
Starbucks call this roastery “the most beautiful Starbucks in the world“, and given its strategic central location in the region, the reserve coffee roasted here is distributed to all Starbucks locations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
“… it is different because we have a roasting plant, so we totally roast fresh coffee, and we serve fresh coffee right away to our customers. We are so proud to serve our customers with reserve coffees, so, so unique. And we have coffee from everywhere in the world, 100% Arabica coffee that are mono origin, or sometimes we serve also blends of mono origins…”
– Giampaolo Grossi, General Manager, the Milan Roastery
Interesting to note, the Starbucks brand was born after its former CEO Howard Schultz fell in love with espresso bars during his trip to Milan in 1983. The opening of the Milan Roastery is the story of Starbucks coming full circle, according to him.
The Milan Roastery is full of luxurious interior splendour, with counters carved from Tuscany-sourced marble and flooring finished by local artisans in the PalladianaPalladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from and inspired by the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio. That which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of Palladio’s original concepts. style.
Visit and see the inside of the Milan Roastery in the video by Food Insider below.
A Brief Stroll from the Duomo di Milano
If you happen to be in Milan and find yourself at the iconic Duomo di Milano as most visitors of the city are prone to, take a stroll along Via Orefici towards the Starbucks Reserve Milan Roastery. The roastery is located just 300 metres away in a straight line – a mere 4-minute walk. The Milan Roastery will certainly be worth the visit.
N.B. Click View larger map in the map below on your smartphone to open the location on Google Maps for GPS navigation and directions.
If you have visited the Milan Roastery before, let us know your thoughts and experience in the comments section below.
