National Espresso Day is a holiday dedicated to this delicious caffeinated beverage. Grab your espresso and read on to learn more about the day!
Whether you like your espresso served as a shot, or in a latte, National Espresso Day is for you! This drink has a history as rich as its flavor, so let’s dive in!
National Espresso Day isn’t the only coffee inspired national days, be sure to check out National Irish Coffee Day and National Cafe au Lait Day, too.
What is National Espresso Day?
National Espresso Day is a caffeine filled holiday dedicated to celebrating the beverage called espresso. National Espresso Day falls annually on November 23.
While the origin of National Espresso Day is unknown, it’s definitely a day worth celebrating! Even if you don’t like drinking espresso plain, there are many delicious ways to enjoy it!
What is espresso?
Espresso is a type of coffee. Espresso is one of the two main components (along with milk) in lattes and cappuccinos.
It is made in an espresso machine, where extreme pressure is applied to force hot water quickly through finely ground coffee.
Espresso has three components: the crema (sweeter top foamy layer), the body, and the heart (the bitter part of the espresso shot that settles to the bottom). It is optimal to stir your espresso to combine the three layers and balance the flavor of the espresso shot.
Learning about National Espresso Day through the history of espresso
Luigi Bezzera invented the espresso machine in 1901, in Italy. Bezzera designed this machine because he wanted to shorten his employee’s coffee breaks and boost their productivity.
Not only did the espresso machine make coffee more quickly, but it also yielded a beverage with more body that was stronger in flavor.
In 1903, Bezzera’s patent was sold to Desidero Pavoni. After the patent sale, Pavoni began producing and distributing espresso machines commercially through Europe.
Espresso myths and fun facts, for National Espresso Day
It wouldn’t be National Espresso Day if we didn’t bust some espresso myths! Brush up on your espresso knowledge with these fun facts.
- Female astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti brewed the first cup of espresso in space (250 miles above the earth).
- An espresso machine requires 130.5lbs of pressure per square inch to make a shot of espresso.
- A shot of espresso (1 oz) has less caffeine than a regular cup of coffee (12 oz). However, to say that coffee is more caffeinated than espresso is incorrect. Per ounce, espresso has 40mg of caffeine, whereas coffee only has 10mg of caffeine per ounce.
- There’s no such thing as an “espresso bean”. You can make espresso from any coffee beans – what makes a shot of espresso is its particular style of preparation and grind density.
- You should stir a shot of espresso before consuming it to combine its three layers, to yield a smoother flavor.
- Espresso looses its flavor the longer it sits and cools, which is why espresso is often taken as a shot, instead of sipped slowly.
Do you have any other fun facts to share about National Espresso Day? Let us know in the comments section below!
How to observe National Espresso Day
There are lots of obvious ways to celebrate National Espresso Day. Here are a few other creative ideas to help honor this day.
- Head out to your local coffee shop and order a shot of espresso! Don’t forget to stir it before drinking.
- If you’re not a fan of espresso by itself, try it in a flavored latte. You can pair it with a croissant if you’re hungry too. Yum!
- Do you like chocolate? Try some chocolate covered espresso beans, but be warned, they are strong!
- If you have an espresso machine at home, National Espresso Day is a wonderful day to give your machine a deep clean. Let’s keep it in good working order!
- Make an espresso martini! If you don’t have an espresso maker at home, you can still celebrate the spirit of National Espresso Day by making this Coffee Martini (a drink with coffee, vodka and Kahlua!)
- Solve the word search puzzle for November to see if you can find Espresso Day in it.
- Use the hashtag #NationalEspressoDay to spread the word about the day on social media. Here is a tweet to get you started:
What is a national day?
National days of the year are a fun way to celebrate odd and unusual foods, animals and items that you come into contact with. Be sure to check out this national day’s guide for more fun days to celebrate.
There are close to 2000 national days in the year and over 150 of them are celebrated in November. To see them all, have a look at this post to discover more about the national days in November.
Some of them are drink days like National Espresso Day, while others are food days, or days dedicated to people, places, animals, or items you may come into contact with.
If you’re interested in more food and drink days this month, make sure view the full list of November food holidays.
There’s even monthly observances to be celebrated. For example, one of the observances of November is National Gratitude Month!
Is food your thing? Each day of the month has a food or drink associated with it, too. You’ll find many November food holidays throughout the month.
If you liked this post on National Espresso Day, be sure to also check out these other national days this November:
- National Gingerbread Cookie Day – Gingerbread Cookies are delicious and historically significant, so it’s no surprise they have a national day dedicated to them!
- Guy Fawkes Day – This holiday has many names. It’s also called Bonfire Night and Fireworks night!
- National Apple Cider Day – This national day celebrates it’s namesake beverage that’s the perfect fall treat.
- National Candy Day – Have a sweet tooth? At Always The Holidays, we love candy, and are so glad it has it’s own national day!
- National Peanut Butter Fudge Day – If you’re a peanut butter fudge lover, you’re in luck. We’ve got a peanut butter fudge recipe and facts about it’s national day to share with you!
If you enjoyed reading about National Espresso Day, be sure to check out National Irish Coffee Day and also details of Irish coffee origin – It’s fascinating!
Pin this post on National Espresso Day for later
Would you like a reminder of this post for National Espresso Day? Just pin this image to one of your trivia boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
You can watch our YouTube video about the food holidays in November for more food and drink days this month.
About the author
Since graduating from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Jess has been living and working in Los Angeles, CA. She is a freelance writer, specializing in content related to fashion, food and drink and film industry topics. Find out more about Jess here.