Jurasic Perk (or, "how it all started")

At the turn of the nineteenth century, when the industrial revolution swept across the world, something extraordinary happened in Italy: men and women rose from their café tables and walked over to the bar. And they stayed there. The modern Italian coffee culture was born.

Now, people do not change their daily habits over night. It all started in 1901 when Luigi Bezzera patented his new invention: the pillar coffee machine. This was a wonder of ingenuity and design. A shining, tall and quite imposing creation (later often crowned by an eagle with spread wings).

To be fair, the technical concept behind the pillar brewer was not new. It was driven by steam power, the power source of the modern industry. The same technique had already been used in the Italian homes and cafés for a long time. Bezzeras coffee maker was basically a very large moka can. Others (for example the Frenchman Eduard Loysel) had actually come up with similar ideas but their designs simply was not fit for commercial use. Bezzeras column shape was perfect. The manufacturer La Pavoni soon acquired Bezzeras services and together they started the espresso revolution with a large number of new companies following in their footsteps.

Before, the cafés had been serving their guests moka coffee at the table. Now people walked over to the counter and ordered their drink which was prepared at that very moment and served just seconds later. Express delivery, expressively for one customers pleasure. The espresso was borne.

By today's standards the coffee was mediocre. The highly pressurized steam (2 bar) was much to hot and made the coffee burnt and bitter. Still the pressure was not high enough to free all the substances that make up the crema. The coffee was however served instantly and in a manner very similar to the way we work today.

If you ever operated a steam driven apparatus you know the importance of releasing pressure now and then or the machine will risk exploding. All steam machines need competent operation. The Barista was born. One of these clever individuals came up with the idea to heat milk with the redundant steam coming out of the safety valve. Soon the cappuccino found a permanent place on the Italian breakfast table. A very amusing fact is that however intelligent our coffee machines are today and their filter handles still look quite similar to Bezzeras original design.

During the first part of the 1900:s other steam driven brewers was introduced. But the real leap in espresso evolution was taken by Achille Gaggia in September of 1938 when the Leva (lever) technique was patented and the Classica model was introduced. The heart of this method was a powerful spring which was first contracted by raising a lever on the machine. Hot water from the boiler could now flow into the group. When the Barista pulled down the lever the spring was released and a metal plate pushed down the water through the coffee with great force. Because of this new mechanism steam was no longer needed to produce pressure. The boiler could now focus on keeping temperature and the quality of the coffee became more consistent. The exterior design of these new machines where also different. The tall, column shape of the steam driven machines was no longer needed, the new generation of machines where horizontal.

The industry kept up with the changes and when the electric pump was introduced Ernesto Valente of Faema realized a way of relieving the baristas of the straining handling of lever being raised and lowered; you could use a pump to build the pressure needed. The manufacturing of what was to become the start of a new age in espresso making began. The E61 had all of the features that we today see as absolutley necessary for any modern espresso machine: rotating pump, exchange heater, heated group head, preinfusion etc.

A lot of things has of course changed during the last 60 years. The most varying aspect of the machines designs has been esthetics. Just as in other areas the look of the machines has reflected the current fashion or style of the present, from art deco to modernism and back again. Retro design is always popular which is apparent in today's models. The use of the classic Faema E61 group head is becoming exceedingly popular and lever machines are still selling. Gaggia has made a beautiful celebration of their founder with their new lever machine "Achille" (release planned in June 04). This design is a direct connection back to the very beginning, while the technical design is very much 2004. The technical aspects of espresso machine design has of course developed. Control over heat and pressure has vastly improved. Most importantly temperature and pressure are much more consistant. In many cases control over many of the machines functions are now in the hands of the barista (as it was in at the start if you recall). This means that bars can tailor their machine configuration (heat, pressure, volume per serving etc.) to get the most out of their coffee blend. Check out the latest La Marzocco model its really cool!

Ok, now you now how it all started. I hope you found this fun and interesting reading.

About the pictures in this article. I have borrowed pics from La Pavonis web site (without asking i am affraid. I hope they dont mind). All borrowed materials of Pavoni machines are of course owned by La Pavioni.