A newly restored Officine Vittoria coffee roaster is too beautiful and too much fun to watch roasting coffee beans to be hidden away.
Workshop staff at Mareeba coffee grower Skybury brought the 50-year-old classic back to mint condition and repainted it in its original colours.
The roaster was brought to Mareeba from Italy by the Maloberti family in the 1980s. Until recently the roaster was used daily to perfect their beloved North Queensland Gold coffee.
With NQ Gold now finding a new home at Skybury there was an opportunity for the roaster to be taken out of use for a short time and fully restored.
Officine Vittoria roasters are revered the world over for the quality of coffee they produce and their quality engineering.
Skybury general manager and head roaster Candy MacLaughlin said it will be treasured by the company.
“Officine Vittoria roasters are often described as being over-built…or in other words built to last.
“They are held in high regard by coffee roasters all over the world. An Officine Vittoria roaster is considered very valuable.”
The Maloberti roaster was manufactured sometime in the 1950s in Bologna.
It is believed to be one of the few roasters of its kind in Australia.
The roaster is now an integral part of Skybury’s coffee culture and visitors can see this vintage machine in action by visiting Skybury Café & Roastery.
