Espresso, that concentrated, knock-your-socks-off coffee served in shot form in a tiny cup, has won its way into America’s coffee-loving hearts. Espresso, the Italian word for “fast,” is the preparation method in which water under pressure is quickly forced through a “puck” of finely ground, tamped coffee beans, which extracts the bean’s most flavorful taste components and aromatic compounds.

Italy has gifted the world with amazing food, beverages, fashion and cars, and espresso is often credited to Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, who, according to Smithsonian magazine, was granted a patent in 1884 for “new steam machinery for the economic and instantaneous confection of coffee beverage.” In 1906, Luigi Bezzerra and Desiderio Pavoni made further advancements on the espresso machine and debuted their design at a fair in Milan in 1906. Legend has it that their machine produced espresso coffee that tethered between scalded and bitter, but their efforts helped espresso go mainstream.