Espresso machine

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A typical, pump-driven consumer espresso machine

An espresso machine brews coffee by forcing pressurized water near boiling point

through a "puck" of ground coffee and a filter in order to produce a thick, concentrated
coffee called espresso. The first machine for making espresso was built in the early
1900s by Luigi Bezzera.[1][dubious  –  discuss] The founder of the La Pavoni company bought the
patent and from 1905 produced espresso machines commercially on a small scale
in Milan. Multiple machine designs have been created to produce espresso. Several
machines share some common elements, such as a grouphead and a portafilter. An
espresso machine may also have a steam wand which is used to steam and froth
liquids (such as milk) for coffee drinks such as cappuccino and caffe latte.
Espresso machines may be steam-driven, piston-driven, pump-driven, or air-pump-
driven. Machines may also be manual or automatic.

Contents

 1History
 2Drive mechanism
o 2.1Piston-driven
o 2.2Steam-driven
o 2.3Pump-driven
o 2.4Air-pump-driven
 3Machine parts
  4Automation
 5Stove top
 6See also
 7References
 8External links

History[edit]
One of the precursors of the first machine for making espresso was built and patented
by Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, who demonstrated a working example at the Turin
General Exposition of 1884.[2] He was granted patent no. 33/256 dated 16 May 1884
(according to the "Bollettino delle privative industriali del Regno d'Italia", 2nd Series,
Volume 15, Year 1884, pages 635 – 655). A certificate of industrial title was awarded to
Mr. Angelo Moriondo, of Turin, for an invention called "New steam machinery for the
economic and instantaneous confection of coffee beverage, method 'A. Moriondo', Plate
CXL". Moriondo had his machine built in a very limited number, using it in a few
establishments he owned, such as the American Bar in the former Galleria
Nazionale on Via Roma in Turin,[3] demolished in the 1930s.
In 1901, Luigi Bezzera of Milan patented improvements to the machine. Bezzera was
not an engineer, but a mechanic. He patented a number of improvements to the existing
machine, the first of which was applied for on 19 December 1901. It was titled
"Innovations in the machinery to prepare and immediately serve coffee beverage"
(Patent No. 153/94, 61707, granted on 5 June 1902). In 1905 the patent was bought by
Desiderio Pavoni who founded the La Pavoni company and began to produce the
machine commercially (one a day) in a small workshop in Via Parini in Milan.
In 1933 Hungarian-Italian Francesco Illy invented the first automatic coffee machine that
substituted pressurized water for steam. The Illetta became the predecessor of today's
espresso machine.

First patent (vol. 33 n. 256, 1884) for the Espresso Machine, by Mr.
Angelo Moriondo
 
 

An espresso machine from East Germany, 1954

 

Bezzera Eagle 2 Coffee Maker, presented at Central Cafe Budapest

Drive mechanism[edit]
Espresso being brewed (video)

Multiple machine designs have been created to produce espresso. Several machines
share some common elements.
Varying the fineness of the grind, the amount of pressure used to tamp the grinds, or
the pressure itself can be used to vary the taste of the espresso. Some baristas pull
espresso shots directly into a pre-heated demitasse cup or shot glass, to maintain a
higher temperature of the espresso.
Piston-driven[edit]
A manual piston espresso machine made by Elektra

The piston-driven, or lever-driven, machine was developed in Italy in 1945 by Achille

Gaggia, founder of espresso machine manufacturer Gaggia. The design generically
uses a lever, pumped by the operator, to pressurize hot water and send it through the
coffee grounds. The act of producing a shot of espresso is colloquially termed pulling a
shot, because these lever-driven espresso machines required pulling a long handle to
produce a shot.[4] Lever-driven espresso machines are sometimes called manual
espresso machines because of this.
There are two types of lever machines; manual piston and spring piston design. With
the manual piston, the operator directly pushes the water through the grounds. In the
spring piston design, the operator works to tension a spring, which then delivers the
pressure for the espresso (usually 8 to 10 bar; 116 to 145 psi).
Steam-driven[edit]

A steam coffee machine

A steam-driven unit operates by forcing water through the coffee by using steam or
steam pressure. The first espresso machines were steam types, produced when a
common boiler was piped to four group heads so that multiple types of coffee could be
made at the same time.[5] This design is still used today in lower-cost consumer
machines, as it does not need to contain moving parts. Also, steam-driven machines do
not produce as high a pressure for extraction compared with pump-driven. This results
in the crema, a hallmark of an espresso, being of lower quality.
Pump-driven[edit]
A refinement of the piston machine is the pump-driven machine, which was introduced
in the Faema E61 in 1961, and has become the most popular design in
commercial espresso bars. Instead of using manual force, a motor-driven pump
provides the force necessary for espresso brewing. Espresso machines are made to
accept water directly from a cold water line supply, common in commercial installations,
or from a separate tank that must be filled with water by hand. The latter is more
common with lower-volume commercial installations and domestic espresso machines.
Due to the required high pumping pressure and precision flow control needed, the
particular type of electric pumps typically used are known as solenoid-piston pumps.
These pumps are classified as a positive displacement type (general category) of pump.
Four variants exist in home machines, depending on how brew water and steam are
boiled; in discussion these are generally known by acronyms.
Single boiler (SB)
These machines can brew only, and not steam,
requiring only a single boiler. They are relatively
uncommon, with steam wands being a simple and
valued addition.
Single boiler, dual use (SB/DU)
Some home pump espresso machines use a single
chamber both to heat water to brewing temperature and
to boil water for steaming milk. However, they can
perform only one operation at a time, requiring a warm
up period between the execution of espresso pull and
the milk frothing process. Since the temperature for
brewing is less than the temperature for creating steam
the machine requires time to make the transition from
one mode to the other. Moreover, after the brewing
process, a single boiler will expel (usually minor)
quantities of water through the steam wand that were
left over from brewing, which can cause the steam
heated milk to then have a slightly watered down taste.
To avoid this, the leftover water needs to be collected
from the steam wand before steaming of the milk should
begin. SB/DUs are generally found within the lower tiers
of enthusiast home models, with steam wands being a
simple and valued addition.:
Heat exchanger (HX)
Some machines use a single boiler kept at steaming
temperature, but water for brewing is passed through
a heat exchanger, taking some heat from the steam
without rising to the same temperature. Although the
water for brewing remains at a lower range than that
required for steaming milk, it is still too hot for proper
coffee extraction without first cooling; thus this type of
machine requires a cooling flush of 4–6 seconds prior to
the first espresso pull. Once the machine is dialed into
the proper temperature, as many shots can be pulled as
required without refreshing. However, if the user leaves
the machine idle again for some period, the flushing
process will need to be repeated. The HX variety is
found in many mid-range machines and many users
install thermometers to assist them in dialing in correct
temperatures. There is some controversy as to the
temperature stability of the brewing water, since it is
indirectly converted from steaming temperature to
brewing temperature, rather than kept at a brewing
temperature. One big advantage of heat exchanger over
the other system is the water used for extraction is
always fresh from the water source, which can be from
the water tank or water network. The stale water gets
flushed during the routine flushing. Instead of using
stale stagnant water retained within the boiler. [6]
The first HX was the Faema E61 of 1961.
Dual boiler (DB)
Finally, in some espresso machines for commercial or
home use, water for brewing is heated in a separate
chamber, which requires two separate boilers. This is
found primarily in higher-end machines, though it is also
found in some mid-range machines, overlapping with
HX.
The term dual boiler is used narrowly for machines with
two separate boilers, and more broadly for what are
more properly called dual heater (DH) machines,[citation
needed]
 featuring a boiler for brewing and a separate
thermoblock (TB) for heating brew water to steaming
temperature – opposite to HX machines, where the
boiler is at steaming temperature and is cooled to
brewing temperature.
In principle, TB machines yield a more stable brew
temperature at the expense of steaming performance
and speed, while HX machines yield better steaming at
the expense of stable brew temperature. True DB
machines provide stable brew temperatures and fast
steaming, but are larger and more expensive. The
downside is the boiler specifically for brewing espresso
consist of mainly stagnant water with little turnover,
which repeatedly gets boiled again with little introduction
of fresh water.
The first DB was the La Marzocco GS of 1970.
Air-pump-driven[edit]
In recent years air-pump-driven espresso
machines have emerged. These machines use
compressed air to force the hot water through
the coffee grounds. The hot water is typically
added from a kettle or a thermo flask. The
compressed air comes from either a hand-pump,
N2 or CO2 cartridges or an electric compressor.
One of the advantages of the air-pump-driven
machines is that they are much smaller and
lighter than electric machines. They are often
handheld and portable. Handpresso Wild,
invented by Nielsen Innovation SARL, a French
innovation house, was introduced in 2007.

Machine parts[edit]

A grouphead from a domestic espresso machine

A grouphead (or group head) is the receiver for

the removable portafilter (or group handle). A
typical consumer espresso machine normally
has only one grouphead, while popular
professional machines, such as those used at
commercial coffee shops, can contain anywhere
from one to seven. During the process of
extracting a shot of espresso, hot water is forced
through the grouphead under pressure. The
grouphead contains many holes (the shower)
that attempt to distribute the pressurised water
evenly over the surface of the grinds in the
portafilter basket and thereby achieve an even
cross sectional flow.[7]
 Portafilter of a home espresso machine with a tamper on
it

A portafilter (or group handle) attaches to the

grouphead of semi-automatic and piston-driven
espresso machines, and carries a tamped puck
of coffee grounds within its basket. It is usually
made of brass for better heat retention, and is
attached by a plastic or wooden handle. The
portafilter forms a seal with the espresso
machine's gasket, and directs high-pressure hot
water through the coffee puck. After-market
retailers also sell bottomless portafilters that
minimize the espresso's contact with any metal.
A bottomless portafilter is one tool baristas use
to analyze the quality of the coffee grind and the
evenness of the extraction and allows for a
visual check of "channeling" or the condition in
which water is able to pierce a hole in the
espresso puck during the brew process leading
to poor extraction. Often, baristas
use knockboxes to store their spent espresso
grounds after they have pulled a shot.

Automation[edit]

Making an espresso with a "bottomless" portafilter

 Machines that have pumps, sensors, valves,
and grinders to automate the brewing process
are generally referred to as automatic.
Semi-automatic
Use a pump rather than manual force to deliver water.
The remaining brew pressure in the basket is released
via a three-way valve.
Automatic
These machines also automate the brewed
volume (hence indirectly brew time). They do this by
adding an in-line flowmeter to the grouphead: when the
programmed amount of water has passed through the
meter, the pump turns off. Grinding and tamping are still
manual.
Super-automatic
These machines automatically grind the coffee, tamp it,
and extract the espresso shot. The operator only has to
fill the bean hopper and empty the spent grounds
compartment from time to time, and, if the machine is
not connected to a water line, add water to a reservoir.
Some models contain an automated milk frothing and
dispensing device. Super-automatic machines take
away the ability to manually tamp and grind the coffee,
which affects the quality of the espresso.
Commercial establishments generally
use semi-automatic machines with
several group heads. These are
much larger than consumer models
and able to produce espresso shots
more quickly. Many commercial
machines can function in an
automatic mode.
Manual or semi-automatic machines
offer more control of shot quality.
Because when to cut the shot (brew
time) is a critical variable, which is
often adjusted shot-by-shot, semi-
automatic machines are often
preferred over automatics, though
some machines are automatic.
[8]
 Manual machines are more popular
in Europe, where it is more common
to drink straight espresso.
Stove top[edit]

A moka pot stove top espresso maker

Main article: Moka pot

Moka pots, also known as stove top
espresso makers, are similar to
espresso machines in that they brew
under pressure and the resulting
brew shares some similarities, but in
other respects differ. As such, their
characterization as "espresso"
machines is at times contentious, but
due to their use of pressure and
steam for brewing, comparable to all
espresso prior to the 1948 Gaggia,
they are accepted within broader
uses of the term, but distinguished
from standard modern espresso
machines.
Moka pots are similar to espresso
machines in that they brew under
pressure, produce coffee with an
extraction ratio similar to that of a
conventional espresso machine, and,
depending on bean variety and grind
selection, moka pots can create the
same foam emulsion known as crema
that conventional espresso machines
can.
Moka pots differ from espresso
machines in that they brew under
substantially lower pressure – 1.5
bars (21 psi) rather than 9 bars (130
psi) – and use hotter water – a mix of
 boiling water and steam at above
100 °C (212 °F), rather than 92–
96 °C (198–205 °F) of espresso
machines, similar to early steam
brewing machines.
The bottom chamber contains the
water. The middle chamber is a filter-
basket holding the ground coffee and
sits within the bottom chamber. The
top chamber, with a metal filter,
screws onto the bottom chamber.
When the pot is heated on a stove,
the pressure from the steam in the
bottom chamber forces the water
through a tube into the filter-basket,
through the ground coffee, the metal
filter, and it then funnels into the top
chamber where the coffee is then
ready to serve. They are commonly
found in Italy, Spain and Portugal.
They are also known as
a macchinetta, Italian for little
machine or caffettiera, Italian for
coffee maker.

See also[edit]

 Coffee portal

 Coffeemaker
 Coffee wars
 Coffee vending machine

References[edit]
1. ^ "ESPRESSO BASICS  :
HISTORY". coffeereview.com.
2. ^ Stamp, Jimmy (19 June 2012).  "The
Long History of the Espresso
machine". Smithsonian. Retrieved  13
July  2015.
3. ^ Bersten, Ian.  "The first Espresso
machine - Angelo Moriondo"  (PDF).
Archived from  the original  (PDF)  on
2019-02-21.
4. ^ Pendergrast, Mark (2001)
[1999]. Uncommon Grounds: The
 History of Coffee and How It
Transformed Our World. London:
Texere. p.  218. ISBN 1-58799-088-1.
5. ^ Kummerfeld, Bob (2011-03-14).  "An
Espresso Timeline". University of
Sydney. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
6. ^ Company, Fine Coffee (2016-11-
17).  "Double Boiler Versus Heat
Exchanger". Fine Coffee Company.
Retrieved 2022-08-10.
7. ^ "The E61 Brew Group. Demystifying
the Mystique".  wholelattelove.com.
2005-01-24. Archived from  the
original on 2015-08-31.
8. ^ Tacy, Chris.  "The La Marzocco GS3
Prototype: A Pro's Perspective".
Retrieved 2018-07-30.

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 This page was last edited on 12 September 2022, at 08:41 (UTC).