Espresso Machine - History

History

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. He was granted patent no. 33/256 dated 16th 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. Moriondo Angelo, of Turin, for an invention called “New steam machinery for the economic and instantaneous confection of coffee beverage, method ‘A. Moriondo’, Plate CXL".

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 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 commercially (one a day) in a small workshop in Via Parini in Milan.