Italians take their coffee seriously. The coffee culture in Italy is an important part of everyday life
and excellent coffee is a universal right and can be found everywhere. In Italy coffee, un caffe, means espresso, made in specific way - bean, grind and process.
In 1884, Turin born Angelo Moriondo originally patented the first espresso machine. Others followed and paved the way for espresso as we know it today. Coffee quickly spread throughout Italy, with the first coffeehouse opening in Venice in 1645.
Millions of people around the world have been influenced by the way Italians drink coffee, the way they make it, where and how coffee is served and shared. Italians have developed and perfected an order to extract the maximum flavor and pleasure of coffee into one small cup. That process or order consists of the machine, the grind, the blend and the barista. What Italians refer to as the 4 M’s -
Macchina (machine)
Macinazione (grind)
Miscela (blend)
Mano (barista)
You don’t have to be a barista or have an espresso machine to make an Italian style coffee but you do need to have the best possible beans, made in small batches following the slow Italian roasting method. In order to do this you need to find and source coffee beans from a reputable roaster. Remember that while Italians popularized coffee drinking, especially espresso, in terms of origin there is no such thing as Italian coffee beans. Coffee plants do not naturally grow in Italy's climate and must be sourced elsewhere and roasted in Italy. An “Italian Roast Coffee” generally refers to a coffee roasting style that produces a medium to dark roast but like extra virgin olive oil and other pirated Italian food terms there are many degrees of separation between mass produced, flat-style roasting and artisan roasted beans.
A proper cup of Italian coffee is more than worth the effort and time to find it or source the beans to make your own. We have the beans and our collection of mugs are custom designed and curated to celebrate Italian coffeehouse culture. We encourage you to look inside the cup to awaken your creative potential, forge bonds with friends and co-workers, linger around the family table at meal's end and enjoy a quiet cup for personal pleasure or to kickstart your day.
Regarding brewing, if you do not have an espresso machine, invest in a good grinder and a moka pot to brew a proper cup of Italian coffee. The moka pot was invented in 1933 by Italian engineer Luigi di Ponti. Metal machinist Alfonso Bialetti, transformed di Ponti’s design into an aluminum, pressure-driven stove-top coffee brewer, one of the most famous and widely known examples of Italian industrial design. The Moka Pot also known as a caffettiera, (coffee maker in Italian), is the most widely used method of making domestic coffee in Italy. Almost all Italian households have at least one. Knowing that the “macchina” is only one part of making authentic Italian coffee, Bialetti named his machine the Moka Pot after the city of Mocha, in Yemen, renowned for the quality of its beans.
Later Bialetti’s son Renato contributed his impressive mustache for the company’s logo portrait and a coffee icon was born. Although there are many variations, Bialetti’s Moka Express remains a beautiful piece of coffee-brewing kitchenware and one of the most recommended. (Serious Eats 9/23 - We Tested 11 Moka Pots and Both of Our Favorites Were From the Same Iconic Brand)