The moka pot was invented in 1933 by Italian engineer Alfonso Bialetti, who called his design the Moka Express. Nearly a century later it remains the most common way to brew coffee at home in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and much of Latin America. The eight-sided aluminium body is a cultural artefact as much as a brewing tool.
The principle is steam pressure. Water in the bottom chamber heats until the vapour pressure pushes liquid up through a ground-coffee basket and out into the collecting chamber on top. Pressure rarely exceeds 1.5 bar, which is why moka coffee is not true espresso, but the extraction is fast, hot, and intense — you end up with a small, dense, slightly bittersweet shot that sits closer to French-press concentrate than to filter.
Dial the moka in with three levers. First, grind fine — a touch coarser than espresso, finer than filter — and fill the basket level, no tamping. Second, start with near-boiling water in the bottom chamber so the coffee is not roasted by slow-heating aluminium. Third, listen: when you hear the gurgle change pitch and the stream turn pale, pull the pot off the heat and cool the base under cold tap water. That kills the extraction and stops the bitterness that gives badly made moka its reputation.