Why Don't Italians Drink Pour-Over Coffee? Can You Order Americano in Italy? Who Invented the Espresso Machine? What is Espresso?

FrontStreet Coffee believes that many friends have recently come across a popular topic circulating online: "Why don't Italians drink pour-over coffee?"

Obviously, the answer to this question, like the one FrontStreet Coffee shared last year: "Why ordering iced Americano in Italy can get you into trouble," is negative. Pour-over coffee also has its audience in Italy, but compared to other countries, the proportion of pour-over coffee drinkers among Italian coffee consumers is not as high. And it's not just pour-over coffee—single-origin coffee or specialty coffee, apart from pour-over, hasn't become popular locally. This phenomenon would be considered quite normal in other countries, but because it's happening in Italy, it seems somewhat incomprehensible to everyone.

The reason behind this lies in Italy's considerably long history of coffee culture, where coffee has long been integrated into people's daily lives. For a country where coffee is ubiquitous, the currently popular pour-over coffee has almost no place to stand locally. Therefore, the implication of this question should be: Why is pour-over coffee "not well-received" in Italy? In fact, this question shares remarkable similarities with ordering Americano in Italy potentially getting you "into trouble"! The reason pour-over coffee isn't well-received in Italy, as FrontStreet Coffee shared in the previous article, is inextricably linked to the local deeply-rooted coffee culture traditions and unique pace of life.

Italian Coffee Culture

Starting from 1580, coffee beans entered Italy through the port of Venice, which was one of the first ports among European countries to import coffee beans. So thanks to this, Italians came into contact with coffee much earlier than people in other countries. By the mid-17th century, as Europe's first coffee shop opened in Rome, coffee began to spread throughout Italy. Like most countries, Italians early coffee-making method also adopted the Turkish style. The specific method involved pouring ground coffee powder and water into an old-fashioned Turkish copper pot for brewing, then filtering out the coffee grounds through filter cloth.

Putting taste aside, coffee made this way has a significant drawback—it's slow. Each cup of coffee required waiting for a considerable amount of time, which was unacceptable to many people. Therefore, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, coffee extraction methods underwent tremendous changes. In 1884, Angelo Moriondo invented a machine that used steam to quickly extract coffee and successfully registered a patent in Turin, Italy. Although coffee preparation time was significantly reduced, because the extraction power came from steam with poor stability, this machine underwent numerous improvements by various people afterward.

In 1905, this patent was improved by Milan manufacturer Luigi Bezzara to include steam pressure functionality and launched commercial models. Although the pressure was only 1.5 bar, it could reduce coffee extraction time to 1 minute. For that era, this speed was incredibly fast! So around 1920, "Espresso" was officially included in the Italian dictionary, with its meaning being "concentrated coffee made using pressure machines or filters."

The story doesn't end there! In 1938, Milanese engineer Achille Gaggia further improved the machine, enabling it to increase pressure from 1.5 bar to 9 bar. The 9-bar pressure not only allowed coffee to be extracted more quickly but also gave coffee a thick, dense Crema, making coffee extraction more stable.

As coffee machine functions gradually improved, not only did coffee preparation methods undergo tremendous changes, but they also established Italians' coffee drinking habits. The reason pour-over coffee and other single-origin coffees are not particularly well-received in Italy is related to these habits.

Why Pour-Over Coffee Isn't Well-Received in Italy

FrontStreet Coffee believes that for Italian coffee consumers, their requirements for coffee can be summarized into three main points: fast, strong, and cheap. That's right—we're referring to espresso. Espresso is the second most consumed beverage in Italy after water, which is why Italians usually simply call it "caffè" (coffee). When ordering, they directly tell the barista: "A coffee, please," and the barista will quickly serve a cup of espresso by default. Generally, these espressos are made from dark roasted coffee beans, which are a blend of Robusta and Arabica. This gives the espresso intense bitterness and rich crema. Some people add yellow sugar before tasting to balance the bitterness, then stir briefly and drink it all at once—very satisfying.

The characteristics of pour-over coffee are completely opposite! Not only is the roast not as dark, but the concentration isn't as high as espresso—everything is designed to better showcase the flavors. But for Italians, because they've been taught since childhood that coffee should be strong enough and bitter enough, it's obvious that pour-over coffee, both in taste and concentration, is completely opposite to what they consider delicious without receiving specialty "education." And as FrontStreet Coffee mentioned earlier, for most Italian consumers, coffee is a daily beverage (FrontStreet Coffee also believes that coffee is a daily beverage), which is not only reflected in sales volume but also because espresso is extremely cheap!

A cup of espresso typically costs around 1 euro, which is about 7 RMB—very, very cheap. Meanwhile, pour-over coffee, because it uses higher quality beans, costs several times more than espresso. This is incomprehensible to most Italian consumers, because coffee is a daily beverage just like water, and they don't understand why they should spend more money to drink a cup of coffee. So it's not just pour-over coffee—even other types of high-quality coffee have relatively smaller markets in Italy.

Finally, there's the preparation time! Efficiency and fast pace are the atmosphere emphasized by Italian cafes. Going to a cafe during leisure time to order an espresso, enjoying it quickly, chatting briefly with people around, and then leaving quickly is one of Italians' deeply-rooted habits. The pace of pour-over coffee is completely opposite—not only does it take a long time to prepare, but it also requires more time to savor slowly.

So combining these three points, FrontStreet Coffee says that the reason pour-over coffee hasn't become popular in Italy is inextricably linked to the local deeply-rooted coffee culture traditions and unique pace of life. However, with the penetration of specialty coffee culture, more and more businesses in Italy are starting to serve specialty coffee, and the number of consumers accepting specialty coffee is gradually increasing. It's just that under deeply-rooted traditions, this process will take a bit longer~ but it is also constantly changing~

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