The International Institute of Coffee Tasters has launched an information course entitled “Italian Specialist Espresso”. There is great emphasis on the importance of the operator in determining the quality of this symbol of the Made in Italy: even the best blend, processed with the best equipment on the market, can result in an undrinkable espresso in the hands of an incompetent person.

The real responsibility for the quality of the espresso lies therefore with the operator, in so far as that once the 4M rule was quoted (mixture, milder-dispenser, machine and manual handling) today a new formula has been created by the very virtue of the increased responsibility of the person who is in contact with the end user, who must be satisfied. This is the M.A.O rule where the mixture confirms its presence, while the miller-dispenser and machine are combined under the “A” which means “equipment” (so that the new technologies are synthesized in one single module) and the “O” of the operator substitutes the “M” of the manual operator to underline the fact that espresso can no longer be put in the hands of one reasonably capable person but must be entrusted to the skill of a real expert who knows how to select and manipulate the mixture and the equipment in order to obtain a perfect result. At this point it is worth asking what possibilities the espresso specialist might have for assessing his work. The reply is quite simple: his sense of smell and taste, because it will be through those that the consumer will gauge the quality.