Wandering through the centre of Rome, Favre noticed a long queue snaking from a coffee bar near the Pantheon. Plenty of other cafes nearby used the same machines. What was it about this place, Favre wondered, that made it so special? Inside, the barista explained that other operators pumped the piston just once before releasing the coffee. Favre returned to Switzerland and, along with a small team, set about designing a machine that could replicate this procedure. Favre’s aim was to build a world in which espresso was available at home. Customers would own a machine, into which they would place a sealed pod filled with ground coffee. The following year, 1976, Nestlé filed its first patent for a single-serve coffee system. Favre is one of those people who pop up in history and do great things where now the lawsuit is based on his invention. Today, some 14bn Nespresso capsules are sold every year, both online and from 810 brightly lit boutiques in 84 countries. More than 400 Nespressos are drunk every second. Hotels all round the world promote their rooms with the little Nespresso pod in a drawer by the minibar for the guests to be their own barista.