The Origin of Espresso

Long long ago in a cafe far far away two renaissance men sat discussing life's mysteries over a cup of coffee. Eventually their ponderings centered on their cups of brew. Both agreed it's flavor seemed weak and lacking, not offering forth the flavor so prevalent in the smell of fresh roasted coffee. Was it the beans? Was it the roast? Was it the brewing method? (The brewing norm of the day was Cowboy Coffee style made popular by Spaghetti Westerns. Those being popular following the discovery of the cave drawings of the first Italian Cowboy, Flint Eastrock. Back to the tale...;-) They decided to embark on a journey of discovery together to find Coffee Nirvana, the perfect brew.

First they needed a reliable source of coffee greens of the highest quality. They searched the known (and unknown) World and much to their surprise the New World held their hope. Soon the widest variety of the choicest coffee greens arrived at their coffee laboratory door from Sweet Maria's. Off to the roaster they flew! One carefully watched in awe and reverence as the greens changed in color and texture, waifed the progressing changes in smell, and listened for the differing crackling sounds of the roast development. The other just as carefully & reverently monitored the heat of the coals, the revolutions per minute of the roasting drum, the bean temperature rise rate and the billows air velocity. After many days and many batches and much lamenting and laboring they finally both agreed they had the most perfect roast of the most perfect beans.

They brewed a pot. Though better by far than the sludge offered up at most cafes, the taste still didn't match the essence of the fresh roast smell. Long into the night while deep in thought it began to rain. Suddenly the idea of the water coming from above and down through the coffee grounds sprang forth. Drip coffee brewing was born. Different flavor, more refined than cowboy coffee, less sediment too. But it wasn't IT. The rain stopped and the clouds cleared. They stared into the starry skies letting their minds clear. Their thoughts traveled the vacuum of space when another idea burst forth on their conscience minds. Yes, vacuum brewing was invented. Still not IT. Their tempers began to flare, they even got steamed with each other. Yup, Mokha pot brewing came to their minds. But still not IT. Days, nay weeks and months came and went. Their experiments came to naught. Arguments ensued yet again and one told the other to put a sock in it. The coffee sock brewing method came to pass. Interesting flavor but once again not IT. More weeks flew by and the cold of Winter was upon them. Cold brewing the next obvious evolution in their coffee quest. Nope, when oh when would IT happen?

As the grind of the experiments continued creating more and more pressure on their psyche thoughts became uneven. There was much stamping and tamping of feet. Concentrating their efforts became so intense they had to extract themselves from the laboratory for a brief twenty-five seconds time. Then a sudden flash of insight, do to the coffee what the coffee was doing to them! Grind it fine, tamp it even, extract under extreme pressure, concentrate the flavor. Espresso and Coffee Nirvana poured forth!

Who were those two dudes? None other than Michelangelo Buonarroti & Leonardo da Vinci. So the next time you wonder why the Art & Science of espresso may be so hard to master consider the source! :-)

As posted on Sweet Maria's Home Roast List September 24, 2002

by miKe mcKoffee

A tale of how it might have happened...