Since bringing my own Moka Pot into art school at the beginning of fourth year, as an example of what I thought great design is, I have been meaning to write a blog post about this revolutionary product. Not only has it impacted me greatly in my life so far as a skint student, it started a massive shift in the consumption of strong coffee back in the 30s when it was designed and continues to compete with with the most expensive coffee making equipment to this day.
So, a brief history. The Moka Pot was invented in 1933, it is stipulated who by but most sources credit Alfonso Bialetti with the creation. Most likely because he went on to manufacture and sell the Moka Express with his company Bialetti. The design is essentially a percolator, using the pressure from hot steam to push water through ground coffee beans and make a strong coffee similar to espresso.
At this point in time in Italy, Espresso was only available in cafes and restaurants because of the cost of having your own espresso machine. It is important here to mention the distinction, espresso is made with around 9 bar of pressure where as a Moka Pot generates around 2. For coffee lovers espresso is still considered the gold standard - but at an increase in cost. The Bialetti Moka Express gave people the opportunity to make espresso like coffee in their own homes and made good coffee more accessible for the people.
Its shiny, aluminium design was revolutionary as well and aligned with the increasing modernist examples of aluminium in the kitchen at the time. It is truly iconic. And since its initial design it has remained virtually the same, there have been many takes on the aesthetic over the years. With companies like Alessi enlisting many designers to create a percolator coffee pot in their own style. A famous example is shown below from Aldo Rossi.
For me though as well as the products history of making coffee more widely available, and being an innovative product, I love it because of the enjoyment I get from using it to make coffee. Though more time consuming than instant it's nice to watch the coffee push through the top of the pressure chamber and see it collect in the top section of the pot. It goes back to what seems to be a recurring them in my blog posts of products that make you mindful of how you use them. My pot makes a reliable coffee every time and super cheaply - you can get one of these things for about £20 whereas the cheapest espresso makers can cost around £100. And they are nowhere near as cool.
The other thing about the pot is the lifestyle it encapsulates, the same person who takes film photography and listens to vinyl and loves good music has a Moka Pot. It just is cool, it looks great in a kitchen, on a shelf, on a stove top or on a table and gives off the impression you like good coffee but don't see the need to pay crazy amounts for it. Cool.
A few more quick pros before I finish. It's easy to clean, does't rust (stainless steel or aluminium construction) and you can make as good a coffee as you want with it. What I mean is if you are willing to put in the effort you'll get amazing results out, and even if you aren't you'll still get a really great cup of coffee from it.
I can't see any time in the near future where I'll give away my Moka Pot, maybe if I can afford a crazy La Marzocco espresso machine one day in the same way I could afford a Moka Pot now but that definitely won't happen anytime soon.
It is functional, innovative, cheap, sleek and intuitive.
The Bialletti Moka Pot is great design for sure.
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