Espresso is coffee brewed by forcing hot water through finely ground, compressed coffee under high pressure, which creates its foam, called crema. Early Italian machines from the early 1900s used steam to brew in bulk, and the drinks tasted burnt because the pressure was only about 1.5 bars. Achille Gaggia's piston machines, patented in 1938 and developed in 1947, used a lever-operated piston to push water at up to about 12 atmospheres, producing crema from oils and colloids. In 1961 Ernesto Valente's Faema E61 used an electric pump to reach about 9 bars, and it was cheap enough to spread across Italy's cafés. Espresso culture also spread into Italy's East African colonies.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.