invented in milan in 1946 by achille gaggia, the gaggia espresso machine made coffee with a concentrated flavour that could be diluted with steamed milk to make a cappuccino. pino riservato, an Italian dental technician, brought the first espresso machine to london, apparently in response to the poor quality of the coffee on offer in england's cafes.
riservato and partners ltd was set up to import gaggia machines from ian however, there were no takers for the first machines, so riservato opened his own coffee bar in frith street, soho, to show potential buyers what the machine could do in a café setting. this was in theory the ‘first coffee shop in london’, which the client would like to build on.
the name of the first espresso bar in england took inspiration from the origins of coffee.
mocha, yemen
a romanised port city on the red sea, famous for being the major marketplace for coffee from the 15th century.
moka pot
a coffeemaker that produces coffee by passing boiling water pressurised by steam through ground coffee, traditionally made of aluminium. invented by alfonso bialetti in 1933.