All About Coffee

by William H. Ukers

In 1907, Desiderio Pavoni, of Milan, Italy, was granted a patent in Italy for an improvement on the Bezzara system for preparing and serving coffee as a rapid infusion of a single cup, first introduced in 1903–1904. It is known as the Ideale urn, and makes 150 cups per hour. Among other Italian rapid coffee-making machines which, with this one, have attained considerable prominence in Europe and South America, mention should be made of La Victoria Arduino made by Pier Teresio Arduino, of Turin, Italy, introduced in 1909, that makes 1000 cups per hour. It was patented in the United States in 1920. There are, also, L'Italiana Sovereign Filter Machine (1440 cups per hour) made by Bossi, Vernetti & Bartolini, Turin, (subsequently merged with La Victoria Arduino-Societa Anonima); and José Baro's Express, Buenos Aires, making 600 cups an hour.

Types of Italian Rapid Coffee-Making Machines
The Ideale Machine (Center) Makes 150 Cups of Coffee an Hour. The Machine at the Left Makes 1,000 Cups an Hour
A Machine of the Type of the One at the Right will Produce from 1,440 to 1,800 Cups of Coffee an Hour

In 1908, A.E. White, Chicago, was granted a United States patent on a coffee urn. He assigned it to the James Heekin Co., of Cincinnati.

In 1908, I.D. Richheimer, Chicago, introduced his Tricolator to the trade and the consumer. This is an aluminum device to fit any coffee pot, combining French drip and filtration ideas, with Japanese paper as the filtration medium.

In 1908, an improved type of Burns roaster was patented in the United States. The improvement consisted of an open perforated cylinder with flexible back-head and balanced front bearing. The following year, the Burns tilting sample-roaster for gas or electric heating units was patented.

In 1909, Frederick A. Cauchois, of New York, was granted a United States patent on a coffee urn fitted with a centrifugal pump for repouring.

In 1909, C.F. Blanke, of St. Louis, was granted two United States patents on a china coffee pot with a cloth filter, the sides tightly, and the bottom loosely, woven.