Short History of Espresso
The term café-espress has been used since the 1880s, well before espresso machines existed. It means coffee made to order, expressly for the person ordering it. It also means coffee fresh in every sense of the word:
Made from fresh beans roasted at most two weeks prior to use,
Ground just before brewing,
Brewed just before drinking.
Ideally, all cafés and restaurants would serve even their regularly brewed coffee as espresso in this larger sense—freshly ground in press pots, neopolitans, vacuum brewers or table top pour over. The aroma of good coffee is delicate and dissipates in a matter of minutes after grinding, whether it is brewed or not.
People are in a hurry. For many workers, waiting five minutes for coffee to brew is too long. They were also in a hurry 100 years a...
