TRIESTE, Italy, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Ernesto Illy, an Italian chemist who pioneered the science of making coffee, has died in Trieste, Italy, at the age of 82.
Illy died Sunday but family members declined to say what he died of, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Illy, who took the reins of Illycaffe from his father in 1963, was known as a perfectionist when it came to brewing a cup of coffee, especially espresso. Illy constructed a lab in Trieste that analyzed the beans from every batch the company bought with gas chromatographs, infrared emission pyrometers and other sophisticated equipment, the Times reported.
He was fond of saying, "fine espresso paints the tongue."
Illy was born in Trieste in 1925 and earned a degree in chemistry at the University of Bologna in 1947.
He remained chairman of Illycaffe until 2004. The company reports annual sales of $350 million.
