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Espresso

Yet, another way of brewing coffee isthe espresso machine. The differencebetween a filtered coffee and anespresso coffee is the water goesthrough the grains rather than aroundthem. In espresso coffee, highly heatedwater is forced through compressedcoffee such that the coffee grounds areirrigated. This device requires somemechanical switching and valves

The espresso is simultaneously asolution of sugars, caffeine, acids, andproteins, an emulsion of oils andcolloids and a suspension of coffeeparticles and bubbles of carbon dioxidegas. Because of the high pressure ofthe extraction, about ten percent of theoils are emulsified and the aromasattach themselves to the fats, whichexplains the fragrance of the aromas.The oils are partly responsible for thebody of the coffee. This oil-fatarrangement gives espresso a velvetyfeel when sipped. Also, high viscositylowers surface tension allowing deeperpenetration into the taste buds. Thus,increasing the taste perception.

The pressure needed to force the waterthrough the coffee grains increases withthe fineness of the grind and the degreeof compression. The higher thecompression used, the more completethe flavor extractions.

The

term "espresso" is some whatambiguous. This is probably becauseespresso means different things in thevarious languages in Europe. As it turnsout, there is no probably about it. The

following explanation was given in thissection of the site from 1996 to the endof 1997. Just because of the story, itmakes for interesting reading, and itmay be true, but unlikely, as such, it iskept here.

Generally, the word is used to describeany coffee which is brewed by steam.Generally, it was thought that the wordexpresso meant fast or straight through.Factually, espresso is anything but afast cup of coffee. Another meaning wasinterpreted from the word expire. Which,after drinking several of these cups ofcoffee, people did. The jolt to thesystem of unsuspecting coffee drinkersmust have been enormous. Heartattacks expired people. The generalmeaning is believed to be "expressly foryou." Meaning, this small cup of coffeeis made just for you.

Francesco and Riccardo Illy, well knownItalian coffee people state in their book"From Coffee to Espresso" the literalmeaning of the (world) "espresso" is"made on the spur of the minute." Now, Ihope the word "world" is an error andthey meant "word." Well, if not, theyscrewed up, which doesn't say much.On the other hand, world may meansomething in Italian which I don't get.They go on to say; it is an adjectiveapplied to foods and drinks that aremade at the moment of asking, and inItaly is chiefly used to describe coffee,so that it has become a noun: when youask for "an espresso" in a bar orrestaurant it always means a coffee. Soas far as I interpret these guys,espresso simply means coffee in Italianand has nothing to do with what type ofcoffee it is. These guys are the authorityin the coffee business in Italy, so theyaught to know. Sure does add to theambiguity.

Due to the controversy, or excitement,which every you prefer, over what"espresso" verses "expresso actually is,we looked into the meaning of thewords. Depending on which book onereads, here is another meaning:

The first known machine to do this wasthe idea of Louis Bernard Babaut in1822. The machine was madecommercial by Edward Loysel deSantais in 1843 and demonstrated to

the world in the Paris Exposition in1855. The machine packed a measuredamount of coffee grinds in a specialchamber, a valve allowed steam topress the water through the grinds witha special filter and wa-la, a cup ofcoffee ready to drink is made. It is fast.The 1855 Paris model was said toproduce 1000 cups an hour. Thus,express was associated with themachine.

This particular coffee machine hadseveral drawbacks. One drawback is itblew up from time to time. A steam fittingfailed, or the chamber failed, or somebozo let it get too hot. Another drawbackis it burnt the coffee from time to time.Especially if a bozo allowed the steamchamber to get too hot. The typicalsteam pressure was 1.5 to 2atmospheres and increasing thepressure made for better extraction butburnt the coffee but a lot of bozos did itany way.

The device did work however.Additionally, it produced a superior cupof coffee when operated correctly. Thereason it produced a superior cup ofcoffee is it extracted only the best fromthe coffee grind. The high pressureforced the water through the coffeegrind rather than merely contacting it.This allowed some of the coffee tobecome emulsified. As the volatilearomas tend to attach themselves afterroasting to fatty substances,emulsification drew out thesesubstances and made the coffee smellbetter along with better body. The cupof coffee had a velvety texture.

Because the liquids viscosity is lower ithas a lower surface tension, whichallows the liquid to penetrate thegustatory papillae more deeply.Consequently increasing the perceptionof coffee flavor. The presence of tinybubbles of gas in suspension andemulsified colloids, mostly carbondioxide, has the property of inhibitingthe receptors of bitter taste in thegustatory papillae. Thus, the flavor tastetends not to be overly bitter.Additionally, the colloids and oilemulsified in tiny drops is responsiblethe finish by allowing the oils topenetrate deeper into the gustatorypapillae which allows slower release ofthe aromatic substances attached to it.

Making espresso in the old days was areal art. The degree of roast, right grindsize, the correct grind packing, thesteam pressure, and the quantity ofwater use were all important. The oldespresso machines allowed for muchvariance. Merchants who wanted tosave on coffee beans simply used lessgrounds causing the forced waterpressure not to totally penetrate thecoffee grind. Merchants who wanted togive a larger cup of coffee simplyallowed more water to go through thesystem thus diluted the brew andextracted more unwanted substances.So, to do it right, really required skill,knowledge, and interpretation on thepart of the operator, thus, it trulyqualified as an art.

Expresso is an English invented word tobetter describe the action of a particulartype of espresso machine. Truly theword itself as it pertains to coffee isinteresting. The Webster's NewTwentieth Century Dictionary hasExpresso as meaning Espresso. In thestudying of this project, the wordexpresso popped up many times withsome very peculiar adaptations.

Arguments for the word as being bogusor a non-word were very prevalent. Itwas argued that the "x" wasn't even inthe Italian language, then argued thatItalians used a Latin dialect which didhave the "x" in it. However, the word isused a lot for not being a word. Like theword engineer, my pet peeve, expressois an adaptation to fit a circumstance.Real engineers understand whathappened to the word engineer and Ibet real espresso inventors know whereexpresso came form.

Espresso machines were driven bysteam. The two drawbacks, blowing upand burning the coffee, needed fixing. Itwas found by experiment that the twomain components of good chemicalaction occurred at 90 +/- 2 degreesCelsius (190 - 196 degrees Fahrenheit)and 9-10 atmospheres (140 pounds persquare inch). As the typical espressomachine was difficult enough at 2atmospheres of steam, hotter both friedthe beans and blew up constantly. In

1935, Francesco Illy, an Italian inventeda machine called the Illetta whichcontrolled these factors. Obviously, themachine's name is an adaptation of theinventors name.

The Illetta solved the to problems of theold espresso machines. The way theIlletta did this was to use mechanicaladvantage from air pressure as asource of pressure rather than steam toforce the water into the grind. Thissolved three problems. The first was theexploding problem. Although airpressure was rather complicated andexpensive it was more controllable thansteam. Second, since there was nosteam, the coffee did not get burnt.Steam was not the source of force sothe water temperature could be heldconstant below boiling. And third,because the cylinder used could bemade to precisely control the amount ofwater to maximize extraction for a givensize of coffee grounds, the preciseamount of water to maximize theextraction was done automatically.

Later, in 1945, the system wassimplified by a machine called theGaggia coffee machine. This createdthe pressure by lever action on acylinder of water to force the water intothe grind holder. Around the 1970's,Ernesto Illy further simplified the wholedevice and introduced the EspressoCoffee System. This coffee systemincorporated the best of previousmachines, added two layers of filterpaper, and generally made the devicesimple, cheaper, and idiot proof.

One of the last adaptations to thiscoffee system for commercial andlimited home use in 1950 by ErnestoValente, was the addition of a rotatingpump driven by an electric motor todevelop the water pressure. Thisallowed a more continuous delivery ofwater. An additional commercialdevelopment is a rotating coffee grinddelivery system so the coffee grindswould be compacted and replaced bythe machine too. Thus, the systembecame almost totally automatic.

Now, back to the word "Expresso." Theword "express" means to squeeze; tosqueeze out juice, to get by pressure;elicit by force. Other meanings of"express" are high speed, a method ofservice faster than normal, dispatchswiftly. And, yet a third meaning of"express" is to be explicit; as, hisexpress reason for going, or for theexpress purpose of running the station.All three of these meanings for the word"express" could be adapted to the waythe machine works. It, in fact, squeezesout the juice rather than blows it out. It,in fact, squeezes out the juice in a fastway. And, it, in fact, it squeezes out thejuice in a fast way for the explicitpurpose of making one cup of coffee.Because espresso was Italian and theEnglish wanted the machine that didthis as the word indicates to soundItalian, they added an "o" to the end;thus, expresso.

Expresso, theoretically, is exactly thesame cup of espresso coffee. The onlydifference being the device made to useit. Any coffee made on demand isespresso. But only a cup of coffee madeby the precise action of a hydraulicwater pressure system as opposed to asteam water pressure system can becalled expresso.

Ernesto Illy would probably disagreewith this, but he was an Italian.Expresso is an English term. The authoris a Californian and half there word areSpanish.

A secondary affect of espresso was theway milk was used. Mousse was termgiven to this presentation but laterturned to froth. Mousse, both adds asmoother taste and minimizes heat loss.There are two types of Mousse. A shortfloating milk cover and a milk cover withmilk mixed in the coffee. This is not acase of just pouring the milk in or on thecoffee. The mousse is the correct blendof carbon dioxide bubbles and milk. Aspecial milk blaster was added to themachines in order to create a froth. Thecolor of the mousse should be that of amilk chocolate bar. If it is too dark, this isevidence of over-extraction and if it istoo light, then it isn't enough.

A

further development in expresso wasmaking multiple expresso cups at onetime. In most coffee shops, two peoplecame in. While the second cup is beingmade, the first is getting cold. Not goodfrom a marketing standpoint. Thus, thetwo coffee cups at once version caughton quickly at commercial operations.Once two cups could be made at once,four was better. Unfortunately, multiplecups have a waist problem. But, that willbe over looked.

So for simplification, the coffee brewerchronology is: First came just coffeeand hot water. Then came an espressomaker which forced steam through thecoffee grinds. Then came the expressopneumatic press. The pneumatic presswas safer than the steam device by farbut it had a volume problem. So multiplecup expresso makers were developed.

If this explanation of espresso versesexpresso confuses you, you are notalone. The word espresso can meanany cup of coffee or a cup of coffeemade by the steam pressure method, ora cup of coffee made by the squeezepressure method. It depends on severalthings, what country you are in, whatlanguage you speak, what book you arereading, and who you are listening to. Inthis web site, expresso and/or espressomeans a cup of coffee which is made bywater pressure exerted against thecoffee grinds by either steam orpneumatic press.

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