La
Cafetière was the first brand of
French-press coffee makers to be sold in
the UK. The Classic Chrome Cafetière,
which has often been voted a ‘Design
Icon’ by the housewares industry, was
first launched over 30 years ago and
remains a best seller to this day. The
La Cafetière name has subsequently
entered the Oxford English Dictionary as
the generic term for French-press or
‘plunge-filter’ coffee makers!
The story behind the initial development
of the La Cafetière design classic has
strong roots in Italy, the home of great
coffee drinkers.
The La
Cafetière story dates back to 1929 when
Attilio Calimani from Milan registered
the patent for his "apparatus for the
preparation of infusions of coffee".
This was a pot featuring a perforated
screen on the end of a rod. When the rod
was pressed down in the pot, the screen
forced the coffee grounds to the bottom,
and allowed the taste to infuse up into
the liquid. Calimani continued
developing his device to allow for the
"quick filtration" of coffee, but the
next important stage in the La Cafetière
story came in 1958 when the Italian
national Faliero Bondanini was granted a
patent for his modified version of the
plunge-filter coffee pot.
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