You have most likely heard of an espresso, many of you may also enjoy your espresso shots regularly, but how much do you know about them? This piece includes a bit of information on the espresso. But first let’s start with pronunciation, it is not ‘ex – press – so’, it is pronounced ‘es – press -so’. Now we can begin.
So what is an espresso?
An espresso is an undiluted form of coffee and is most commonly served in shots. The two ingredients are finely ground coffee and hot water. Espressos are the base of many other coffees such as cappuccinos, lattes and americanos. Lots of people think that an espresso is made from a specific coffee bean or style of roasting, but if we get technical, the bean origin and roasting style is in fact not what makes an espresso an espresso.
The process of brewing the coffee is what makes it an espresso. Very finely ground coffee beans are used, and the process involves pushing pressurised hot water through the ground beans. Espresso’s are known for having a high caffeine content, (great for a midday boost to get you through the day), but it really depends on how much you consume. Now that you know what you are drinking and how to make it, lets move on to a bit of history.
Where did it come from?
We all know that Italy is famous for its coffee, well the espresso was also invented there. The espresso goes way back to the 19th century which was of course, ‘the age of steam’, this led to the invention of a machine that created the espresso. Espresso lovers can thank Angelo Moriondo, as he is credited for this invention, a man from Turin, Italy.
Moriondo then fell off the map, there were no machines created under his name and he was lost in history. Then two more men came along to develop this idea. These men, Luigi Bezzerra and Desiderio Pavoni, did not make the same mistake as Moriondo and they made a name for themselves. Many of the developments these men made to the machine are ones we still use today, for example your portafilter. There are now too many different types of machines to count, but now we know that these espresso machines all stemmed from Angelo Moriondo’s invention and have been around for many years.
