The moka pot is a stove-top or electric coffee maker that brews coffee by passing hot water driven by vapor pressure through ground coffee. Named after the Yemeni city of Mocha, it was invented by Italian engineer Luigi Di Ponti in 1933 who sold the patent to Alfonso Bialetti, an aluminum vendor. It quickly became one of the staples of Italian culture. Bialetti Industries continues to produce the original model under the trade name "Moka Express".
Spreading from Italy, the moka pot is today most commonly used in Europe and in Latin America. It has become an iconic design, displayed in modern industrial art and design museums including the Wolfsonian-FIU, the Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, the Design Museum, the London Science Museum, The Smithsonian and the Museum of Modern Art. Moka pots come in different sizes, making from one to eighteen servings. The original design and many current models are made from aluminium with Bakelite handles.
After the Second World War, the Italian moka pot spread all over the south of Europe and became the standard way of domestically making coffee. Its popularity led to non-Italian south European manufacturers making copies or new designs inspired by the original Italian design.
In Australia, the moka pot was traditionally used by Italian migrants who arrived mostly after the Second World War. By 2000 the moka had become popular in the homes of many Australians. Today it is quite popular at breakfast time; often Australians will add the brew to a mug and top up with either water off the boil or warmed milk.
Moka pots are typically made of aluminium, though they are sometimes made out of stainless steel or other alloys. Some designs feature an upper half made of heat-resistant glass.
Use
Moka pots are used over a flame or electric range. Stainless steel pots, but not aluminium, can be used with induction cooking.
A number of physics papers were written between 2001 and 2009 utilizing the ideal gas and Darcy’s laws to explain the moka pot’s brewing process, Which relies on vapor pressure created by heating water to drive it through the coffee grounds, and thence brewed coffee into the upper chamber.
A rubber gasket ensures a tight seal between components, and a safety valve prevents over-pressurization.
Preparation
The boiler (marked A in the diagram) is filled with water
to an etched line (or slightly below the safety release valve). While at-home makers generally do not preheat the water used, it can expedite the brewing process in commercial settings. The metal filter funnel (B) is inserted. Finely ground coffee How tightly the coffee is packed impacts how quickly the coffee extracts and the strength of the brew. The pot is then heated, so that the water boils.
Brewing
The heating of the boiler, A, leads to a gradual increase of the pressure due to both the expansion of the enclosed air and the raised vapor pressure of the increasingly heated water. When pressure becomes high enough to force the water up the funnel through the coffee grinds, coffee will begin to pour into the upper chamber (C).
When the lower chamber is almost empty, bubbles of steam mix with the upstreaming water, producing a characteristic gurgling noise - a signal that brewing should be stopped. Navarini et al. call this the "strombolian" phase of brewing, which allows a mixture of highly heated steam and water to pass through the coffee, which leads to rapid overextraction and introduction of undesirable flavors.
Maintenance
Moka pots require periodic replacement of the rubber seal, a scouring of its removable filter, and a check that the safety release valve is not blocked. All parts of the pot should be scrubbed by hand using a mild detergent, as aluminium moka pots are not dishwasher safe.
Aluminum migration
The potential for toxic amounts of aluminium migration being created by brewing an acidic beverage in an aluminium pot have been scientifically investigated, and determined to be "negligible" - falling below 1% of recommended total weekly intake level once a new pot has been used. Following the pot's stabilization at below 1% with regular use, migration rose to a maximum observed level of just under 4% after a dishwasher cleaning, resulting in dishwasher use being strongly discouraged.
Pot sizes
The moka pot comes in various sizes based on the number of espresso cups they produce. The following table are the standard sizes for the Bialetti Moka Express.
Moka coffee characteristics
All brewed coffee flavor depends greatly on bean variety, roast level, fineness of grind, water profile, and the level of heat used. The Moka pot is no different.