A Walk Through The History of Espresso Coffee Makers

Louis Bernard Babaut created the first known espresso coffee maker in 1822 with Edward Santais commercializing and marketing the machine in 1843. This unique coffee maker debuted at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1855. Records say the coffee maker produced one thousand cups of espresso in an hour, using steam to push water through coffee grounds held in a filter. The design is still used today in low-cost consumer espresso machines, as it does not need to contain any pumps or moving parts.

New steam inventions were a risky proposition in the 1840s and Babaut’s espresso coffee maker was no exception. It tended to blow up from time to time. It also had a tendency to burn the coffee because heat regulation was still catch and miss. The Wikipedia entry credits Luigi Bezzera, an Italian manufacturer, with the invention of the espresso machine in 1901.

These original espresso coffee makers weren’t easy to use. Operating them involved some degree of skill and left plenty of room for individuality. The operator controlled the intensity of the heat and the length of time the steam valve remained open. Users could put in more coffee grounds and get stronger coffee or use more water and get a more diluted result.

Bezzera wanted to make coffee faster than the simple steam machines. He added pressure to the process and invented the first genuinely fast coffee machine. In 1905, the rights to Bezerra’s espresso machine were purchased by Desidero Pavoni whose success marketed the invention.changed the way Europeans’ drank coffee.

Franceso Illy created what some believe to be the first automatic espresso coffee maker. Invented in 1935, the Illeta used compressed air instead of steam to force water through the coffee grounds. This solved the problem of exploding espresso coffee makers and his process resulted in a more stable and safer coffee maker.

Achille’s Gaggia invented the espresso coffee maker that bears his name in 1945. His invention used lever action. The act of producing a shot of espresso is colloquially termed pulling a shot, because these lever-style espresso machines required pulling a long handle to produce a shot. Modern versions of both Illetta and Gaggia espresso coffee makers are available today.

Ernest Valente created an electric rotating pump in 1950. The pump allowed a continuous, even flow of water through the coffee maker. Because of the complexity of the pump driven espresso machine most modern designs are owned by commercial espresso makers.