Refreshed by your Monday morning coffee? The godfather of espresso machines deserves a standing ovation for it. Search giant Google came up with a doodle made from coffee by an artist named Olivia When, to celebrate the 171st birth anniversary of Angelo Moriondo, credited for patenting the earliest known espresso machine in 1884.
Born on June 6th, 1851, in Turin, Italy in a family of entrepreneurs, his grandfather founded a liquor company, later managed by his father. From a family background where brewing up new ideas was encouraged, he built a well-known chocolate company, “Moriondo & Gariglio” with his brother and cousin.
In the 19th century, coffee was becoming a popular topic in Italy, but the customers had to wait for more than 5 minutes for their single cup of coffee. Moriondo brought his historic espresso coffee machine, which served multiple cups of coffee at one time. This gave him an upper hand over his competitors, by allowing him to serve more customers in less time.
Moriondo’s espresso machine was displayed at the General Expo of Turin in 1884, built by an engineer he enlisted and directly supervised. The machine received a bronze medal at the Expo.
The patent was first awarded for a period of six years on May 16, 1884. It was titled, “New steam machinery for the economic & instantaneous confection of coffee beverage, method ‘A. Moriondo’.”
It was later successfully updated with a patent on 20 November 1884, Vol 34, No, 381.
In continuation of his family’s footsteps, he purchased the Grand-Hotel Ligure in the city-center Piazza Carlo Felice in Turin and the American Bar in the Galleria Nazionale of Via Roma.
Moriondo continued to improve and update his machine in later years, each of them being patented.
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