Steam-driven Espresso

Steam-driven espresso is where espresso began. The first espresso machines used steam from a boiler to push hot water through the coffee, making a strong cup quickly, to order. Angelo Moriondo of Turin patented the first in 1884, Luigi Bezzera made it a single-serving machine in 1901, and La Pavoni turned it into the first mass-produced espresso machine, the Ideale, in 1905. Steam machines worked at far lower pressure than today’s, so the coffee was very different. Here’s how they worked and what replaced them.

The short version

• The first espresso machines, driven by steam pressure from a boiler.
• 1884: Angelo Moriondo patents a steam machine that brews in bulk.
• 1901: Luigi Bezzera patents a single-serving machine, with a portafilter.
• 1905: La Pavoni is founded and mass-produces the machine as the Ideale.
• Replaced by Gaggia’s high-pressure lever piston, patented in 1947, which brought crema.

How did a steam espresso machine work?

A boiler heated water until it made steam. The steam pressure in the boiler pushed hot water through a bed of coffee and out into the cup. It made coffee quickly, to order. But steam can only build a low pressure, a fraction of the pressure of later lever and pump machines. Early machines were also heated over an open flame, which, as the Smithsonian puts it, made pressure and temperature hard to control and a consistent shot nearly impossible.

The steam machines, one by one

Angelo Moriondo, 1884. Moriondo, of Turin, holds the earliest known espresso machine patent, dated 16 May 1884. His machine brewed coffee in bulk, not one cup at a time. Wikipedia notes that there were never any commercial “Moriondo” machines, none are known to survive, and there aren’t even photographs of his work.

Luigi Bezzera, 1901. Bezzera, of Milan, filed a patent on 19 December 1901 for “innovations in the machinery to prepare and immediately serve coffee beverage”. He improved on Moriondo’s idea and introduced the portafilter and multiple brew heads, so coffee could be made to order, one cup at a time.

La Pavoni and the Ideale, 1903–1905. Desiderio Pavoni bought Bezzera’s patent in 1903 and founded La Pavoni in 1905. Working with Bezzera on mass production in a small Milan workshop, he sold the machine as the Ideale, bringing steam espresso into cafés.

What did steam espresso taste like?

Different from espresso today. With low steam pressure and hard-to-control heat, the coffee had no crema in the modern sense, and it’s widely described as tasting burnt and bitter. Achille Gaggia is said to have set out to fix exactly that.

What replaced steam espresso?

The lever espresso machine. Achille Gaggia patented his lever-operated piston in 1947. Instead of relying on steam, a piston forced the water through the coffee at far higher pressure, around 8–10 bar, and that produced the crema that defines espresso. In 1961, the Faema E61 replaced the lever with an electric pump, the basis of most espresso machines today.

	Steam machine	Lever	Pump (espresso)
Pressure from	Steam in the boiler	A piston, by spring or arm	An electric pump
Pressure	Low	Around 8–10 bar	Around 9 bar
Crema	No	Yes	Yes
Era	1884 to the 1940s	From 1947	From 1961

Can you still make steam espresso?

Only on vintage or restored machines. At home, the closest relative is the moka pot, which also uses steam pressure from heated water to push it up through the coffee. It makes a strong, rich coffee, but not true espresso.

General guidance only. Old steam machines are pressure vessels: only use one that’s been properly restored and checked by someone qualified.

Steam espresso vs other methods

• Espresso: the modern pump machine and its numbers.
• Lever espresso: the piston machines that replaced steam.
• Moka pot: the stovetop pot that also brews with steam pressure.
• Manual espresso press: hand-powered espresso today.

Explore every pressure method in the pressure chapter.