Where it all Began:
Over 1200 years ago it is said that an Ethiopian goat herder discovered coffee in its earliest form – the coffee plant. The coffee plant produces "coffee cherries" or berries which consist of seeds or “beans” as they are commonly called. It is these seeds that are then roasted, ground and brewed to take the form of coffee as we know and love it today.
The more familiar roasted form is said to have birthed in the Arabian Peninsula, which today consists of Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia, around 1000 A.D. From its roasted roots in Arabia, the coffee craze took flight moving in popularity throughout the region we refer to as the Middle East, including places such as present day Iran, Turkey and countries in northern Africa.
Coffee travels to Europe:
By the mid-1600s, coffee had made headway in Europe. It is noted that the first European coffee house opened in Italy in 1645. But it was the Dutch who first imported coffee on a large scale, establishing the first European coffee estate in 1696 on Java, now part of Indonesia. From here coffee began to be exported to the Netherlands, soon gaining momentum in England, France, Austria and Poland.
Coffee travels to the Americas:
From Europe it traveled to the Americas, reaching North America during the Colonial Period. Though at first is was not as widely received as it had been in Europe, its popularity increased during the Revolutionary War, largely due to the Boston Tea Party of 1773 which caused many Americans to frown upon tea drinking as it seemed "unpatriotic".
Different types of beans:
Today the two most commonly grown coffee plants are coffea canephora, better known as Robusta coffee, and coffea Arabica, known simply as Arabica coffee. Canephora is easier to cultivate than Arabica, and therefore cheaper to produce yet has about twice as much caffeine than Arabica.
Caffeine Content:
The caffeine content of one serving of coffee can vary depending on the type of coffee and its preparation, but on average a single 6.75 fl. oz. cup of brewed coffee contains between 80 to 135 mg. of caffeine while a 1 oz. shot of espresso typically contains between 75-100 mg. of caffeine.
Still, espresso seems to pack a bit more punch than its forefather regular cup of Joe, and it usually does, because regular coffee is commonly brewed using the less expensive Robusta coffee, which explains the higher caffeine content, while Arabica is recognized as the better bean and used in many espresso blends.
Why is Espresso different?
But even aside from the choice of beans, it is not a different kind of coffee bean or even a different level of roasting that makes espresso differ from a regular cup of coffee. Espresso is simply a different method of making coffee and any kind of bean or roast can be used to make espresso. The result of espresso is a more concentrated coffee which is brewed by forcing hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee.
The birthplace of espresso is Italy and the first patented espresso machine was filed by Luigi Bezzera of Milan in 1901. Bezzera actually developed his machine in order to brew coffee faster and in turn reduce the amount of time his employees took for a coffee break. Indeed the espresso machine did whip up a faster brewed cup, but due to the steam and how water method, the coffee was more concentrated and slightly bitter.
Just a few years later Desiderio Pavoni purchased Bezzera's patent and began experimenting with different temperatures and pressures to lessen the bitterness. Pavoni concluded that brewing at 195 degrees with 8-9 BAR of pressure produced the best results and this became the standard and basis of the espresso that we recognize today.
In 1938, M. Cremonesi developed another new addition to the espresso machine world called a piston pump. The piston pump forced hot water through the coffee without the steam effect, eliminating the bitter or burnt taste of coffee, which occurred in Pavoni's steam-based methods.
Cremonesi's creation was introduced at Gaggia's Coffee Bar in 1946, and Giovanni Achille Gaggia began manufacturing the Gaggia Crema Caffe machine in 1947, the first in its kind, a piston - or lever - driven machine. The "crema" was the layer of foam we still see today in some espresso shots.
Bezzera, La Pavoni and Gaggia are still popular espresso machines in the present day.
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