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Italian Espresso Recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage - The Historical Development of Espresso Machines

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, According to foreign media reports, on January 20th local time, Gian Marco Centinaio, Deputy Minister of the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, announced to the media that Italian espresso has been officially included in UNESCO's candidate list for Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity! The final decision will be made in March

Italian Espresso Recognized as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Candidate

According to foreign media reports, on January 20th, Gian Marco Centinaio, Deputy Minister of Italian Agriculture, Food and Forestry, announced to the media that Italian espresso has officially been included in UNESCO's candidate list for Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The official approval and announcement will take place in Paris before March 31st.

As an integral part of Italian people's lives, every cup of Italian espresso tells a story about region, culture, and the history of how the industrial era promoted rapid social development.

For us, espresso might just be a beverage with a strong, mellow taste that can refresh and stimulate the mind; or perhaps serve as a base for making various coffee drinks. However, for the Italian people, it is a true life ritual, a form of cultural consciousness, and a component of Italian national identity that makes Italy unique in the world.

The Origins of Espresso: Speed Over Quality

The emergence of espresso was not initially for the crema (cream) or flavor, but simply to cater to the rapidly developing society of that time—a society where everyone pursued speed. The rapid development of the industrial era required everything to be faster, more efficient, and more mechanized, and coffee was no exception.

Traditional coffee brewing methods were simply too inefficient. At that time, Italian men (in late 19th century Italy, coffee was typically the domain of men) drank coffee because the caffeine (the coffee beans used then were not specialty coffee, mainly Robusta beans) allowed them to work efficiently for an hour. However, the coffee brewing process was cumbersome, and impatient people turned their attention to steam engines.

Using pressure generated by steam engines, hot water could quickly pass through coffee grounds and extract rich coffee liquid. Thus, in 1884, someone successfully registered a patent in Turin, Italy, for a steam-powered machine for making coffee. The coffee production speed was indeed fast, but the taste... it was burnt and bitter, making it difficult to swallow. However, because it was quickly extracted, the coffee made by this machine was named "espresso" (express in Italian meaning: fast).

Evolution and Innovation: The Quest for Better Quality

Although the first attempt at "fast coffee" didn't taste good, after discovering that steam pressure could quickly produce a cup of coffee, the Italian people seemed to flip a switch, continuously upgrading and modifying this steam-powered coffee machine.

Initially, Milan designer Luigi Bezzera acquired the patent for the steam-powered coffee machine. He added a portafilter and basket to the original steam boiler coffee machine, researched and adjusted the grind size of coffee beans, allowing coffee particles to be compacted under external pressure. This enabled the coffee puck itself to resist the rapid passage of high-pressure water flow, better distribute the high-impact water stream, and allow water to pass evenly through the entire puck before "extruding" a cup of balanced-tasting coffee. Additionally, he added cooling channels inside the machine to avoid the burnt and bitter taste caused by excessively high water temperature, and applied for a patent in 1901.

It was La Pavoni Company, which acquired Bezzera's patent, that popularized espresso throughout Italy. After acquiring the patent, La Pavoni added a pressure relief valve, solving the problem of internal temperature and pressure fluctuations with heating flame intensity, while also adding a steam wand.

The upgraded machine was named Ideale and launched in 1906. With the introduction of Ideale, more and more Italians fell in love with the quickly extracted coffee from this machine. The term "espresso" was also included in dictionaries in 1920, defined as "concentrated coffee made with pressurized machines or filters."

Global Expansion and Modernization

The person who began promoting espresso machines to the world, helping people recognize that this pressurized coffee machine from Italy could quickly make concentrated coffee, was Pier Arduino from Turin, Italy. He sold these uniquely Italian coffee machines to France and gradually exported them worldwide, while also creating promotional posters that allowed more people to learn about and recognize Italian espresso.

By 1942, Arduino felt that the current espresso wasn't concentrated enough, so he added a manual spring piston to the machine, allowing the original extraction pressure of only 1.5-2 bar to be increased through manual pressurization, bringing the machine's extraction pressure to 8-10 bar. Greater attention was also paid to the fineness and uniformity of coffee bean grinding, making the "extruded" coffee even more concentrated. The espresso we know today also began from this period.

By 1961, Faema Company automated the manual spring piston, ensuring consistent quality for every extracted espresso. This model, known as the E61, became the first semi-automatic espresso machine. Due to its simple operation, affordability, and compact size, the Faema E61 suddenly spread throughout Italy. Italians gathered in cafés, drinking inexpensive and unique coffee together, forming Italy's distinctive social activity.

Espresso Today: A Global Cultural Phenomenon

By 1970, Ulka company had created semi-automatic coffee machines suitable for home use, allowing various households to make their own espresso in the kitchen. By 1987, Starbucks' large-scale purchase of commercial espresso machines helped spread representative Italian espresso into the daily lives of people globally, enabling espresso machines to be widely used in cafés worldwide.

Today, espresso is known not only to Italian people and can be enjoyed not just in Italy. Espresso has created an entire coffee era and has allowed more people to understand and appreciate Italy's cultural history. During the special period of the pandemic, people worldwide still remembered to drink a cup of Italian espresso, which sufficiently proves that it has become an essential life ritual for people.

UNESCO Recognition Process

As early as March 2016, Italy began applying for espresso to be selected as Intangible Cultural Heritage. It wasn't until today that it was included in UNESCO's World Intangible Cultural Heritage candidate list, formally entering the approval process.

Centinaio said he is greatly honored to see Italian espresso listed as a candidate for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and stated that the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry has officially sent the nomination documents to UNESCO headquarters.

Image source: Internet

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