How Espresso Become the Essence of Coffee

 

Humans have been fond of Coffee since, probably before the 15th century. The legend says that in Ethiopia, the goat herder Kaldi noticed that some of his goats became very active and didn’t want to sleep after eating some red berries from wild bushes. He then toasted the beans and made a drink with hot water and discovered that it kept him alert for many hours.

The Ethiopians first exported Coffee to Yemen, where cultivation and trade started. By the 16th century, it was already popular in Persia, Egypt, and Turkey. Coffee came to Europe in the 17th century. The word coffee may come from the Dutch word Koffie.

The Europeans then prepared Coffee by adding ground beans to water in a single pot and boiling it, similar to how the Turks enjoyed it. It entered the continent at the same time as the Industrial Revolution occurred. At the time, most people drank beer or wine as a safer alternative to water. Later, the drip method was discovered in France and became the dominant method.

So in the 19th century, the Coffee industry was already growing in Europe, with cafes flourishing across the continent. Still, there was a downside; the average waiting for a brewed cup was up to 5 minutes or even longer. Looking for an opportunity, inventors across Europe began to explore ways of using steam machines to reduce brewing time; this was the age of steam.

On May 16, 1884, in Turin, Italy, the inventor Angelo Moriondo presented what is considered the first Italian espresso machine. It is undoubtedly one of the earliest discoverers of espresso.

 

 

So it probably was more the necessity and the entrepreneurial spirit looking for a new opportunity in the industry to find a way to process coffee more “express.”

Over the years, Moriondo continued to improve his invention with new patents. Still, his creations never took off, to the point that we don’t even have photographs of his machines, only the patents he presented.

In 1901, Luigi Bezzera, an entrepreneur from Milan, devised and patented several improved versions of the espresso machine, and Luigi Bezzera had the know-how. He invented single-shot espresso in the early 20th century while looking for a method of quickly brewing coffee directly into the cup. He even introduced the portafilter.

For the first time, He brewed a cup of coffee in seconds. But Bezzera’s machines were far from perfect; they had many problems; he needed money to make more prototypes and expand the business, so he started looking for seed money; this is how Desiderio Pavoni came on board.

Pavoni bought Bezzera’s patents in 1903. He invented the first pressure-release valve. Following Bezzera’s creation, they worked together to improve the espresso machine. After two years, they created the “Ideale,” which was released at the Milan Fair.

At the 1906 Milan Fair, the two men introduced the world to “caffè espresso. “

 

 

After this release, Pavoni took charge of the business venture and went solo. He then branded the machine with the name “espresso.”
In 1910 “Ideale espresso machine” was released.


Early machines could produce hundreds of cups of coffee per hour but relied exclusively on steam forcing through the coffee, which had the unfortunate side effect of a bitter taste and could only put, at best, two bars of atmospheric pressure. Not even close by today’s standards to be considered Espresso.

The first espresso machine installed in the United States was “La Pavoni” in 1927 in New York at the Caffee Reggio.

A piston pump was developed later by Cremonesi in 1938. It forced hot and not boiling water through the coffee, which gave a more natural taste and had a layer of foam that, in time, became one of the main characteristics of espresso coffee.

Achille Gaggia was the person who finally surpassed the two-bar brewing barrier; he was a Milanese café owner. In Gaggia’s machine, invented after World War II, steam pressure in the boiler forces the water into a cylinder, which is further pressurized by a spring-piston lever operated by the barista. Not only did this prevent the need for massive boilers, but it also drastically increased the water pressure from 1.5-2 bars to 8-10 bars, the current standards.

But perhaps most importantly, with the invention of the high-pressure lever machine came the discovery of the “Crema” – the foam floating over the coffee liquid that is the defining characteristic of a quality espresso.

 

Finally, In 1961 Faema company made a pump-based machine that used an electric pump to deliver water under pressure. Water comes from the freshwater supply, goes through a heated tube with a boiler, and then through the coffee. That way, water has optimal temperature and does not stay in the boiler for an extended period becoming stale. Modern machines are using this technology.

But what is precisely an Espresso Coffee?

More specifically, it is a preparation method that puts highly-pressurized hot water (90-93C) over coffee grounds at 9-10 bars of pressure (equivalent to 9-10 atmospheres) to produce a 30ml of very concentrated coffee drink with a deep, intense flavor.

While there is no standardized process for pulling a shot of espresso, this is the most common receipt for the perfect espresso.

Hot water is forced through finely-ground coffee beans to form a concentrated drink. Once created, we can drink the brew as it is or can be mixed with water to make americano or milk to create a latte.

For many of us, it is the purest essence of a coffee bean.

 

 

Several factors go into creating the perfect shot of espresso: brew ratio, brew time, and brew temperature. The other variables to consider, such as grind size, water pressure, and tamping pressure, will all impact one of these three.

It’s the balance of all these elements that counts. But considering all the other things that create a good espresso, nine bars is the sweet spot.

Espresso is also the base for various coffee drinks, like Caffè Latte, Cappuccino, Caffe Macchiato, Caffè mocha, and more.

Since the earlier’s prototypes more than a century ago, the espresso machine has been drastically improved, with electrical components, computerized measurements, and portable pneumatics. But as with better design objects, science and technology are not enough; there is also an art to the espresso. The talent of the barista is as important as the beans’ quality and the machine’s efficiency.

Coffee has been part of the life of Writers, Painters, Photographers, and artists in general; through generations, creators have funded coffee as part of their process of inspiration. What do you think about this?