"Espres­so is nei­ther bean nor roast. It is a method of pres­sur­ized cof­fee brew­ing that ensures speedy deliv­ery, and it has birthed a whole cul­ture. Amer­i­cans may be accus­tomed to camp­ing out in cafes with their lap­tops for hours, but Ital­ian cof­fee bars are fast-paced envi­ron­ments where cus­tomers buzz in for a quick pick-me-up, then head right back out, no seat required."
"It's the sort of effi­cien­cy the Father of the Mod­ern Adver­tis­ing Poster, Leonet­to Cap­piel­lo, allud­ed to in his famous 1922 image for the Vic­to­ria Arduino machine (below). Let 21st-cen­tu­ry cof­fee afi­ciona­dos cul­ti­vate their Zen-like patience with slow pourover s. A hun­dred years ago, the goal was a qual­i­ty prod­uct that the suc­cess­ful busi­nessper­son could enjoy with­out break­ing stride."
"As cof­fee expert James Hoff­mann, author of The World Atlas of Cof­fee points out in the above video, the Steam Age was on the way out, but Cappiello's image is "absolute­ly lever­ag­ing the idea that steam equals speed." That had been the goal since 1884, when inven­tor Ange­lo Morion­do patent­ed the first espres­so machine (see below). The bulk brew­er caused a stir at the Turin Gen­er­al Expo­si­tion."
Espresso is a pressurized coffee-brewing method designed for rapid delivery and has created a distinct fast-service culture centered on quick consumption. Italian coffee bars prioritize speedy transactions, contrasting with longer-stay cafe habits elsewhere. The pursuit of speed in espresso dates to the late 19th century, when Angelo Moriondo patented an early steam-driven espresso machine and bulk brewers improved order throughput at events like the Turin General Exposition. Early machines used boilers and visible gauges to monitor extraction. Advertising imagery linked steam and speed, reinforcing espresso's identity as an efficient, quality-focused service for busy customers.
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