The moka pot is a stove-top or electric coffee maker that brews coffee by
passing boiling water pressurised by steam through ground coffee. Named
after the Yemeni city of Mocha, it was invented by Italian engineer
Alfonso Bialetti in 1933 and quickly became one of the staples of Italian
culture.[1] Bialetti Industries continues to produce the same 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, Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper–Hewitt, National
Design Museum, the Design Museum,[2] and the London Science Museum. Moka
pots come in different sizes, making from one to eighteen 50 ml (2 imp fl
oz; 2 US fl oz) servings.[3] The original design and many current models
are made from aluminium with Bakelite handles. After the Second World War,
the Italian moka expanded all over the South Europe and it became the
standard way of domestically making coffee. Its popularity led to
non-Italian South European manufacturers making copies or new designs
inspired in the original Italian design.[citation needed] Another part of
the world the Italian moka reached after the Second World War was
Australia. Most post-war Italian migrants used the moka pot in their homes
which eventually led to many Australians of non-Italian backgrounds to
also use the pot in their homes. It is widely available in many of the
Italian-style delis and supermarkets that exist in Australia.[citation
needed] Moka pots are typically made of aluminium, though they are
sometimes made out of stainless steel or other alloys.
