There are stories that, before the war, Giovanni Achille Gaggia, a bar owner in Milan, born in 1895 in Milan, was experimenting with screw-type pistons to make coffee and that after the war he tried the lever piston and it worked.

Another story goes that Gaggia actually possessed a model of the screw piston and could show it to people. Yet a third story says that Rosetta Scorza, the wife of an inventor, came to Gaggia with an idea for a new machine.

The idea was a little primitive and when the inventor died, his wife sold it to Gaggia for a thousand Lira (a large sum of money in those days). Gaggia made some improvements and the true espresso machine as we know it was invented. The facts almost fit in with these stories 

Gaggia the Coffee Bar

Achille Gaggia, set himself up in its coffee bar, where he became a dedicated barman.

He was not satisfied with the flavour of coffee coming from his existing machine, which scalded the coffee and made it bitter. Perhaps the coffee was over-roasted and burnt to compensate for the poor extraction. The ingenious barman met Rosetta Scorza.

Rosetta Scorza of Milan was married to Sr. Cremonese who was a technician in a coffee grinder factory. He made tests to see if the coffee was ground evenly and was responsible for introducing the cone mill to Italy in the 1930s. He patented the idea of a screw piston, which forced the water through the coffee.

Cremonese died and Rosetta Scorza was left with a patent.

The story continues that Rosetta Scorza tried to get existing manufacturers to use her invention but they were not interested. It is possible that she showed Gaggia the patent, because he lodged a patent application for a piston group, in 1938. 

Before the Second World War, he patented and developed a rotative screw piston. Which he made from aluminium and brass and which could be connected to the boiler of the conventional machines of the day.

The steam had been eliminated from the brewing process, but the water was still too hot.

Gaggia made many attempts to make his rotative piston work, but there were problems with leaks.

After the war he started in production again with brass groups and asbestos, but the system still was not perfect and he must have changed from the rotating piston to an up and down lever piston which was really his own idea, even though technically covered in Rosetta Scorza's patent (her patent was for a screw-press piston, but the style of language used by patent attorneys described ideas even before they became inventions, covered pistons of all types, including lever pistons). Rosetta Scorza ultimately received a payment for the use of her patent because Gaggia's own must have infringed on it.

Both the original Gaggia's patent and the Scorza's patent are totally different to the lever patent which Gaggia lodged in 1947 

Gaggia Espresso Machines: available from Coffee Xclusive

Coffee Xclusive supplies a wide range of top-quality coffee machines for use in the home, the office, or for commercial purposes. We also provide coffee beans, pods and capsules along with all the accessories you need. To find out more, or to order online, just browse our website. We’re always happy to answer any questions you might have – just fill in our online enquiry form on the Contact Us page.