Alfonso Bialetti
Encyclopedia
Alfonso Bialetti was an engineer who became famous for acquiring Luigi De Ponti's invention of the simple yet elegantly designed Moka Express
coffeemaker
. Designed in 1933, the coffee
pot has been a style icon
since the 1950s. It is the source of nostalgia and affection for many Italians
and is an essential and fashionable part of almost every cucina italiana (“Italian kitchen”). While many variations of the Moka have been developed, including the Bialetti cow-printed Mukka Express (which makes cappuccino
), the Moka Express is a time-honoured classic. Bialetti was also the founder of Bialetti Industrie S.p.A, the now giant Italian kitchen-ware company.
industry. By 1919 he had established his own metal and machine workshop in Crusinallo (his native Piedmont
) to make aluminium products: this was the foundation of the Bialetti company. He transformed his workshop – Alfonso Bialetti & C. Fonderia in Conchiglia – into a studio for design and production.
, and in Italian as la Moka, la macchinetta (“the little machine”) or la caffettiera. The blueprints for the Moka Express are on display in the London Design Museum
. Bialetti was probably heavily influenced by contemporary designers such as Hoffmann, Puiforcat, Genazzi and Henin; to a certain extent he copied and built upon their coffee-pot designs. The coffee pot’s clean classic design with its symmetrical eight-faceted metallic body is easily recognisable—it followed the same design for over 70 years (unusual in a world of constantly changing products). Since its creation the Moka has become the world’s most famous coffee pot and has been cited in the Guinness Book of World Records as well as in various essential design books. The Bialetti design has also provided an inspiration for modern designers; Julian Lwin, a New York designer, paid homage to the Moka Express with his own “Dr. Octagon Espresso” set of table and chairs.
The use of aluminium to construct the body of the coffee pot was also a relatively new industrial concept as aluminium was not a traditional "domestic metal". Soon the material was to become more common in kitchens and the mid-1930s are considered to be the golden era in the production of aluminium products for the kitchen. The coming together of coffee
and aluminum may have been inevitable, however, it was the Bialetti design together with the use of the novel metal which made the coffee-pot something rather special.
.
from the coffeehouse
and coffee bar to the home. That is certainly the impression the advertisements wanted to send out to people. Previously, only the middle and upper classes had the means to brew high-quality (i.e.: café-quality) coffee at home; coffee-drinking was, for the majority, a public affair. This was because the high-quality coffee makers were all large and expensive machines used by (and marketed specifically for) barista
s. The creation of the small, efficient, user-friendly and affordable Moka allowed people to quickly brew intense and good-tasting coffee in the comfort of their homes. The Moka Express was to replace more primitive coffee-makers from the late 19th century such as the Napoletana
and the Milanese.
and other flavour compounds are extracted from coffee grains by the Moka using a process known as percolation
. The verb to percolate is defined as: to cause a solvent (i.e.: water) to pass through a permeable substance (i.e.: coffee) especially for extracting a soluble constituent. In order to percolate or brew the coffee the percolator is placed on a stove element and heated until pressure in the water compartment increases causing the water to rise through a funnel, through the coffee grains, through a filter and, finally, into the top compartment. According to the Bialetti corporate lore the mechanical design for the Moka was inspired by the primitive washing-machines used by housewives: linens were boiled in tubes built around a central conduit that drew the boiling soapy water up through it and redistributed it across the linens through a radial opening.
Moka Express
The moka pot, also known as a macchinetta del caffè or "Italian coffee pot", is a stove top coffee maker which produces coffee by passing hot water pressurized by steam through ground coffee. It was first patented by inventor Luigi De Ponti for Alfonso Bialetti in 1933...
coffeemaker
Coffeemaker
Coffeemakers or coffee machines are cooking appliances used to brew coffee without having to boil water in a separate container. While there are many different types of coffeemakers using a number of different brewing principles, in the most common devices, coffee grounds are placed in a paper or...
. Designed in 1933, the coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
pot has been a style icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
since the 1950s. It is the source of nostalgia and affection for many Italians
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and is an essential and fashionable part of almost every cucina italiana (“Italian kitchen”). While many variations of the Moka have been developed, including the Bialetti cow-printed Mukka Express (which makes cappuccino
Cappuccino
A cappuccino is an Italian coffee drink prepared with espresso, hot milk, and steamed-milk foam. The name comes from the Capuchin friars, referring to the colour of their habits.- Definition :...
), the Moka Express is a time-honoured classic. Bialetti was also the founder of Bialetti Industrie S.p.A, the now giant Italian kitchen-ware company.
The Bialetti Company
Bialetti first acquired his metal-working skills by working for a decade in the French aluminiumAluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
industry. By 1919 he had established his own metal and machine workshop in Crusinallo (his native Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
) to make aluminium products: this was the foundation of the Bialetti company. He transformed his workshop – Alfonso Bialetti & C. Fonderia in Conchiglia – into a studio for design and production.
Design
Bialetti completed his design for the aluminium Moka Express in 1933. It may also be referred to as a Moka, Moka pot, a Bialetti, a percolator or a stove-top coffeemakerCoffeemaker
Coffeemakers or coffee machines are cooking appliances used to brew coffee without having to boil water in a separate container. While there are many different types of coffeemakers using a number of different brewing principles, in the most common devices, coffee grounds are placed in a paper or...
, and in Italian as la Moka, la macchinetta (“the little machine”) or la caffettiera. The blueprints for the Moka Express are on display in the London Design Museum
Design Museum
Design Museum is a museum by the River Thames near Tower Bridge in central London, England. The museum covers product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design. It was founded in 1989 and claims to be the first museum of modern design...
. Bialetti was probably heavily influenced by contemporary designers such as Hoffmann, Puiforcat, Genazzi and Henin; to a certain extent he copied and built upon their coffee-pot designs. The coffee pot’s clean classic design with its symmetrical eight-faceted metallic body is easily recognisable—it followed the same design for over 70 years (unusual in a world of constantly changing products). Since its creation the Moka has become the world’s most famous coffee pot and has been cited in the Guinness Book of World Records as well as in various essential design books. The Bialetti design has also provided an inspiration for modern designers; Julian Lwin, a New York designer, paid homage to the Moka Express with his own “Dr. Octagon Espresso” set of table and chairs.
The use of aluminium to construct the body of the coffee pot was also a relatively new industrial concept as aluminium was not a traditional "domestic metal". Soon the material was to become more common in kitchens and the mid-1930s are considered to be the golden era in the production of aluminium products for the kitchen. The coming together of coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
and aluminum may have been inevitable, however, it was the Bialetti design together with the use of the novel metal which made the coffee-pot something rather special.
Development and marketing
The Moka was eventually to transform the Bialetti company into a leading Italian coffee-machine designer and manufacturer. Between 1934 and 1940 the humble Moka was only marketed locally - sold by Alfonso at the weekly markets in Piedmont. In these six years he only produced 70 000 units. By 2001 a total of 220 million units had been produced and to date the number has reached 330 million. During World War II the rising prices of coffee and aluminium stalled production of the Bialetti products. It was not until Renato, Alfonso’s son, took over in 1946 that the Bialetti product line was narrowed down to a single product: the Moka Express. A huge multi-faceted marketing campaign was initiated by Renato. It incorporated television, billboards which saturated the streets of Milano and even the creation of a giant statue of the Moka Express coffee pot. Copy-cat designs were infiltrating the market by now and advertising turned out to be a key strategy in defining the success of the Moka and ensuring the popularity of the Bialetti brand. L'omino con i baffi – the Moka mascot – was based on a humorous cartoon doodle of Alfonso Bialetti. The initial sketches and logo were created in 1953 by Paul Campani. By 1956 the Bialetti company had managed to construct a state-of-the-art factory in OmegnaOmegna
Omegna is a comune in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 100 km northeast of Turin and about 13 km southwest of Verbania at the northernmost point of Lago d’Orta and traversed by the Nigoglia, the lake’s sole outflow.-History:The presence...
.
Social impact
In terms of socio-economics the invention of the Moka Express brought espressoEspresso
Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso is widely known throughout the world....
from the coffeehouse
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
and coffee bar to the home. That is certainly the impression the advertisements wanted to send out to people. Previously, only the middle and upper classes had the means to brew high-quality (i.e.: café-quality) coffee at home; coffee-drinking was, for the majority, a public affair. This was because the high-quality coffee makers were all large and expensive machines used by (and marketed specifically for) barista
Barista
A barista is a person, usually a coffee-house employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks.- Application of the title :...
s. The creation of the small, efficient, user-friendly and affordable Moka allowed people to quickly brew intense and good-tasting coffee in the comfort of their homes. The Moka Express was to replace more primitive coffee-makers from the late 19th century such as the Napoletana
Neapolitan flip coffee pot
The Neapolitan flip coffee pot, or Napoletana, is a drip brew coffee maker for the stovetop. It consists of a bottom section filled with water, a filter section in the middle filled with finely ground coffee, and an upside-down pot placed on the top. When the water boils, the entire three-part...
and the Milanese.
Mechanics of coffee percolation
Aromatic compoundsAroma compound
An aroma compound, also known as odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavor, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor...
and other flavour compounds are extracted from coffee grains by the Moka using a process known as percolation
Percolation
In physics, chemistry and materials science, percolation concerns the movement and filtering of fluids through porous materials...
. The verb to percolate is defined as: to cause a solvent (i.e.: water) to pass through a permeable substance (i.e.: coffee) especially for extracting a soluble constituent. In order to percolate or brew the coffee the percolator is placed on a stove element and heated until pressure in the water compartment increases causing the water to rise through a funnel, through the coffee grains, through a filter and, finally, into the top compartment. According to the Bialetti corporate lore the mechanical design for the Moka was inspired by the primitive washing-machines used by housewives: linens were boiled in tubes built around a central conduit that drew the boiling soapy water up through it and redistributed it across the linens through a radial opening.
Trivia
- Alfonso Bialetti is the grandfather of Alberto Alessi of Alessi (the famous Italian design house).
- Some patents describe this machine as an "apparatus for domestic use to prepare hot drinks by steam jet, in particular to prepare 'Italian Cappuccino'".