turn of the century. Luigi Bezzera was simply trying to figure out a way to
brew coffee faster. He figured if he could just add pressure to the brewing
process it would speed things up. Thus the "Fast Coffee Machine" was created.
His idea of a fast cup of coffee turned out much better than he had planned,
what he ended up with is a better, fuller tasting cup of strong coffee, as well
as a much faster process. He found that the quicker more efficient brewing
method allowed for the quality of the beans to be extracted as opposed to over
extracting he had previously experienced. The term "Espresso" means fast in
italian, hence the term.
It wasn't until later when Desidero Pavoni purchased the rights from Mr. Bezzera
for the espresso machine that it became popular. Pavoni was extremely
successful in marketing the product and probably changed the way people drink
coffee from then on. Just look around! Coffee and Espresso shops are popping
up everywhere, even in the U.S. it has become not only popular for the delicious
beans, but has given us a new place to socialize.
Espresso Timeline:
In 1901 Luigi Bezzera filed a patent for the espresso machine that contained a
boiler and four "groups". Each group could take different size filters that
contained the coffee. Boiling water was forced through the coffee and into a
cup. Ambrogio Fumagelli says that this was the birth of (fast) espresso coffee.
In 1903 Luigi Bezzera's patent was then purchased by Desiderio Pavoni and put to
market in a big way.
In 1905 The Pavoni company begins manufacturing the espresso machines soley
based on Bezzera's patent.
In 1927 First espresso machine was installed in the United States. It was a La
Pavoni Espresso Machine installed at Regio's
in New York.
In 1938 Cremonesi designed a piston pump that forced hot water through the
coffee. It was installed at Achille Gaggia's
coffee bar.
In 1946 Gaggia begins manufacturing the commercial piston machine. Resulting
foam or cream layered coffee or cafe'.