The history of espresso begins in the late 1800s, but is still relevant to our modern daily lives as so many of us start our day with coffee or have a much needed “coffee break” sometime during our day.
For people in the Trout Creek, Montana, area and travelers passing through, Lakeside Motel & Resort has The Frothy Moose, a welcoming “bar” serving espresso drinks, blended coffee drinks, specialty drinks, on-the-go food items, and ice cream. That makes Lakeside a fitting place to reflect on the history of espresso, especially since espresso and espresso-based coffee drinks have become so familiar and popular in the United States. A Smithsonian Magazine article notes how widely recognized espresso has become in the Starbucks era, while a Johns Hopkins Magazine article describes espresso culture as so common that many people now even keep espresso machines at home.
The history of espresso starts with understanding what espresso actually is. Espresso is not a type of bean, a blend of coffees, or a roast level. The term refers to the brewing method and the resulting coffee drink. More specifically, espresso is made by forcing pressurized hot water through compacted coffee grounds to create a concentrated drink with bold flavor and a distinctive texture. That definition matters because the history of espresso is really the history of how inventors and makers refined their machines to produce that result more quickly and more consistently.
In that sense, the history of espresso can be followed through the people most closely tied to the invention and adaptation of the espresso machine. Each major figure did something important. One created the early concept. Another transformed it into a single-serving machine. Another improved safety and commercial appeal. Another helped spread it through marketing. Later innovators changed the pressure system itself and pushed espresso closer to the drink people recognize today.
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Angelo Moriondo
The history of espresso is believed to begin with Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy. In 1884, Moriondo received a patent for a steam-powered coffee machine that used a large boiler heated to about 1.5 bars of pressure to push water through coffee grounds, while a second boiler supplied steam to finish the brewing process. According to Smithsonian Magazine, Moriondo’s invention is generally credited as the first coffee machine to use both hot water and steam together. It was built as a bulk brewer for the Turin General Exposition of 1884 rather than for making the kind of individual espresso shots people think of now.
Moriondo is also one of the more mysterious figures in the history of espresso. Smithsonian Magazine reports that no verified Moriondo machines are known to survive and that there are not even photographs of his work. Johns Hopkins Magazine similarly notes that after presenting the machine at the Turin exposition, Moriondo largely disappeared from the historical record and never commercialized the invention. So while Moriondo stands at the beginning of the history of espresso, he did not turn his invention into a broad commercial success.
Luigi Bezzera and Desiderio Pavoni
The next major stage in the history of espresso came in Milan with Luigi Bezzera and Desiderio Pavoni. Smithsonian Magazine credits Bezzera with making crucial improvements to Moriondo’s design, including the portafilter and multiple brewheads. Bezzera’s machine heated water in a boiler with built-in burner chambers and forced hot water and steam through tamped coffee grounds. Just as important, the machine’s pathway helped cool the water from about 250 degrees Fahrenheit in the boiler to roughly 195 degrees—an ideal brewing temperature—by the time it reached the coffee. This design made it possible to brew coffee directly into the cup, by order, in only seconds.
Even so, Bezzera was not positioned to scale the idea on his own. Smithsonian Magazine says he built prototypes but lacked the money and marketing skill needed to expand. That is where Pavoni entered the history of espresso. Pavoni bought the patents in 1903, improved the machine, and introduced a pressure release valve that made the process safer for baristas by preventing hot coffee from spraying them. He also created the steam wand so that steam collected inside the boiler could be used more effectively.
Together, Bezzera and Pavoni refined the machine that Pavoni called the “Ideale.” At the 1906 Milan International Exposition, they presented the updated system in a stall with the overhead sign “Caffé Espresso,” and Johns Hopkins Magazine describes that stall as effectively the first espresso bar. Pavoni then continued to market the machines commercially from Milan. Smithsonian Magazine notes that Pavoni’s machines dominated the market for more than a decade, though espresso still remained mostly concentrated in Milan and nearby areas rather than becoming an immediate Europe-wide standard. That period is essential to the history of espresso because it marks the shift from invention to recognizable commercial practice.
Pier Teresio Arduino
The history of espresso is not only about engineering breakthroughs. It is also about manufacturing and public imagination, which is where Pier Teresio Arduino becomes important. Smithsonian Magazine explains that Arduino tried to develop a machine that did not rely entirely on steam, though he never fully achieved that technical goal. His lasting influence came instead from production and promotion.
Arduino excelled at marketing espresso as a modern experience. Smithsonian Magazine highlights his commissioning the famous Leonetto Cappiello poster showing the speed and energy associated with espresso culture. The poster shows a man hanging from a train car and dispensing a cup of espresso from a Victoria Arduino machine on the station’s platform/step. In the 1920s, Arduino’s larger workshop and strong promotional instincts helped move espresso machines beyond Milan and into wider European circulation. In other words, Arduino helped broaden the geography of the history of espresso, even if he was not the inventor who solved the pressure problem.
Achille Gaggia
If Moriondo began the history of espresso and Bezzera and Pavoni commercialized it, Achille Gaggia helped create the espresso people would now recognize as modern. After World War II, Gaggia developed a lever-driven machine in which steam pressure first moved water into a cylinder, and a spring-piston lever operated by the barista then increased the pressure dramatically. Smithsonian Magazine says this raised brewing pressure from roughly 1.5 to 2 bars up to about 8 to 10 bars. That was a major leap.
This increase in pressure changed the drink itself. The higher-pressure extraction produced a more concentrated coffee and helped create “crema,” the foam on top that became a defining visual feature of quality espresso. Gaggia’s lever groups also standardized the shot because the cylinder held only about one ounce of water. Smithsonian Magazine notes that this machine is also tied to the phrase “pulling a shot,” since baristas literally operated a lever to brew each serving. For his contributions to the espresso machine, Gaggia occupies one of the most important chapters in the history of espresso.
Ernesto Valente
The next major leap in the history of espresso came with Ernesto Valente’s Faema E61 in 1961. Smithsonian Magazine explains that the E61 used a motorized pump rather than relying on manual force from the barista. The pump pulled water directly from a plumbing line, routed it through a spiral copper pipe in the boiler, and then forced it through the coffee at the 9 bars of pressure believed ideal for espresso brewing.
That system made the machine smaller, more streamlined, and more consistent, while also reducing the dependence on a barista’s physical effort to generate pressure. Smithsonian Magazine describes the E61 as an immediate success and one of the most influential coffee machines in history. By this point, the history of espresso had moved from early steam-driven bulk brewing to repeatable, pump-driven extraction that closely resembles modern café equipment.
The History of Espresso and a Stay at Lakeside Motel & Resort
The history of espresso is a story of invention, adaptation, craftsmanship, and hospitality. It begins with a larger machine intended to speed up coffee service and continues through improvements that made espresso safer, faster, more concentrated, and more consistent. It is also a story about the places where coffee is enjoyed. For visitors who want to stay the night or longer in Trout Creek, Lakeside Motel & Resort offers flexible accommodations ranging from motel rooms to cabins with fully equipped kitchens, making it easy to turn a coffee stop into a longer northwest Montana getaway.
Lakeside also offers a convenient on-site restaurant with breakfast, “all-day,” and dinner menus, along with a convenient on-site gift shop. During warm weather, guests can take advantage of pontoon boat rentals from the private dock to fish and explore Noxon Reservoir, or enjoy Summer Sunset Cruise Tours on the water. The resort’s back grounds face Noxon Reservoir, and in warmer weather guests can gather around garden fire pits supplied daily with complimentary firewood. Charcoal and gas grills are also available for outdoor cooking.
So while the history of espresso stretches back to nineteenth-century Italy, it still connects naturally to the present day. At Lakeside Motel & Resort, guests can enjoy espresso drinks at The Frothy Moose, a comfortable stay in Trout Creek, on-site dining and shopping, and warm-weather experiences on and around Noxon Reservoir. That combination of coffee, convenience, and scenery makes Lakeside a fitting place to appreciate the history of espresso and to enjoy a cup shaped by more than a century of innovation.
Sources:
Billock, Jennifer (Johns Hopkins Magazine). “A Short (or Tall) History of the Espresso Bar.” hub.jhu.edu. Spring 2023 (Published). https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2023/spring/jonathan-morris-coffee-expert/.
Stamp, Jimmy (Smithsonian Magazine). “The Long History of the Espresso Machine.” www.smithsonianmag.com. 19 June 2012 (Published). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-long-history-of-the-espresso-machine-126012814/.
