Coffee, a beloved beverage worldwide, owes much of its modern popularity to the invention of espresso. Among the many figures who contributed to its development, one name stands out: Angelo Moriondo, often hailed as the “Father of Espresso”. Moriondo was an Italian inventor born in Turin in 1851 to a family of entrepreneurs.
In 1884, he patented the first espresso machine, which utilised steam pressure to brew coffee quickly, producing a concentrated shot of rich, flavourful espresso. The idea of quickly consuming a small, concentrated shot of coffee was unfamiliar to many Italians until Moriondo’s invention.