Have you ever thought about the fact that there are objects in our daily life that change shape without our realizing it (too much)? There coffeepot is a great example of this. We use it every day, yet we never pay too much attention to it how much it has changed, and you keep changing, our beloved coffee machine. In the course of its evolution it has passed from Neapolitan coffee maker to Bialetti moka up to Nespresso - or any other similar automatic machine -. Despite this, its functionality has remained unchanged, in some cases improved, but the same is not true for its shape and its functioning mechanisms. Have you ever wondered how the coffee machine was born? How big was it, how did it work or whatever? We do, which is why we have chosen the coffee pot as the protagonist of our column "How has it changed".
- The coffee pot: Neapolitan or French invention?
- From the coffee maker to the Bialetti mocha
- The automatic coffee machines and Nespresso
The coffee pot: Neapolitan or French invention?
Who invented the coffee maker? How many of you would the Neapolitans say? To many certainly. However, the answer is that it is by no means easy to say. And we're not putting our hands on. It is that the origin of the first coffee machine is rather confusing.
Some say that the first to create a device for preparing coffee were the Turks, ancient admirers of this drink as early as 575 AD Others believe that it was invented in Naples, which has always been considered the homeland of coffee. On the other hand, this is where the use of the Cuccumella - or "Neapolitan coffee maker" -. Yet the its true origin seems to be to be found in France. Would you ever have said that?
in 1814 Jean Louis Morize, a tinsmith from Paris, developed his first "double filter coffee maker without evaporation". The shape was similar to that of a kettle, made of simple materials such as copper, tinplate or ceramic. The operation was also not complex at all. The ground coffee was placed in a filter placed inside the machine, where the already hot water was then poured. In this way, as the water passes, the coffee slowly releases all its aromas, to be ready in a few minutes.
Every detail of this invention is clearly explained in the "Mémorial universel de industrie française des sciences et des arts", an ancient French text dating back to 1820. Here, about the invention of Morize we read: "In the coffee pot, for which this manufacturer has obtained a five-year patent, the filters are removable, easy to clean and can never clog. Coffee retains its fragrance and quality that makes it so necessary for men of letters or the toilet and all those who use it regularly “. An almost perfect invention, which however met with no success in France. But the same cannot be said of Naples, which not only appreciated the idea of the Parisian tinker, but even perfected it to the point of making it a piece of its own history.
Or should we say ... Turin?
Not everyone acknowledges Jean-Louis Morize's authorship of the coffee machine. Someone claims that the invention was of Angelo moriondo, owner of the Grand-Hotel Ligure and the American Bar in Turin. Apparently, it was precisely these activities that gave him the brilliant intuition of a machine to prepare “instant coffee”, in order to satisfy the numerous requests of his customers. And so, on the occasion ofTurin General Expo of 1884, Moriondo presented the prototype of his coffee maker. In copper and bronze, almost a meter high and with the characteristic "bell shape", this machine was exhibited to guarantee visitors to taste the coffee.
“Coffee pot worthy of being taken into serious consideration is the one exhibited in a special kiosk near the entrance to the Electricity Gallery by the inventor Mr. Moriondo, owner of the Ligurian coffee and kept in operation by him. It is a very curious displacement machine with which three hundred cups of steamed coffee are made in an hour (precisely with steam) “. This is how Moriondo's machine is described by a chronicler of the time. "It consists of a vertical cylinder or boiler that contains 150 liters of water which is boiled by gas flames under the cylinder, and by means of the steam with a very curious complication of devices, 10 cups of coffee are made in a few minutes at once or, just one cup if you like “. From what we can read, the real father of the coffee maker was really the Turinese. Especially considering that in 1884 he obtained the patent for “New steam machines for the economical and instant packaging of coffee as a drink“.
From the coffee maker to the Bialetti mocha
As ingenious as Moriondo's intuition may have been, it must be said that a 1 meter high coffee machine is not exactly comfortable to keep at home. So how do you get from the coffee maker of the Turin Expo to the moka pot we all have at home? With Alfonso Bialetti. A man who, in his own way, has revolutionized the world of coffee. For the first time, his invention totally changed the way of preparing the drink. Now the water no longer passes through the coffee from top to bottom, but is pushed from the bottom to the top due to the pressure that is created in the machine. An intuition that Bialetti seems to have had when observing his wife doing the laundry with the lisciveuse, an ancestor of the washing machine. It was a kind of tub that had a tube in the center from which hot water and soap came out.
It was 1933, and Bialetti reinvented the system by which the water was heated in the lisciveuse to make his first moka. This consisted of a few essential elements: a boiler, a filter funnel, a filter plate and a jug. We know how it works. The water is heated in the boiler which, due to the pressure, is pushed towards the filter funnel. Passing through the coffee powder that is inside, it produces the drink by percolation. And as you all know, this is collected directly in the jug. A simple operation, which allowed Bialetti to bring coffee into the homes of all Italians. Until now, in fact, it was possible to taste this drink almost exclusively at the bar, where the first espresso machines had already spread. But this entrepreneur revolutionized everything and, like Morize and Moriondo, earned a paternity. That of the mocha.
The automatic coffee machines and Nespresso
The generational leap from the mocha to the automatic machine was relatively obvious. Once you understand how an object works, it never takes industry long to simplify it. In just 50 years, the coffee shop sector has really made great strides. In 1985, for example, Saeco launched its own first super-automatic coffee machine. The control of times and water temperature has thus become the prerogative of technology. And the man had no choice but to choose the right blend to use.
Just a year later, the Nespresso launched its first automatic coffee maker, the C100. And you will be amazed to know that it wasn't a clever marketing idea at all, but rather a love story. Returning from a trip to Italy, the wife of a Swiss engineer - then hired by Nestlè - asked him to reproduce the taste of Italian coffee. It took a while, but it was worth it. The real innovation was that of portioned coffee in capsules: a practical way to keep the aroma. And that was only the beginning of the Nespresso revolution.
A few years ago the company launched Vertuo, which can even read the barcode and recognize the coffee variety in the capsule. But that is not all. The new digital coffee machine also allows you to choose the "size" of your drink. After all, not everyone likes Ristretto coffee, and now coffee makers are able to satisfy us. Let us tell you that something has really changed.
Continue to follow our column, to continue reflecting with us on how much the world is changing, starting with our kitchen cabinets and beyond.
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