subject: Start Your Morning With An Aromatic Cup Of Espresso [print this page] Espresso traditionally emerged from the hills of Ethiopia. The Arabs the started trading it in Europe and as it is was very popular in the gulf countries. The Italians later started to cultivate their own coffee berry on hillsides in the last period of seventeenth century. The custom to savor espresso coffee at homes started with the innovation of stove top coffee maker.
Espresso is the heart of Italian culture. With the introduction of several coffee bars, drinking coffee with friends and family become more of a tradition. Although, espresso was believed to be the beverage of the rich, the invention of stovetop coffee maker has made expresso an affordable beverage for every Italian household.
In 1918, Alfanso Bialetti started his own machine shop for manufacturing aluminum metal house wares. During this time, Bialetti noticed the laundry techniques used by the local Italian women. The wash was boiled in tubs or containers with a central pipe in the centre which extracted the soapy water up and reallocated it evenly over the laundry. Bialetti's creative mind made him conclude that a stove top espresso maker could be styled and developed according this theory in order to produce real espresso coffee in any household
One of the places in the world which has good source of aluminum is Italy and this material was used by Bialetti to make the stovetop espresso maker. Many models failed to provide the desired results. In 1933 all technical issues were eliminated and the first stove top espresso maker was available to the people. An octagon shaped silver finish coffee maker which occupies most homes in Italy is very delicately designed to serve the purpose.
Alfonso Bialetti claimed his stove top coffee pots as "in casa un espresso come al bar" which means 'an espresso at home just like having a coffee bar.' In the initial stages, Bailetti would sell around 10,000 units annually. However, after the Second World War when his son, Renato Bailetti joined the family business, the sales of the coffee maker really took off.
Renato Bialetti realized the prospects of the stovetop espresso maker and initiated a major nationwide promotion campaign. This increased the sales and production levels were raised to around 1,000 units every day. It became the market leader in Italy. Not only did this coffee maker produce "espresso type" of coffee, which the Italians liked very much, it also made it much faster than its competitors.
With the success of stove top coffee makers in Italy, many other people stated copying its design and manufactured their own editions of espresso makers. To keep up with this change, Renato Bialetti started imprinting the company mascot on the coffee maker in order to make it unique. It is a caricature of his father Alfonso Bialetti - little man with a moustache.
The people of Italy are very proud of their tradition and they know what a good espresso means. As per their standards, a perfect espresso coffee is one that could hold the sugar at the surface of the cream for at least thirty seconds before sinking. Now what are you waiting for? Grab your cup of perfect espresso made from a stove top coffee maker and relish it.
