3. Summary
This work aims to trace the main passages of the Italian coffee history.
It began centuries ago and it is characterised by many discoveries and
creations. Some of these have become symbols of Italy as well as part
of the daily habits of many people all over the world. The variety of
available coffee drinks found in the coffeehouses nowadays is mostly
due to Italian tradition. Example, espresso, cappuccino, latte macchiato
are a part of the Italian vocabulary in coffee understanding which gives
clear evidence of this recognition.
Thus, this elaboration intends to expand the awareness of the readers
and get familiar of what we drink. As well as, to inform about the
history that characterised coffee.
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THE ITALIAN COFFEE,
A GENIUS AND PASSION HISTORY
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4. THE HISTORY OF COFFEE
THE ARRIVAL OF COFFEE TO ITALY
COFFEE FOR ITALIANS
6 Discovery
6 Arabs
7 Dutch
7 Venetians
9 Venice
10 Trieste
12 Rome
12 Naples
14 What coffee represents in Italy after centuries of tradition
Starting from Mocha coffee spreads all over the world
The birth of the coffeehouses
Not only a drink, it is passion
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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5. COFFEE TASTES, A LITTLE TRIP INSIDE ITALY
THE ITALIAN BLENDS
ESPRESSO AND MOKA COFFEE
HABITS ABOUT COFFEE
17 Milan and Lombardy
17 Venice and Veneto
18 Turin and Piedmont
19 Rome and Lazio
20 Naples and Campania
22 The beans used to reach the perfect taste
26 Coffee makers
27 Moka, the tool that never lacks in the Italians’ houses
28 Espresso machine, an Italian tale
30 Caffè Sospeso
31 Caffè dell’amicizia
32 The figure of the “The Caffettiere” in Naples
33 Women and coffee
Coffee, a population’s expression
From North to South, the incredible diversity
Products of the Italian Genius
Coffee enters in society
6. 6
The history of how coffee spreads all over the world
is very fascinating, but its discovery is still not so clear.
What is certain is that the coffee tree, originated
in the Horn of Africa, in Ethiopia, or in Yemen and
it is believed to be found by a goatherd that was im-
pressed by the strange behaviour of his goats after
chewing the coffee berries.
This is only a legend; however, according to J.K Francis
coffee was being cultivated by Arabs from the 14th
century.
The knowledge of the energising effects of the berries
began to spread and soon reached the Arabian Penin-
sula. From the port of Mocha began the journey that
brought the beans first in Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey
and gradually expanded all over the world.
The Arabs were the first that began not only its cultiva-
tion but also its trade.
The Arabs
Coffee quickly became a fundamental drink for Arabic
population, presumably due to its abstention to alco-
hol, as the Koran precepts, so coffee worked as a good
substitute drink.
At that time all the Arabian cities were characterised
by their many coffeehouses, called in the local language
as “qahveh khaneh”. The first were opened in Mecca.
The coffeehouses were an innovative place, where peo-
ple went not only to drink coffee, but also to converse,
The legend says that there is a mountain called
Gebel-Sabor in Yemen, where Allah imprisoned
the “giunim”, evil spirits in its bowels which
rebelled afterward. They covered the whole
mountain with fire destroying everything.
Years later the vegetation resurfaced the moun-
tain and a group of monks decided to build their
monastery in a top of the mountain. They ate
cereals, fruit and drank milk, the last provided
from a goat flock.
One day the goatherd was shocked by the tense
behaviour of his goats so he referred to monks.
Yahia found the wise solution to discover the
reason: he proposed to follow the goats during
the night to see what they consumed. They
discovered that the goats ate the red fruits
of a tree with white flowers that grew near
the abyss where the “giunim” were imprisoned.
Yahia was attracted by the yellowish, slimy and
hard seeds contained in the fruits and he decided
to make an infusion with it. First he put leafs,
flowers and seeds in the water but he did not taste
anything drinking the liquid. Then, unconscious-
ly, Yahia put the coffee seeds near the fireplace
and, perhaps with inspiration from Allah, he
decided to put the roasted seeds in hot water.
Subsequently, he drank the infusion and he felt
lightweight, alert and coldly excited. He found
the magic enemy of sleep.
(C.Aguglia, 1962)
°
THE HISTORY
OF COFFEE
VENICE
ROME
NAPLES
TRIESTE
Starting from Africa
coffee spreads all over
the world
7. 7
TURKEY
SYRIA
PERSIA
MOCHA
EGYPT
THE HISTORY OF HOW COFFEE
SPREADS ALL OVER THE WORLD IS
VERY FASCINATING,
BUT ITS DISCOVERY
IS STILL NOT SO CLEAR. listen to music and enjoy dances. They even became
soon the political centre of people’s activities but they
were suppressed to avoid the development of conspira-
cies. They quickly reappeared. They already were part
of the Arab habits and tradition.
The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking
or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle
of the XV century, in the Sufi monasteries of the Yemen
in southern Arabia
A certain evidence attesting the use of coffee as a drink,
is contained in the report made by Gian Francesco Mo-
rosini in 1585. He was a Venetian ambassador who lived
in Constantinople and he stated that Turkish citizens
“most of time were seated in the coffeehouses or on the
street drinking a hot black water, extracted from a seed
called cavee’, famous for its power to maintain people
awake” .
The cultivation of coffee was jealously protected by
Arabs that imposed a strict policy trade not to export
any fertile beans, so from that could not grow any tree
of coffee anywhere else. They succeed in this mission
removing the outer layer of beans (coffee seeds), making
it infertile.
Dutch
In 1616, Pieter van der Broecke, a Dutch merchant
succeeded in taking some of the guarded bushes from
Mocha, in Yemen, and he brought them to Amsterdam
where they were cultivated in greenhouses.
The Dutch traders from these trees obtained the seeds
that they exported to their colonies, which quickly
became the main producers of the Europe’s imported
coffee.
Venetians
Although the Dutch were the first who imported the
coffee tree in Europe, the Venetian traders were the first
that imported coffee beans, in 1615.
Traders, travellers and adventure people by following
the boat routes initiated the diffusion of coffee in Europe,
nonetheless, scientists, doctors and illustrators contrib-
uted on the same purpose. Coffee was a remarkable new
product and they filled pages over pages of written and
drawing about it. It was rapidly protagonist of a vast diffu-
sion all over Europe as it is observed in Arab world.
8. 8
VENICE WAS THE FIRST ITALIAN
AND EUROPEAN CITY THAT KNEW
THE AROMA OF COFFEE.
COFFEE COMES TO ITALY
The birth of the
coffeehouses
9. 9
Venice was the first Italian and European city
that tasted the aroma of coffee. From Venice
coffee reached all the European cities.
In Italy coffee became soon a precious and
estimated product. It represented a special gift
for friends or lovers; the suitors used to send to
their lovers trays full of coffee and chocolate.
The combination coffee-sugar is also nowa-
days an appreciated welcome present between
relatives and friends.
However, the establishment of coffee in Italy
encountered difficulties as in the Arab world:
some priests asked for its prohibition to Pope
Clemente VIII, believing that it was an evil
drink. The Pope wanted to try the drink before
deciding for its excommunication and he liked
it so much that he even dubbed it as a “Chris-
tian drink”.
~ The birth of coffehouses
Venice
In 1720 a great event left a mark in the Venetian coffee-
houses’ history. On 29th of December Floriano Franc-
esconi opened in Piazza San Marco the “Caffè della
Venezia Trionfante”.
At a later time was called “Caffè Florian” taking its name
from its founder. This is one of the world’s most ancient
historical coffeehouses, and it is still open for business.
(A. Gattegno, 1991)
In 18th century a lot of coffeehouses were opened in
Venice. In some nights of the summer Piazza San Marco
was a unique and huge coffeehouse. Venice, hundreds
islands’ city, with its canals, was the floating stage
of Europe.
A cosmopolitan crowd used to stroll under the Portici,
attracted by the magic atmosphere evoked of the old
walls of Palazzo Ducale and by the golden cupola of San
Marco. The writers Goldoni and Casanova described
this worldly spirit; they were the intellectuals of coffee.
Even nowadays Venice offers the similar atmosphere
as it was in the past. The many tourists who are crowd-
ing the city everyday contribute to preserve it.
Coffeehouses scattered in the city still remain as one
of the most appreciated attractions.
FROM VENICE IT REACHED
ALL THE EUROPEAN CITIES.
10. 10
Trieste
Caffè Tommaseo is the expression of the coffeehouses
in Trieste. It was the first opened one and it still repre-
sents a historical piece of the city.
In a back room there is a plaque saying “in 1848, from
this coffeehouse, centre of the national movement, the
flame of happiness spread due to the Italian freedom”.
It exists from the beginning of the 19th century and
in 1860 the young waiter, Guglielmo Oberdan, who
worked there for several years, became the owner.
When he received the keys of the local two patrons gave
him a pendulum clock. That clock did not stop running
for a century, except for the day when Oberdan was
hanged. That fact represented the reaction of the Austri-
an empire that reoccupied Trieste until the 1918, when
it came back to Italy.
When we take a coffee in a local as the Tommaseo cof-
feehouse we touch history with our hands; we probably
sit in the same chair where Italo Svevo used to read,
write or speak with his friend James Joyce.
In the 1700 the port of Trieste began to receive ships
laden with coffee coming from the Ottoman harbours
of Smyrna and Alexandria and it quickly became the
most important port of the Habsburg Empire.
Later, during the 19th century, the high price of the
EVEN NOWADAYS
VENICE OFFERS THE SAME
ATMOSPHERES WE FOUND
IN THE PAST. THE MANY
TOURISTS THAT CROWD THE
CITY EVERYDAY CONTRIBUTE
TO PRESERVE IT AND THE
MANY COFFEEHOUSES
WHICH ARE SPREAD OVER
THE CITY STILL REMAIN AS
ONE THE MOST APPRECIATED
ATTRACTIONS.
WHEN WE TAKE A COFFEE
IN TOMMASEO COFFEEHOUSE
WE COULD BE SIT ON THE
SAME CHAIR WHERE ITALO
SVEVO USED TO READ,
WRITE OR SPEAK WITH
HIS FRIEND JAMES JOYCE.
11. 11
A PLAQUE IN CAFFÈ
TOMMASEO SAYS: “IN 1848,
FROM THIS COFFEEHOUSE,
CENTER OF THE NATIONAL
MOVEMENT, THE FLAME OF
HAPPINESS SPREAD DUE
TO THE ITALIAN FREEDOM”.
roasting process led to the birth of the first coffee
roasters in Trieste, followed by companies specialised
in importing and trading coffee, and since the 20th
century coffee is not only a social ritual for Trieste;
it is one of most important factors of the economic
and cultural growth.
The great development of the coffee chain made Trieste
the capital of the international market of the Italian
coffee. In this city coffee has a very important economic
role where the privates and the Institutions cooperate
in coffee scientific research to develop this sector.
A considerable example is the collaboration between
the University of Trieste and some research institutions
such as the Ernesto Illy Foundation, the SISSA of Trieste
and many others. They offer a Master Degree to stu-
dents who want to explore the main aspects of coffee
and they also carry on an intense research activity on
sustainability, healthy properties of coffee and other
themes.
In the near future Trieste is going to be more and more
the landmark of the Italian coffee. In fact, the Illycaffè
coffee roasting company of Trieste, is going to be the
official partner of Expo 2015 in Milan and it is going
to represent the Cluster Caffè. With the participation
of the International Coffee Organization Illycaffè is pre-
paring the biggest coffee celebration of the history.
If you want to know something more about it,
visit this web-site: www.triestecoffeecluster.com
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IT IS NOT ONLY A COFFEE
IT IS AN EXPERIENCE OF LIFE
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12. 12
Rome
The German writer Hermann Kesten says about Rome
that it smells of incense, olive oil and violets.
The perfume of roasted coffee coming from the count-
less coffee roasters and from the evocating coffeehouses
completes this magic essence.
Coffeehouses appeared in Rome in the 18th century,
when a lot of artists and foreign poets came there
to study the ancient art discovered by Winckelmann.
Caffè Greco was the first coffeehouse opened in Rome
and it is still open today in Via Condotti near Piazza
di Spagna.
Since its foundation Rome has been characterized
by a huge flow of people passing through it. In the past
the capital of Italy, centre of the national political life,
was also called “Caput Mundi”. The meeting between
different cultures affected even coffee, which, however,
was mostly influenced by Neapolitan tradition.
Naples
Being the first not necessarily means being the best.
Neapolitans affirm, indeed, that even if they didn’t
invent coffee drink they make the best one. Pasta
is another example: it was imported from the Arab
world but it reached the perfection in Naples.
Neapolitans are convinced that creativity is not only
inventing but also modifying, reworking, redesigning
something that already exists, leading it to excellence
as they have done with coffee. The list of artists that
used to frequent the several Neapolitan coffeehouses
increases their pride even more; Goethe, Tolstoy, Byron,
Nietzsche are only a few names of the personalities that
loved Neapolitan coffeehouses.
At the beginning of the 19th century a new figure
appeared in Naples: the “Caffettiere ambulante”, an am-
bulant coffee vendor who became part of Neapolitans’
daily routine, waking them up to sell coffee and milk
with his loud voice, reminding people to celebrate the
Saint of the day.
Naples is also the city of “caffè sospeso”, suspended
coffee, which could be considered as an act of charity
of a kind consumer who took one coffee but paid
for two, making a gift to the first less fortunate person
who casually walked in the bar. The bartender would
say: “would you like a coffee, sir?” meaning: there
is a coffee paid for you, if you can’t afford one.
The benefactor remained anonymous, as true act
of charity requires.
13. 13
Still today, in the Italian’s minds, Naples remains the city
that offers one of the best coffees of the country; its an-
cient tradition and the Neapolitans’ love for coffee have
preserved its reputation.
Small and medium size coffee roasters play an important
role in this preservation. We find lots of them in this
area and they succeed in the difficult mission of satisfy-
ing the sophisticated demand of Neapolitan consumers.
NEAPOLITANS SAY CREATIVITY
IS NOT ONLY INVENTING, BUT
IT IS ALSO MODIFY, REWORK,
REDESIGN SOMETHING THAT
ALREADY EXISTS AND MAKE
IT THE BEST.
THIS IS HOW THEY MADE
THE BEST COFFEE!
14. 14
COFFEE FOR ITALIANS
What coffee represents in Italy
after centuries of tradition
The culture of coffee has affected the whole
country for centuries, and now coffee in Italy
is not only a drink, it is an important part
of daily life, a cornerstone of the country’s
quality of life.
Nothing more then a good cup of coffee re-
minds to Italians of their country, and when
they are abroad they look desperately for an
espresso which tastes like the one they usually
drink in their favourite bar in Italy.
Italians abroad frequently start their conversa-
tions by discussing coffee and sharing nostalgia
for their loved espresso as well as for pizza
or pasta.
Italians love speaking about coffee: every time
they take one they follow a contemplation ritu-
al, observing its “crema”, and when they finish
sipping their cup, they judge it. They choose
their favourite bar on the quality of its coffee.
Although they know there are a lot of methods
to prepare a coffee, they consider the espres-
so the best way to use the beans of this plant.
They also love the coffee made with moka,
which is usually drunk at home, where there
is any espresso machine, even if nowadays
more and more families have a little one in
their house.
COFFE IS NOT ONLY A DRINK,
IT IS A PASSION
15. 15
If we say “would you like a coffee?” in any
European city we should receive the simple
answer “yes”, but this rarely happens in Italy,
where we could listen to more creative and
personalised answers like “macchiato caldo”
(with hot milk), “macchiato freddo” (with cold
milk), “al vetro” (in a cup of glass), “corretto”
(with some spirits).
This aspect shows the importance that Italians
give to coffee and the tradition that character-
ised this product in Italy.
This long tradition makes this country one
of the most important players in the interna-
tional coffee market.
We generally observe that the northern part
of Italy likes more a delicate coffee where
the Arabicas are the absolute protagonists
of the blends, whereas the South of the coun-
try prefers a coffee with a stronger body, char-
acterised by a thicker and brown “crema”.
The cup of coffee appears lower and its taste
is quite bitter.
In the centre of Italy coffee could not be
compared neither to the northern nor the
southern kind, but it could be superficially
considered as the result of the meeting be-
tween the two.
EVERY ITALIAN REGION DEVELOPED A
PARTICULAR BLEND ACCORDING WITH
THE TASTE OF ITS INHABITANTS.
Italy can be considered as the bridge linking the
producer countries and the importer countries.
In this passage coffee turns from a simple seed
of a tropical tree to the most popular drink
of the world.
This transformation comes from a very ancient
passion that started in the 17th century, when
the Venetian traders first imported coffee in
Europe and they made it one of the symbols
of Italy.
After Venice, coffee reached all the Italian
regions and each of them developed a particular
blend according to the taste of their inhabitants.
16. 16
COFFEE TASTES, A LITTLE
TRIP INSIDE ITALY
Coffee, a population’s
expression
17. 17
IN MILAN COFFEE IS A FAST
PLEASURE THAT SHOULD BE
QUICKLY DRUNK
VENICE IS THE MOTHER OF THE
ITALIAN COFFEE.
Milan
According to the Futurist movement, moder-
nity is velocity and dynamism which are the
characteristics of the biggest city of northern
Italy: Milan. The rhythm of Milan affects Peo-
ple living there; they are always in a hurry.
This state of mind affects all the social and
cultural aspects, including coffee.
The typical lunch break of workers is a sand-
wich or a ready-made meal and, obviously,
a coffee.
In Milan coffee is no more a meeting social
ritual, it is a fast pleasure that should be easily
drunk. This is the reason why people prefer
a delicate coffee that happily matches a light
lunch.
Venice
In 18th century Venice was a trade city whose
Piazza San Marco gave lessons of elegance
to all Europe. Its long tradition allowed coffee
roasters to develop a deep knowledge about
fresh coffee and blending; we can still appreciate
the value of this tradition in the Venetian bars.
They use a light roasted coffee that is delicate,
modestly bitter with chocolate and vanilla per-
fumes. The result is a balanced and sweet
coffee, with a modest acidity and fruity and
spicy aromas.
Venice was a very important seaside city, but
the influence of the Veneto countryside in the
coffee is clear. This coffee reminds the simple
rural cooking, characterised by dishes as “po-
lenta” or boiled meats.
If you want to know something more about it,
visit this web-site: www.assaggiatori.com
18. 18
Piedmont and Turin
Piedmont is the region that produces some
of the most popular Italian wines: everyone
knows the value of the “Nebbiolo grapes”,
from which “Barolo” and “Moscato” wines
are produced. We find the same mastery used
to produce these excellent wines also in coffee.
After all, coffee should be the perfect end
of a meal consisting in these wines too.
How could it not be excellent?
The owners of the coffeehouses used to roast
the coffee on their own with passion and
patience. They chased the coffees that could
improve the freshness of their blends, and that
way they obtained a coffee characterized
by a marked acidity.
The same acidity, together with flowers and
fruit traces, has survived nowadays. Piedmont
coffee is also characterised by a faint bitter
taste and a shapely body.
IN PIEDMONT COFFEE
TASTE IS CHARACTERIZED
BY A MARKED ACIDITY
If you want to know something more about it,
visit this web-site: www.assaggiatori.com
19. 19
Rome
Roman coffee has been influenced by the typ-
ical cooking of the city. The dishes are usually
poor, made with simple ingredients, but ex-
tremely savoury.
After such courses only an intense coffee can
be the perfect end of the meal.
This coffee is also influenced by the Neapolitan
one, which is considered the best espresso.
We find many similarities between the two,
such as their strong body and their quite bitter
taste, obtained using blends where the Robusta
cannot lack and washed Arabicas are preferred
to the natural ones.
Its brown “crema” is one of the most important
elements that characterises the Roman coffee,
where we also note traces of dried fruit.
AFTER EXTREMELY SAVOURY
DISHES ONLY AN INTENSE
COFFEE CAN BE THE PERFECT
END OF THE MEAL.
Romans usually prefer drinking coffee in the glass
cup: in this way they can evaluate its “crema”,
which should be thicker and highest possible.
Then it should pass the sugar test, which consists
in pouring the sugar in the cup of coffee, where it
should remain in the surface for a certain time.
The longer it remains the better the test will be.
DRINKING COFFEE IN GLASS
CUPS ALLOW ROMANS
TO EVALUATE HOW GOOD
IS THE “CREMA”
20. 20
Naples
Neapolitan espresso could be considered
the symbol and the ambassador of the Italian
espresso in the world.
It is the result of the Neapolitans’ creativity
added to their constant searching for good
living, and coffee is considered a fundamental
part of their good living.
During the Italian Colonialism period, a very
high quality coffee arrived to Naples from
Ethiopia and other colonies. However, some
batches did not have the same quality, but
the extraction of the coffee was not so strong
and the flaws could not be tasted.
Later, during the Second World War, coffee
was requisitioned by the Army in Italy but
it continued to circulate in Naples as a smug-
gling product, coming from the unsold stocks
of the port.
As the war went on, older and older coffee
beans, stocked in 1939, were masterly blended,
prepared and sold by the old women in the
black-market, where coffee was directly pre-
pared with the Neapolitan pot.
In 1945 the war ended and the coffee trade
restarted, but by that time Trieste had become
the port where fresh coffee arrived. Thus,
the Neapolitans left with their trucks and be-
gan to transport coffee from the North East
of Italy to their region. Unfortunately this cof-
fee had sometimes a phenolic smell, and even
if they tried to sell it in other regions, some
of it remained in Naples, unsold.
However, at that precise time the habit of tak-
ing coffee with some drops of anisette began
to spread: in this way the balsamic flavour cov-
ered all the flaws.
NEAPOLITAN ESPRESSO IS
THE SYMBOL OF THE ITALIAN
ESPRESSO IN THE WORLD
DURING THE ITALIAN COLONIALISM
PERIOD, A VERY HIGH QUALITY COFFEE
ARRIVED TO NAPLES FROM ETHIOPIA
AND OTHER COLONIES.
21. 21
The coffee we find in Naples is intense, dark, and
aromatic. The dark roasted coffee obtained from
blends with a high percentage of Robusta con-
fers to the Neapolitan Espresso its typical strong
body, its bitter taste and the brown “crema”.
The other fundamental factor that characterises
a good espresso in Naples is the bartender, who
should be a professional coffee maker that con-
trive any possible device to do coffee in a better
way. An example is the quantity of coffee used to
make an espresso.
Even if the fixed quantity to make an espresso is
7g per cup, they usually have a little spoon near
the coffee grinder-dispenser with which they add
a tip of spoon more to reach the perfect quantity
to make the excellent espresso.
NEAPOLITAN ESPRESSO IS INTENSE,
DARK AND AROMATIC; IT HAS A BITTER
TASTE AND THE BROWN “CREMA”
22. 22
The history and the diversity of the Italian
blends are at least as fascinating as the whole
coffee’s history.
The background that characterises the Italian
regions has led to a chopped country, where
every part is easily distinguishable.
We find the same diversity even in the Italian
coffee blends, even if the Brazilian Arabicas are
the base of most Italian Coffees.
THE ITALIAN BLENDS
We can imagine Italy as the Ancient Library
of Alexandria where every book is a coffee
roaster. Everyone is different from the others.
Everyone contains a different history and
a different method. Everyone contains his own
idea of blend.
From North to South,
the incredible diversity
23. 23
With their particular aromas, their sweetness
and their delicate bodies and flavours they are
perfect to be combined with coffees character-
ised by a strong personality.
Brazilian Arabicas are appreciated everywhere
in Italy, but especially in the north-eastern
part. On the other hand the north-west part
of Italy appreciates more aromatic and acid
tones, reached mainly by adding Central
and Colombian Arabicas.
As we move to South we find an espresso with
a stronger body, obtained from Indian coffees,
Robusta and Arabica, or more rarely from Afri-
can and Asian Robusta.
We can also find particular combinations, like
a Robusta blended only with washed coffees
or 100% washed Arabica blends.
Anyway, this is just a superficial description
of the real complexity of the Italian blends.
If we only try to think about the more of one
thousand small and medium size roasters
spread all over Italy, which have their own
jealously protected recipe used to produce
their own blend, we begin to touch the essence
of this theme. Even the visual aspect of coffee
changes from region to region.
While observing the coffees served in different
part of Italy we notice a sort of affinity with
the people living there. A longer beverage us-
ing a lighter roast is typical of the North, where
people used to be taller and fairer, whereas a
small concentrated dark roast is typical
of southern population, shorter and darker.
It seems that in Italy coffee lived an anthropo-
morphic process during its history which led
it to look like the people who drink it.
According to Vincenzo Sandalj, in reference to
his article “The art of Italian Espresso”, the magic
formula to achieve the mainstream Italian taste
should be 40% Brazilian, 30% washed Arabicasa-
nd 30% Robusta.
EACH REGION IS CHARACTERISED
BY ITS OWN FOOD, WINE, CULTURE,
COSTUMES AND DIALECT THAT
SOMETIMES IS A TRUE LANGUAGE.
24. 24
ESPRESSO AND
MOKA COFFEE
THERE ARE SO
MANY TYPES AND
VARIANTS OF
COFFEE IN ITALY
THAT WE CANNOT
THINK ABOUT IT AS
A SIMPLE DRINK
The products of the
Italian genius
25. 25
MOKA COFFEE IS USUALLY
CONSUMED AT HOME
ON THE OTHER HAND
ESPRESSO IS USUALLY
DRUNK AT THE BAR
When we talk about coffee in Italy we cannot
think about a simple drink obtained from
the coffee beans, in fact there are several
variants. However, two main types of coffee
can be distinguished: the moka coffee and
the espresso.
The first one is usually consumed at home
in the morning, before going to work or after
lunch by people eating at home.
It is also drunk in the afternoon or after
dinner, depending on the family’s habits.
In the Italian houses the morning coffee
represents a sort of pleasant alarm.
The aroma coming from the mocha spreads
in the rooms and it means that it is time to
get up: it is time to drink a good coffee.
On the other hand espresso is usually drunk
at the bar, so it could be taken in the morning
with a croissant, or during a break from work,
with colleagues, after lunch or simply at every
break taken outside the house. Thus, we find
espresso in restaurants, pubs and in all the
public places.
The birth of espresso and moka coffee is fruit
of the technologic innovation process developed
in Italy during the 20th century, which led
to an innovation race to improve the efficiency
of these machines, especially the espresso one.
In fact, the moka pot by Bialetti, the most
popular and first manufacturing company, still
maintains the design of the first patent
in production (1933) and represents the firm’s
main product.
However, many other coffee makers have been
designed before the Moka and the espresso machine.
Its history is nearly long as the coffee’s one.
26. 26
Coffee makers
The first coffee makers were probably manufactured
where coffee was born, in the Horn of Africa. One
of the most ancient instruments used to brew coffee
is the Jebena, from Ethiopia. It has a bigger spherical
base that terminates in the upper side with a narrow
neck connected to the base by an handle. Coffee exits
from a little spout placed in the base. It is usually
made of pottery and it is still nowadays the traditional
container used during the coffee ceremonies.
In Turkey we find the Ibrik, still used to make and serve
coffee. It has a larger base that narrows in a long neck
and ends with a larger porthole where coffee exits.
All the components are connected to a long handle
that allows to grab the tool.
From 15th to 17th century, the method used to make
coffee was boiling coffee grounds, and dividing grounds
from coffee became a problem that lots of coffee maker
manufacturers wanted to solve.
In 1819 the Parisian Morize invented the reversible cof-
fee pot, from which the Neapolitan coffee pot
has probably derived.
The “Napoletana”, even called cuccumella, is the Italian,
or better, the Neapolitan version of the reversible coffee
pot invented by Morize. It is formed by four elements.
It has a bottom part containing water, above which the
filter part is placed. This part consists of a filter screwed
to a little container, filled with the coffee grounds.
The last part is placed above the others and contains the
coffee that will be drunk.
The bottom part has to be put in contact with a source
of heat until the water boils; at this moment the pot
must be turned upside down to let pass the water
through the coffee grounds.
In this process the coffee is brewed using gravity.
The Napoletana was made of cheap aluminum, and
its affordable price allowed most of the Italian families
to make homemade filtered coffee.
In the 20th century the substituted of the Neapolitan
coffee pot was finally invented: the Moka.
THE “NAPOLETANA”, EVEN
CALLED CUCCUMELLA, IS
THE ITALIAN, OR BETTER, THE
NEAPOLITAN VERSION OF
THE REVERSIBLE COFFEE POT
INVENTED BY MORIZE.
27. 27
The Moka, the tool that Italian houses never lack
Espresso made Italy famous all over the world, but
in the country the most used coffee is that brews with
Moka, the instrument used to make coffee at home.
The name Moka takes origin from Mocha (or Mokha)
city, in Yemen that was the most important coffee mar-
ket place from the 15th century to the 17th century.
Alfonso Bialetti introduced the Moka Express in 1933.
It is not just a home tool, it is a design object displayed
in the most popular modern art and design museums,
such as MoMA and Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National
Design Museum in New York, and the London Design
Museum.
After 80 years Bialetti Industrie still produces the same
model. It consists of three main parts. The bottom part
is filled with water, whose level has to reach the safety
valve. The funnel-shaped metal filter is inserted above
it and filled with coffee grounds.
When the bottom part is heated, the steam pressures
forces water to pass into the filter which contains coffee
grounds and the resulting drink reaches the third part of
the Moka, the upper chamber where coffee is contained.
Alfonso Bialetti was a gifted engineer, but according
to “Deconstructing Product Design” by William Lidwell
and Gerry Manacsa he did not take the inspiration
of the Moka design in his studio, but in his house while
his wife was doing laundry.
At that time the primitive washing machines consist-
ed of a bucket, heated by a fire, and a lid with a tube
coming out of it. The bucket filled with soap water was
sealed with the lid. When water boiled, the steam pres-
sure pushed it up through the tube and expelled
on to the laundry.
Bialetti, interested on this process, thought that
he could use the same system to brew coffee, and
he manufactured the Moka.
It is known of Alfonso Bialetti that he was mainly
an artist and worked not for money, but above all for
his own pride. At night he usually fell asleep smoking
his cigar and holding the hardest produced piece
of the day. This was his great satisfaction.
His son Renato, moved by his own trade soul, began
to produce industrially the Moka, exporting it all
over the world.
Alfonso Bialetti introduced the Moka Express.
It is not only a home tool, it is a design object still
produced nowadays as it was designed at time.
The logo l’omino coi baffi” was created by the
artist Paul Campani.
28. 28
After few years, Alfonso Bialetti wanted to protect
his own product from potential imitations, so in 1953
he commissioned a mascot to the Italian artist Paul
Campani. The mascot designed was “l’omino coi baffi”,
the mustachioed little man and was printed in every
Moka produced in their factories. It should be a carica-
ture of Renato Bialetti.
Nowadays the Bialetti Company is the leader of the
Moka’s manufacturing, and most of Italian people,
thinking about a Moka pot, have the image of Bialetti
Moka Express in their mind.
The Espresso machine, an Italian tale
The espresso is the coffee obtained by forcing hot water
to pass through coffee ground in short time.
Its history began in 1884 when Angelo Moriondo, from
Turin, invented and patented the first espresso machine.
It was probably invented to speed up the process
of making coffee: workers could not wait five minutes
to have one, so inventors started looking for faster
methods to brew coffee. They understood they could
use the steam power to do it.
The origin of the term “espresso” is still not clear, but
the hypothesis that it could mean “quick coffee” seems
to be the most reliable.
The first espresso machines used steam instead
of water, but the taste of the resulting coffee was not
good because of the high temperature used to brew
it, that should not exceed 95°C or 203°F.
In 1901 Luigi Bezzera found a solution to this problem
and designed and patented a new machine, which was
manufactured in 1905 by Desiderio Pavoni. He was the
founder of “La Pavoni” Company, the first to put espres-
so machines on the market.
Angelo Moriondo, in 1884,
invented and patented the
first espresso machine.
These new machines still used steam like the old ones,
but this time it never reached the coffee. The steam
pressure at the top of the boiler was used to force water
to pass through the coffee grounds contained in a metal
filter basket, placed in a portafilter which was attached
to a Brew Head. The water, after passing through
the ground, became coffee that poured from the spouts.
This system permitted to reduce the brewing time from
4 minutes to 30 seconds.
A more modern machine was manufactured in 1948
by Achille Gaggia, who designed a manual piston:
the spring that powers the piston is compressed
by a lever, forced down by the bartender.
Few years later this machine was replaced by a new
model that began to produce the modern espresso,
and the term “caffè crema” died out.
The new machine was the “Faema 61”, produced by
Faema in 1961; it has no more a piston between the
boiler and the brewing group. Now, there is an elec-
tric pump that pushes down water through the coffee
ground. The “Faema 61” introduced the double espresso,
which has the double quantity of coffee drink with
the identical concentration and taste.
29. 29
THE FIRST ESPRESSO
MACHINES USED
STEAM INSTEAD OF
WATER BUT THE TASTE
OF COFFEE WAS
NOT SO GOOD
The new Gaggia machine introduced the era
of the “crema”.
The legend says that the first patrons who
tried the Gaggia espresso did not think it was
so good, and they asked “what is this foam on
my coffee?” and Gaggia smartly answered “this
is the caffè crema” instead of the espresso.
The crema is a natural layer of foam produced
by the single piston mechanism, from the oils
contained in the coffee ground.
Gaggia
1948
Faem
a
1961
(Curiosity) (From cup to demitasse)
Italian people are well known from their habit
of doing things in a slow manner, at some
extent with a lazy attitude. For example, if we
think about Italian meals we usually imagine a
long table with a lot of relatives and the oldest
member of the family sitting at the head of the
table. The meal could easily go on for three or
four hours.
Linked to this relaxed attitude there is Italians’
lack of punctuality: most of them just seem not
to care about time at all.
After these considerations about Italian habits
we wonder: why coffee is so short in Italy while
in the other countries (apparently less relaxed)
is so long?
The answer is linked to the process of innovation
of the espresso machines.
Before being a small one ounce drink, espresso
used to be a 2½ ounce demitasse or a 5 ounce
regular cup of coffee.
But the Gaggia machine used a manual piston
and it has a one ounce pressurization cylinder
which could only hold that precise amount
of water, because otherwise the arm strength
required to compress the spring would have
been prohibitive.
Later the Faema61, with its electric pump, had
no more such limit, but people got used to drink
the “little cup” and kept requiring it.
After the “Faema 61”, espresso machines have
been drastically improved, with electrical
components, computerized measurements and
other components that have contributed to
make the preparation of coffee a process more
and more automatic.
The last super-automatic machines
automatically grind the coffee, tamp it, and
extract the espresso shot.
Technological innovations have allowed the
manufacturing of increasingly little and light
espresso machines that can be used even at
home. Nowadays this market has become
very lucrative and companies are producing
machines that can be considered true objects
of design.
Some examples are the machines proposed
by Illy, Lavazza, Gaggia, De Longhi, Saeco,
Rancilio, Cimabali and La Pavoni.
Moreover, there is also another technologic wave
that is promoting new manual machines that
allow more precision in brewing temperature
and pressure giving to the bartender the
possibility to show in a better way the different
coffee’s characteristics.
The professional machines used in bars are still
manual.
30. 30
HABITS ABOUT COFFEE
SINCE COFFEE ARRIVED IN
ITALY, THE INFLUENCE THAT
HAD IN THE ITALIAN SOCIETY
WAS SO INTENSE THAT IT
INVOLVED THE BIRTH OF
PARTICULAR JOB FIGURES
AND GESTURES THAT IN SOME
CASES WE CAN STILL FIND
NOWADAYS.
The “Caffè Sospeso”
The suspended coffee was probably born after the
Second World War in Naples. This was a very delicate
age for the Italian people, especially in the South of the
country. The war had left only ruins and poverty; most
of people had lost everything and they could not even
afford a coffee, so this habit appeared to allow them
to have at least this little pleasure.
People who had experienced good luck or simply had
the resources to do it, used to ask for a “Caffè Sospeso”.
It consists in taking one coffee and paying for two.
The second coffee was offered by the kind patron
to the first poor who passed in the bar, which would
be asked by the bar tender: “would you like a coffee?”
This gesture has spread all over the world, and some
companies have developed the idea of carrying on chari-
ty initiatives based on the suspended coffee model.
This costume is still present in Naples.
Coffee enters in the society
31. 31
The “Caffè dell’amicizia”
When we travel around Italy, we observe a significant
diversity among its different areas, a diversity involving
also the way of approaching people. Although a sort
of behaviour code (the one which, for example, teaches
us to address older or important people with fixed titles)
is still present in the whole country, but in the South
it is felt in a deeper way.
The deference habit affects even the coffee moment:
in Sicily for example, the act of refusing an offered coffee
is seen as a kind of insult.
Thus, people began to share the cup of coffee to avoid
the neurotonic effect caused by too many coffees.
The guest would take the first sip, then the person
offering the cup would take the second, and at the
end the guest had the privilege to finish the coffee.
This sharing gesture has been called the “friendship
coffee”. It represents a sign of a very close relationship
between the people sharing the coffee.
CAFFÈ DELL’AMICIZIA: PEOPLE BEGAN
TO SHARE THE CUP OF COFFEE TO AVOID
THE NEUROTONIC EFFECT CAUSED BY
TOO MANY COFFEES
IN SOUTHERN ITALY PEOPLE
GIVE MORE CONSIDERATION
TO THEIR EXPRESSIONS
OF DEFERENCE
THE USE OF PRONOUNS
SUCH AS “VOI”, YOU-3RD
SINGULAR PERSON,
INSTEAD OF THE MORE
COMMON “LEI”.
32. 32
THE AMBULANT COFFEE
SELLER CALLED “CAFFETTIERE
AMBULANTE” WAS USED TO
HAVE TWO RECEPTACLES, ONE
WITH COFFEE AND THE OTHER
WITH MILK.
The figure of “The Caffettiere”
The Street trading is an important socio-economic
element in the daily routine of Italian people. It still
represents, especially in the South, one of the most
common ways to trade food.
In some cities, open markets are a meeting place where
people go to do grocery shopping but also to tattle with
friends or simply to speak with the vendors.
Historically, women have the task to go to the market,
but nowadays there is no more a sharp division of roles.
Another important expression of the street commerce
are the street vendors who go through the city bringing
their own products.
One of this is the “Caffettiere”, a historical figure
appeared in Naples in the 19th century.
Every morning, when the sun had not yet risen, the
phrase “O latte te l’aggio fatto roce roce. ‘O caffettiere
cammina Nico” - “I have prepared your milk with sugar,
the coffee man walks, Nicola” interrupted Neapolitans’
sleep.
The phrase was the same every day, with the exception
of the first name at the end, that changed according
to the Saint of the day.
In this way the “Caffettiere” reminded people the Saint’s
day, that is still a very important celebration in Naples.
He walked through the whole city with two receptacles,
one with coffee and the other one with milk, and
a basket where he kept cups and sugar.
He started his job in the early morning, first serving
coffee to the working class, then to the middle class
working in offices.
THE PHRASE WAS THE SAME EVERY
DAY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE FIRST
NAME AT THE END, THAT CHANGED
ACCORDING TO THE SAINT OF THE DAY.
33. 33
Women and coffee
In modern society there are no evident differences
between men and women in relation to coffee, since
the present situation is the result of a long process
of civic evolution which affected even this product
in its social role.
However, in the past the two genders were linked
to coffee in a different way, and the widespread habit
of drinking coffee in Rome a few decades ago represents
a perfect evidence.
In the capital the after lunch coffee was a sort of daily
ritual. In fact, until the 1970s most of the businesses
used to close for the lunch break; in this way people
could go home to have lunch, and at the end of the meal
the ritual began.
Men used to go to the bar to take an espresso with their
friends before going back to work, and this represented
a social moment far from children and wives’ ears.
On the other hand, housewives met each other after
washing the dishes, in one of their houses, different
every day, or in the courtyard of the block when
the weather was good, and they used to drink Moka
coffee. They drank it because at that time the typical
espresso with the “crema” could only be drunk in bars,
as no home espresso machines existed.
These places were mostly frequented by men, above
all in those areas where the “good moral code” was more
felt. There were no rules that prevented women from
entering a bar, but it was seen as a men place.
In addition women (mostly of them were housewives)
had the task of preparing coffee at home and this
ancient habit has strengthened the connection between
women and the Moka pot.
HOUSEWIVES WERE USED TO MEET IN
DIFFERENT HOUSES EVERY DAY DRINK-
ING MOKA COFFEE, WHILE MEN WERE
USED TO DRINKING IT TO THE BAR
34.
35. This booklet is made by people loving coffee who are aware
of communication importance nowadays.
After my graduation in Food Economics and Culture at the Agriculture
Department of the Università di Perugia, in Italy, I had an internship
experience at International Coffee Organization, in London, where
I wrote an essay about the Italian coffee history.
While I was researching and writing the contents part, Daniele Musio
and Cecilia Della Longa, two designers graduated at Politecnico
di Milano, followed the graphic and editorial part of the project.
I would firstly thank Daniele and Cecilia, who have greatly supported
this idea since I proposed it to them, and Dr. Lilian E. Volcan who gave
me very suitable guidelines, as supervisor, during the elaboration
of the paper.
I want to thank also Prof. Fabio M. Santucci, who gave me the
possibility to live the experience of internship in a such important
organization, where I had the opportunity to work in contact with very
professional people.
During this period in London, I met many people with whom, in some
cases, was born a very close friendship. I am very grateful to all of them
for the moments spent together, especially to my internship colleague
Paulino A. Quifica and my friend Giulia Zanin, who were great fellows
supporting me in this experience.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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