History of Coffee Makers

For many people, a cup of coffee is an integral part of their morning routine. In total, America consumes around 400 million cups of coffee every day. Coffee makers have increasingly become a part of the landscape, with around 23% of households owning a pod coffee machine. In this article, we’ll examine how the coffee maker made its way into houses and businesses across the world.

Before we can discuss coffee machines, we must first discuss the history of the coffee bean. The coffee bean came from Africa, where it was mashed up, mixed with animal fat and eaten to give warriors a boost in energy before a battle. The local tribes attribute the rise in energy levels to spiritual power. There are two legends that allegedly describe how people first discovered coffee. In the first, a local goat herder noticed that his goats were acting overexcited after eating the bean and decided to try it for himself. According to this legend, local monks noticed his behavior and started using coffee to help them stay awake during all-night ceremonies. In the second myth, a Muslim man gets exiled and, while moving through the desert he hears a voice telling him to eat the coffee berries. The berries give him the energy to journey on and when he gets back to his people he shares the powerful berry. Both myths highlight the power of the coffee bean, however, it wasn’t until 1773 when the Boston Tea Party made coffee part of American households.

In the early 1700s, tea was the preferred drink around the world. Knowing this the British decided that they would increase the taxes colonies would have to pay for tea. In protest, a group of Americans entered the British ships and dumped their cargo of tea into the Boston harbor, an act known today as the Boston Tea Party. This caused people who drunk tea to be viewed as unpatriotic. However, Americans still required an energy hit, so they turned to coffee, which has steadily grown in popularity ever since. The first makings of a coffee machine were beginning to emerge, with housewives across America using socks or linen bags to create infused coffee. It wasn’t long before the process of brewing coffee would become even more convenient. In 1806, the French press was invented. This machine allowed people to put coffee beans into the water, leave them to sit, then push down on a plunger that would trap coffee grinds. A further step forward occurred in 1908 when a filter paper was invented. By 1915, 86% of the American population used filter paper when brewing their coffee. However, it wasn’t until 1930 when the first automatic coffee making machine was invented.

Coffee making methods have undergone radical changes throughout history, with the process increasingly become more convenient. In 1930, Inez H. Pierce invented the first automated coffee brewing machine, the Sunbeam Coffeemaster. The machine worked by having water boil in a chamber and, when boiling, entered a second chamber where it was brewed with the coffee. After it had brewed, it was sucked back through the filter paper and the coffee could be drunk. In the 1970s, coffee machines improve yet again, with the release of Mr. Coffee, which allowed for at-home drip coffee. This allowed for coffee to be brewed more uniformly, producing better flavor than percolated coffee. In 2003, coffee machines advanced even further, allowing you to brew cups of coffee, and adjust the machine to suit your preferences. In 2012, Starbucks created a machine to give its clients high-quality coffee that they could brew at home. This allowed users to customize cup size, strength, and temperature. It also allowed milk frothing. Since then, however coffee machine technology has advanced even further.

Modern coffee machine brewing is more sophisticated than ever. There are coffee pod machines that allow for different coffee flavors. Modern machines also tend to offer very fast brewing, usually only taking a few minutes to create a professional tasting coffee. Additionally, the best 4 cup coffee maker can make great tasting coffee for large groups of people. These simple drip machines have evolved since they were first introduced in the 1970s, allowing pre-infusion and technology designed to extract more flavor from the coffee beans.

We’ve charted the history of the coffee machine, starting from the discovery of the coffee bean and ending with the advanced modern machines. While it’s easy to take these machines for granted, hopefully, this article will help appreciate the hours of work that went into creating the coffee makers we see today. We’ve seen how modern machines allow you to prepare the perfect cup of coffee, regardless of if you’re using a pod machine for single people, or the best 4 cup coffee maker, for groups of people. While no-one can predict the future, if the evolution of the coffee machine continues, coffee brewing technology will soon produce coffee that tastes even better.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee

https://wisepick.org/best-4-cup-coffee-maker/

https://coffee-channel.com/best-4-cup-coffee-makers/

https://coffeechronicler.com/gear/coffee-makers/best-4-cup-coffee-makers/