Coffee
brewing has improved over time from waiting for over five minutes to instant
coffee you can enjoy today courtesy of the espresso machine. The underlying
mechanism of operation being the passing of a jet of hot water under pressure
through ground coffee to give highly concentrated coffee has been maintained
over the years. But who invented the Espresso we use today?
Who Made The
First Machine?
Many
people have over time contributed to the development of the best espresso
machine
but the man to receive most of the credit is Angelo Moriondo of Turin who in
1884 was granted the patent for a new machine for the instantaneous and
economic confection of coffee beverage. He is the father of the core operation
concept of the espresso which used water, steam and
ground coffee.
He
is however not so popular in the history of the machine because of the amateur
design that would be nowhere had the machine not been picked up by more
ambitious and enthusiastic businessmen. His input, however, has remained key in
even the latest design you will find at Starbuck hotels. The pressure used in
the machine only reached about 1.5 bars.
Two Men Who
Changed Everything
The
espresso got a major boost when two masterminds enthusiastic about it took it
up. Luigi Bezzerra a man with the know how about the operation of the machine
and how to improve it and Desiderio Pavoni, the one with the money and
marketing power. Bezzera made the single shot espresso of the 20th century with
a design allowing lower temperatures. The only problem was that it used an open
flame making it difficult to control the temperature.
In
1905, Pavoni bought the patent and improved many of its aspects for instance
addition of the pressure release valve. He had more money to market the machine
than Bezzera. In 1906, they launched the espresso machine as “Cafee espresso’
that referred to the instantaneous operating power in brewing coffee. It could
amazingly make about 1000 cups of coffee per hour, and the community in Milan
was the only market.
Who Took the
Machine beyond Milan?
Although
Pavoni dominated the production of espresso machines for about a decade, there
was one man who was working day and night to advance the machine and form a
competition. Pier Teresio Arduino wanted to solve the problem with steam which
resulted in imbuing of the coffee when the pressure was increased. He, however,
did not succeed but contributed to the espresso machine in quite a different
way.
The
famous espresso poster made by Pier marked the entry of a game changer in the
marketing dimension of the espresso. He was a better marketer than Pavoni and
thus took the machine beyond Milan to nearby areas and the rest of Europe. It
is unfair to talk about the espresso without mentioning the efforts of this man
who changed coffee brewing for the most of Europe.
The Connection
between Then and Now
The
story about invention and history of the espresso is completed by one man who
made the transformative improvement on the design. By then, the pressure of the
machine could only reach to 2 bars which were not adequate to create the
incredible test you can enjoy today. Achille increased the pressure to 8-10bars
which is the pressure used up to this day from the low maximum of about 2bars
of atmospheric pressure. This success was after integration of several physics
principles about boilers and other machines.
The
developments Achille put into this machine changed a lot about the espresso.
The lever machines allowed for the advancement of the size to the standard size
of the espresso today. His dedication to the improvement of the espresso saw
the machine into the future that is enjoyed today. With the resulting
modification, the espresso gained a lot of popularity and became a standard
coffee making machine in most places with a need of economical and
instantaneous coffee brewing.
Conclusion
The
espresso machine is thus a brain child of several ambitious men who put in a
lot of effort, taking it from a simple need to an idea before actualising the
dream. It was powered by scientific research and marketing power that aimed at
making use of the vast popularity of coffee brewing. The widespread popularity
of the espresso and presence in every corner of the world is owed to the above
names who changed history.
About bio: My name is Ann Hills and I am a food blogger,
nutrition advisor, and a yoga teacher. My mom always says to me that: “Kitchen
is the heart of any home”. I strongly believe in her saying that’s reason why I
prefer spending my money to make my home better than other stuff.