From a trained roaster to coffee bar operator, to exclusive coffee machine distributor for leading brands to coffee importer…

Savour the essence of Italy in every sip...

How It All Started...

Bob Payman started a coffee bar in London in 1995 before Starbucks came to the UK, inspired by a trip he made to California where the Espresso craze was starting. Before long and after getting trained as a Coffee Roaster in New York it became clear that it was difficult to establish a consistent quality of Espresso for most bar and domestic operators.

Bob then acquired the famous Fairfax Kitchen shop in North West London, the idea being to add to its extensive range of up market kitchen products, a range of espresso machines and associated equipment. Fairfax were already the UK distributors for La Pavoni the iconic lever machines, and sols thousands of Stovetop coffee machines, better known as Moka Express.

It all took off rather well and before long Fairfax became the UK distributors for Jura, Ascaso, Elektra, Rancilio, Briel, Handpresso and other leading makes of coffee machines. All these products were serviced at Fairfax’s headquarters.

Then he discovered ESE — Easy Serving Espresso, a system invented by Illy.

In 2000 he joined partners in Portugal and in the US to source the best quality coffee beans and ESE pods. We called ourselves Espressione.       Today we sell coffee and coffee machines throughout the world. See espressione.com to get an idea of our extensive ranges.

How to be both traditional and different in the UK?

We searched Italy and Portugal for a roaster who would be large enough to be able to operate the best roasting equipment and small enough to listen to all our needs. This way we could buy beans and ESE Pods using the same blends.

Worth noting, ESE pods are not capsules like the Nespresso ones (and they have no connection with us) and compatible types.

There is no doubt that customer demand for espressos and cappuccinos have greatly increased in the past decade, with the onset of the café society and an undeniable influence from Europe. The majority of establishments in the catering trade now offer such an option, but for smaller bars and coffee shops training staff to use the traditional Cappuccino machines coupled with the high level of waste can mean they lose out in the long run.

So What Is an ESE Pod?

The key to its success is an ESE coffee pod (just like a round tea bag), which contains enough espresso coffee for one cup. Each ESE coffee pod is individually wrapped in an airtight wrapper, which means the coffee has that “just roasted” taste with no waste and minimal skill required by the operator. It contains 7 grams of coffee, more than most capsule systems. Doubles contain 14gm.

Just for Restaurants?

No. ESE pods can be used in domestic pump coffee machines with removeable filter handles ( that’s most of them) and dedicated ESE machines which we sell. No mess, and cheaper than capsules!

Blends in ESE Pods...

We have Decaffeinated, 100%  Arabica and Arabica/ Robusta blends, the latter for the greatest Crema, all sold in boxes of 150.We have added Organic pods to the range

We also stock Double Pods. These come in boxes of 100 and are suitable for E61 Group Heads which are used in restaurant machines. We offer free filter baskets with initial Double Pod orders.

Espressione have thus found the ideal solution to enable small establishments to serve fresh espresso or cappuccino to their customers at little cost and with minimum waste

Join 150,000 customers making more sustainable coffee at home.

Reasons to Buy Espressione, We Could Name a Few...

Our coffee beans

Our coffee pods

Our coffee beans

Our coffee pods