Visiting Trieste, the home of espresso

Visiting Trieste, the home of espresso
Six million cups of illy coffee are consumed each day around the world. We visited the port town of Trieste, the birthplace of this coffee brand, to explore the appeal of espresso. illy is an Italian brand of coffee which has grown to become a global brand sold to and loved by people in 144 countries worldwide. Initially established as a manufacturer specializing in espresso coffee, illy now operates its own cafés everywhere in town, and has become an essential part of the lives of Italian people. We learned that illy originally came from a town in the northeastern part of Italy.
Trieste—if you are an Italy-loving person, this name may have a familiar ring. Trieste is about two hours by train from Venice, traveling north. Situated near the Slovenian border, Trieste is a port town facing the Adriatic Sea. Before it was ceded to Italy in 1954, it was ruled by Austria and France. For many centuries, the town has witnessed a mix of cultures and religions come and go. In the early twentieth century, James Joyce and other artists were drawn to Trieste, invigorating the town. Today, it is a highly cosmopolitan city. Of all the plazas facing the Trieste Bay, by far the largest is the Piazza dell’Unita d’Italia. Numerous cafés cluster around the plaza, the city’s pride and joy. Local residents and travelers can be seen sipping their afternoon coffee while sitting on terrace seats and enjoying a friendly chat. Many other cafés are lined along the Canal Grande, a river that flows through the center of town. It really is difficult to decide which one to go into. After this coffee break, it may be interesting to catch an old fashioned streetcar that heads toward the suburb and enjoy a view of the town, overlooking from a hill.

Tracing the history of a well-established brand
illy runs a factory in Muggia in the outskirts of Trieste. The company started business back in 1933. Trieste, a port town which is also situated along the national border, was ideal for importing coffee beans, which are the basic ingredients, processing them, and exporting them to other countries. By 1935, founder Francesco Illy invented a low-temperature, high-pressure type machine, giving birth to an even more delicious coffee. And thus the taste of illy spread from this town to the rest of the world.
The people of Italy start their morning with a cup of coffee. They take another cup after arriving at the office, then another cup after finishing one job…Coffee and Italians are truly inseparable. In Italy, many people often drink coffee standing up. In Trieste, however, perhaps because of the influence of Viennese culture, we often see people relaxing leisurely inside a café. A coffee culture closely attached to people’s daily lives is firmly rooted here in Trieste, too.

This is how the taste of illy that mesmerizes the world is created.
An extraordinary taste begins here: The top barista’s insistence on the very best
The beans are rigorously selected twice, once by machine, and the other by human hands. The nine types of Arabica beans that have been thus selected are blended to create the one and the only “single blend.” The keys to tasting are to first check the color with the eyes, then smell the aroma with the nose, and finally, “feel” the aroma using the tongue and throat. Espresso is prepared on the spot inside a bar, after an order has been placed. However, as Michele Pauletic, a barista with 14 years of experience, says, “When you grind the beans; the way they are pressed; and the time it takes after you turn on the switch…Each of these steps can change how the coffee tastes.” He also notes that, in the world of coffee, cappuccino, which is prepared by mixing two types of ingredients, coffee and milk, is compared to a cocktail. “Milk is the crucial key. To whip it to creamy froth, you must use milk with a high fat content. You take chilled milk, and whip it until it warms up to about 65 ºC.” This way, coffee blends easily with milk to produce an extraordinarily delicious cappuccino. Mr. Michele Pauletic, age 30. Became the 2008-2009 Barista Champion of Italy at the World Barista Championship where baristas compete to make coffee and cappuccino. Presently, he is lecturer at illy’s University of Coffee.

Thorough insistence on quality: Checking as many as 144 items!
Purchase of beans
The company buys all beans directly from local farms. illy’s technicians are dispatched to local areas with the aim of nurturing farms that can grow coffee beans to illy’s exacting standards for the ideal beans.
Selection of beans
illy’s unique bean selection machine, called “electronic selector,” enables the selection of 400 beans per second.
Blending
A single, unique blend is created from nine types of Arabica beans rigorously selected from around the world, including Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Roasting
To roast the beans evenly while avoiding deterioration due to a sharp rise in temperature, illy adopts the hot-air method and roasts the beans for about 12 min.
Cooling
The beans are air-cooled to realize a low water content. The aroma is also retained.
Packaging
Pressurized packaging prevents quality deterioration and helps the aroma to take hold.
illy issimo has just been released!
The taste of Italy can now be enjoyed in Japan, too! illy issimo, currently on sale. These two brands are the pride and joy of illy issimo that claim to have “put a barista inside a can.” Latte Macchiato (shown left) uses powerful espresso as the base, intertwined with generous amounts of milk. If you want to savor the taste of Italian cafés, try Caffè (shown right). While maintaining a strong body, it has a clean, refreshing taste. Each is priced at 190 yen.

illy issimo: wish is to deliver high-quality espresso to the world.
From illy, Italy’s leading espresso brand, comes illy issimo, a product packed with the hope of delivering high-quality espresso to the world.
No other people in Europe love coffee so ardently as the Italians. This is clear from the large number of cafés seen in every corner of town, and the bustling business each one enjoys.
A city in Italy known especially for its deeply rooted café culture is Trieste, the capital of the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. illycaffè S.p.A., which has its head office in this city, is one of Italy’s foremost brands, said to be synonymous with espresso. The company was established in 1933 by Francesco Illy, with a founding principle of “creating the highest-quality coffee in the world.”His thoughts were steadfastly passed on in the Illy family through the years, down to today’s third generation CEO. The company continues to infuse inexhaustible passion into the pursuit of high quality coffee, and carries out uncompromising research day after day to make sure that they can always deliver a perfect taste,
anytime, anywhere.

Focusing on the raw materials—using only the Arabica variety
What illy focuses on the most is the quality of fresh beans, which are the raw materials. Not only do they dispatch buyers directly to the sites of production; they also carefully study the environment, genetics and even the cultivating process and carefully select the materials. As a result, nine types of the Arabica variety are chosen as the raw material, rigorously selected from Latin America, Asia and Africa. The uncompromising insistence on bean quality does not end here. illy has even built a farm cultivating system whereby they send technicians to contract farms, share research data and form powerful partnerships so as to enable permanent production
of high-quality beans which illy considers as ideal.
The carefully-selected fresh beans are blended to just a single taste which illy considers to be the very best. The beans then undergo a series of processes such as roasting, cooling, and packing to produce the same, unchanging “illy taste”—featuring an exquisite balance of bitterness and acidity—no matter where it is
consumed.
illy is intent not only on producing coffee but also on disseminating it, such as through training and nurturing baristas. An example of this is the University of Coffee it opened in January 2003 on the premises of the head office factory. With “spreading and expanding outstanding coffee culture” as the objective, the school offers modern classrooms equipped with the latest technologies. Students may choose from a variety of courses to learn everything about coffee, such as the history of coffee, botany, a study on the sense of taste, as well as bar economics and how to prepare delicious espresso.
If you are to drink supreme espresso, you should also consider using the finest cup. illy’s original cups were designed by some of the finest architects and contemporary artists of our time. These cups are so beautiful and functional that they have become collectors’ items, coveted by people all over the world despite being an item used everyday.
Offering a time of enrichment that combines “a delicious taste” brought about by the company’s insistence on using only the finest raw materials, and “art and creation” as represented by the design of the cup—this is none other than the embodiment of Italy’s coffee culture which illy hopes to convey to the rest of the world. The passion which illy had upheld at the time of the founding, of “spreading Italy’s authentic espresso to the world,” remains unchanged.

Birth of illy issimo, brimming with the fragrance of Italy.
Espresso plays an essential part in the lives of Italian people. They drink a cup to wake themselves up; another cup before starting work. And after lunch, during breaks, and even after dinner…
Bars and cafés serving espresso are found all over town. Every Italians has his or her favorite place close to home or office, and go there numerous times a day. The place is truly a place for socializing. People enjoy friendly conversations with their familiar baristas and other regular customers, and occasionally exchange information. Such intimate time and space are important to the people of Italy.

Sealing a barista’s taste inside a bottle
Following the principle of “creating the highest-quality coffee in the world,” illycaffè has, since its founding, continued to supply espresso to bars and cafés. Through the years, the high quality of illy’s products have come to win exceptional trust and support among baristas. The company’s principle, moreover, moved forward with accelerating speed, to “deliver Italy’s espresso to the rest of the world.” The company’s inexhaustible passion further stepped up its uncompromising insistence on selecting and roasting the coffee beans. And, by developing a unique espresso machine and unveiling the business of teaching the know-how of café management, illycaffè grew to become Italy’s top espresso brand. Today, over 6 million cups of illy espresso are served each day at over 50,000 upscale restaurants and coffee shops in 144 countries, and enjoyed by people all over the world.
illy’s next wish is to allow people to enjoy the espresso created by baristas, anytime, anywhere, with a minimum of effort. Their wish came true with the release of a new product, named illy issimo, a ready-to drink (RTD) coffee that contains, in the confines of a bottle, the taste of espresso brewed by Italy’s baristas. The word issimo means “the best” or “the utmost” in Italian. It is a magic word that, if used together with a certain word, changes it into something supreme and the best, such as by adding issimo to buono, meaning “delicious,” you get buonissimo which means “by far the most delicious.”
The lineup features two types of flavors. illy issimo Latte Macchiato uses a robust-tasting espresso, blended with generous amounts of milk to realize a smooth, mellow taste. On the other hand, illy issimo Caffè, with a sophisticated taste having a full body and aroma, faithfully re-creates the taste served at bars and cafés.
illy issimo is a new coffee revolution unleashed to the world once again by illycaffè, a company that is the driving force for the promotion of Italy’s coffee culture and has helped spread its coffee throughout the world. Unscrew its stylish, silver-based bottle, and, together with a rich, fragrant aroma, the joyful hustle and bustle of cafés and bars instantly come to life. Needless to say, the flavor faithfully re-creates the rich, full-bodied taste brewed by veteran baristas.
Espresso enjoyed at cafés in Italy which none of us has ever tasted, will finally become available in Japan.