Americans have been enjoying Medaglia D'Oro since 1924, and today it is the #1 selling Italian-style espresso.

Espresso has only been around for a century, but its roots date back hundreds of thousands of years to the origins of the Arabica Coffee bean. Botanists believe it originally grew high above sea level on the plateaus of central Ethiopia.

By the late 13th century, Arabian men roasted and ground coffee before brewing it for medicinal purposes for their wives. In the 15th and 16th centuries, extensive coffee cultivation began in the Yemen region of Arabia and soon throughout the Arabian Peninsula into Turkey. There, the world's first coffee shop opened in Constantinople in 1475.

Four centuries later, in 1901, a gentleman from Naples complained about the time it was taking to brew his coffee. In response, Luigi Bezzera, an engineer from Milan, patented a machine containing a boiler that forced steamy, boiling water through ground coffee beans. With that, "espresso" was born, named for the speed with which it was brewed.

Desiderio Pavoni purchased Luigi Bezzera's patent in 1903 and, two years later, began manufacturing machines based on the patent. The first La Pavoni espresso machine in the United States was installed at Regio's in New York in 1927.

In 1938, Cremonesi developed a piston pump that forced hot, not boiling, water through the coffee. The piston pump eliminated the burnt taste that occurred in the hotter-boiling Pavoni machine. In 1946, Achille Gaggia began manufacturing a commercial piston machine that created a layer of foam or "crema." Today, most restaurants use pump-based machines.

Under ideal conditions, the water is heated to a temperature of 194 to 203 degrees Fahrenheit, forced at nine bars of pressure (approximately135 lbs. per square inch) through a quarter-ounce of finely ground coffee for 25 to 30 seconds.

Americans enjoy their espresso many ways, from demitasse presto to cappuccino adagio to Caffè Sambuca. The #1 selling Italian-style espresso in America is Medaglia D'Oro Caffè Espresso, a traditional favorite for nearly 80 years. Medaglia D'Oro debuted in the United States in 1924, and quickly became the favorite of Italian-American families who brought their passion for espresso with them to their new country.

Today, Medaglia D'Oro is produced by Rowland Coffee Roasters, America's foremost espresso experts, and can be found on the shelves of leading supermarkets and gourmet shops.