Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso often has a thicker consistency than coffee brewed by other methods, a higher concentration of suspended and dissolved solids, and crema (foam). As a result of the pressurized brewing process the flavours and chemicals in a typical cup of coffee are very concentrated. Espresso is the base for other drinks, such as a latte, cappuccino, macchiato, mocha, or americano. Espresso has more caffeine per unit volume than most beverages, but the usual serving size is smaller—a 30 mL (1 US fluid ounce) shot of espresso has about one third the caffeine of a standard 180 mL (6 US fluid ounces) cup of drip-brewed coffee, which varies from 80 to 130 mg.[1] A professional operator of an espresso machine is a barista, the Italian word for bartender.
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Espresso is made by forcing very hot water under high pressure through finely ground, compacted coffee.[2] This process produces an almost syrupy beverage by extracting both solid and dissolved components. It also produces the definitive crema,[3] by emulsifying the oils in the ground coffee into a colloid, which does not occur in other brewing methods. There is no universal standard defining the process of extracting espresso,[4] but there are several published definitions which attempt to place constraints on the amount and type of ground coffee used, the temperature and pressure of the water, and the rate of extraction.[5][6] Generally, one uses an espresso machine to make espresso. The act of producing a shot of espresso is often termed "pulling" a shot, originating from lever espresso machines, which require pulling down a handle attached to a spring-loaded piston, forcing hot water through the coffee at high pressure. Today, however, it is more common for the pressure to be generated by an electric pump.
Espresso is a coffee beverage and brewing method, it is not a specific bean, bean blend, or roast level. Any bean or roasting level can be used to produce authentic espresso. For example, in southern Italy, a darker roast is generally preferred; but farther north, the trend moves toward slightly lighter roasts. Outside of Italy a wide range of roasts are popular.[7]
Espresso has risen as a common brewing method in many parts of the world. With the rise of various coffee chains in the 1990s, espresso-based drinks rose in popularity in the United States, with the city of Seattle viewed as one of the origins of modern interest. In addition to the Italian style of coffee, coffee chains typically offer many variations by adding syrups, whipped cream, flavor extracts, soy milk, and various spices to their drinks.
Angelo Moriondo’s Italian patent, which was registered in 1884 (No. 33/256), is notable. Ian Bersten, whose history of coffee brewers is cited below, claims to have been the first to discover Moriondo’s patent.[8] Bersten describes the device as “… almost certainly the first Italian bar machine that controlled the supply of steam and water separately through the coffee” and Moriondo as “... certainly one of the earliest discoverers of the expresso [sic] machine, if not the earliest.” Unlike true espresso machines, it was a bulk brewer, and did not brew coffee “expressly” for the individual customer.
Seventeen years later, in 1901, Milanese Luigi Bezzera came up with a number of improvements to the espresso machine. He patented a number of these, the first of which was applied for on the 19th of December 1901. It was titled “Innovations in the machinery to prepare and immediately serve coffee beverage” (Patent No. 153/94, 61707, granted on the 5th of June 1902).
In 1905, the patent was bought by Desiderio Pavoni, who founded the “La Pavoni” company and began to produce the machine industrially (one a day) in a small workshop in Via Parini in Milan.
The popularity of espresso developed in various ways; a detailed discussion of the spread of espresso is given in (Morris 2007), which is a source of various statements below.
In Italy, the rise of espresso consumption was associated with urbanization, espresso bars providing a place for socialization. Further, coffee prices were controlled by local authorities, provided the coffee was consumed standing up, encouraging the "stand at a bar" culture.
In the English-speaking world, espresso became popular, particularly in the form of cappuccino, due to the tradition of drinking coffee with milk and the exotic appeal of the foam; in the United States, this was more often in the form of lattes, particularly with flavored syrups added. The latte is claimed to have been invented in the 1950s by Italian American Lino Meiorin of Caffe Mediterraneum in Berkeley, California, as a long cappuccino, and was then popularized in Seattle,[9] and then nationally and internationally by Seattle-based Starbucks in the late 1980s and 1990s.
In the United Kingdom, espresso grew in popularity among youth in the 1950s, who felt more welcome in the coffee shops than in public houses (pubs).
Espresso was initially popular, particularly within the Italian diaspora, growing in popularity with tourism to Italy exposing others to espresso, as developed by Eiscafès established by Italians in Germany.
Initially, expatriate Italian espresso bars were downmarket venues, serving the working class Italian diaspora – and thus providing appeal to the alternative subculture / counterculture; this can still be seen in the United States in Italian American neighborhoods, such as Boston's North End, New York's Little Italy, and San Francisco's North Beach. As specialty coffee developed in the 1980s (following earlier developments in the 1970s and even 1960s), an indigenous artisanal coffee culture developed, with espresso instead positioned as an upmarket drink.
Today, coffee culture commentators distinguish large chain, midmarket coffee as "Second Wave Coffee", and upmarket, artisanal coffee as Third Wave Coffee.
In Northern Europe (particularly Scandinavia) and, to a greater extent, in most of Central Europe, espresso is associated with European identity, as in New Europe. By contrast, in Hungary, espresso is associated with pre-Communist cafe culture.
In the Middle East, espresso is quite popular and becoming more widely available with the openings of Western coffee shop chains. However, the most common type of coffee remains what is popularly called in English "Turkish coffee" (although it is variously known as "Arabian coffee" or "Greek coffee" in various parts of the world) which is also served short like espresso. Turkish coffee is almost the same measure of ground coffee as an espresso, added to water and brought to a boil. It is quite common that ground cardamom is added to the blend of coffee for added flavor.
A distinctive feature of espresso, as opposed to brewed coffee, is espresso's association with cafés, due both to the specialized equipment and skill required, thus making the enjoyment of espresso a social experience.
Home espresso machines have increased in popularity with the general rise of interest in espresso. Today, a wide range of home espresso equipment can be found in kitchen and appliance stores, online vendors, and department stores. Initially, espresso machines were not available for home use; development of domestic machines began in the 1970s, and remained expensive and bulky, and required skill to operate. In recent years, the invention of convenient counter-top home espresso makers based on coffee pods (like the E.S.E standard[10]) has increased the quantity of espresso consumed at home.
The popularity of home espresso making parallels the increase of home coffee roasting. Some amateurs pursue both home roasting coffee and making espresso.
The origin of the term "espresso" is the subject of considerable debate. Although some Anglo-American dictionaries simply refer to "pressed-out",[11] "espresso," much like the English word "express", conveys the senses of "just for you" and "quickly," which can be related to the method of espresso preparation.
The words express, expres and espresso each have several meanings in English, French and Italian. The first meaning is to do with the idea of "expressing" or squeezing the flavour from the coffee using the pressure of the steam. The second meaning is to do with speed, as in a train. Finally there is the notion of doing something "expressly" for a person ... The first Bezzera and Pavoni espresso machines in 1906 took 45 seconds to make a cup of coffee, one at a time, expressly for you.[12]
The spelling espresso is widely considered correct while expresso appears as a less common variant.[13] Italy uses the term espresso, substituting most x letters in Latin root words with s; x is not considered part of the standard Italian alphabet. Italian people commonly refer to it simply as caffè (coffee), espresso being the ordinary coffee to order; in Spain, while café expreso is seen as the more "formal" denomination, café solo (alone, without milk) is the usual way to ask for it when at an espresso bar.
In Slovakia and Czechia, espresso is commonly referred to as preso, and is served with milk (either 10%-fat "coffee cream" packaged in small plastic cups, or milk in a tiny bucket in better cafés) on the side by default. Espresso lungo is also still more common than normale (usually referred to as piccolo), let alone ristretto. This is referred to as "presso with milk" (preso s mliekom in Slovak, preso s mlékem in Czech). The practice is slowly changing (especially under the influence of specialty coffee shops and international coffee chains).
Modern espresso, using hot water under pressure, as pioneered by Gaggia in the 1940s, was originally called crema caffè, in English "cream coffee", as can be seen on old Gaggia machines, due to the crema.[14] This term is no longer used, though crema caffè and variants (caffè crema, café crema) find occasional use in branding.
The main variables in a shot of espresso are the "size" and "length".[15][16] This terminology is standardized, but the precise sizes and proportions vary substantially.
Cafés generally have a standardized shot (size and length), such as "triple ristretto",[16] only varying the number of shots in espresso-based drinks such as lattes, but not changing the extraction – changing between a double and a triple requires changing the filter basket size, while changing between ristretto, normale, and lungo require changing the grind, and cannot easily be accommodated in a busy café, as fine tweaking of the grind is a central aspect to consistent quality espresso-making, which is disrupted by major changes, such as ristretto to lungo.
The size can be a single, double, or triple, which corresponds roughly to a 1, 2, and 3 US fluid ounce (approximately 30, 60 or 90ml) standard (normale) shot, and use a proportional amount of ground coffee, roughly 7–8, 14–16, and 21–24 grams; correspondingly sized filter baskets are used. The Italian term doppio is often used for a double, with solo and triplo being more rarely used for singles and triples. The single shot is the traditional shot size, being the maximum that could easily be pulled on a lever machine, while the double is the standard shot today.
Single baskets are sharply tapered or stepped down in diameter to provide comparable depth to the double baskets and, therefore, comparable resistance to water pressure. Most double baskets are gently tapered (the "Faema model"), while others, such as the La Marzocco, have straight sides. Triple baskets are normally straight-sided.
Portafilters will often come with two spouts, usually closely spaced, and a double-size basket – each spout can optionally dispense into a separate cup, yielding two solo-size (but doppio-brewed) shots, or into a single cup (hence the close spacing). True solo shots are rare, with a single shot in a café generally being half of a doppio shot.
In espresso-based drinks, particularly larger milk-based drinks, a drink with three or four shots of espresso will be called a "triple" or "quad", respectively, but this does not mean the shots themselves are triple or quadruple shots. Rather, generally double shots will be used, with one and a half shots used in a triple (split via the two spouts), and two shots used in a quad.
The length of the shot can be ristretto (restricted), normale/standard (normal), or lungo (long): these correspond to a smaller or larger drink with the same amount of ground coffee and same level of extraction. Proportions vary, and the volume (and low density) of crema make volume-based comparisons difficult (precise measurement uses the mass of the drink), but proportions of 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3–4 are common for ristretto, normale, and lungo, corresponding to 1, 2, and 3–4 US fl oz (30 ml, 60 ml, 90–120 ml) for a double shot. Ristretto is the most commonly used of these terms, and double or triple ristrettos are particularly associated with artisanal espresso.
Ristretto, normale, and lungo are not simply the same shot, stopped at different times – this will result in an underextracted shot (if run too short a time) or an overextracted shot (if run too long a time). Rather, the grind is adjusted (finer for ristretto, coarser for lungo) so the target volume is achieved by the time extraction finishes.
A significantly longer shot, rare in the Anglosphere, is the caffè crema, which is longer than a lungo, ranging in size from 4–8 US fl oz (120–240 ml), and brewed in the same way, with a coarser grind.
The method of adding hot water produces a milder version of original flavor, while passing more water through the load of ground coffee will add other flavors to the espresso, which might be unpleasant for some people.
In addition to being served alone, espresso is frequently blended, notably with milk (either steamed (without significant foam), wet foamed ("microfoam"), or dry foamed) and with hot water. Notable milk-based espresso drinks, in order of size, include: macchiato, cappuccino, flat white, and latte, while espresso and water drinks especially include the Americano and long black. Others include the red eye and latte macchiato. The cortado, piccolo, and galão are made primarily with steamed milk with little or no foam.
In order of size, these may be organized as follows:
Some common combinations may be organized graphically as follows:
| mixed with | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| frothed milk | hot water | ||
| espresso is on | top | latte macchiato | long black |
| bottom | caffè latte | caffè americano | |
Methods of preparation differ between drinks and between baristas. For macchiatos, cappuccino, flat white, and smaller lattes and Americanos, the espresso is brewed into the cup, then the milk or water is poured in. For larger drinks, where a tall glass will not fit under the brew head, the espresso is brewed into a small cup, then poured into the larger cup; for this purpose a demitasse or specialized espresso brew pitcher may be used. This "pouring into an existing glass" is a defining characteristic of the latte macchiato and classic renditions of the red eye. Alternatively, a glass with "existing" water may have espresso brewed into it – to preserve the crema – in the long black. Brewing onto milk is not generally done.
^ a: While the 'expresso' spelling is recognized as mainstream usage in most dictionaries,[21][22] its inclusion is controversial, with many outright calling the 'x' variant illegitimate.[23][24][25][26] The Oxford dictionary states, "The spelling expresso is not used in the original Italian and is strictly incorrect, although it is common."[27]
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