Many people think that espresso is one of the oldest ways to drink coffee, but it is not true.
Espresso was invented by Luigi Bezzera, who combined steam pressure with his love for coffee.
Bezzera sold the patent in 1905 to Desidero Pavoni, which sold the first espresso coffee machine in the world: La Ideale.
Ideale has little resemblance to today's machines, it only reached a pressure of 1.5 bar, which is very little compared to the 9 bar of today's machines. The result was a coffee more like filtered coffee.
Espressos coffee had some acceptance problems by people because the use of steam resulted in a burnt-flavored coffee.
In the 1940s, a worker at a coffee grinding plant came up with the idea of using a piston to force water through coffee instead of steam.
This invention squeezes essential oils and colloids, creating the main characteristic of espresso: the cream
Legend has it that the inventor was inspired by the hydraulic shock absorbers of an American army jeep.
The next time you drink an espresso, remember this story.
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