Zoe Cirrone, founding father of My Moka House, presents the moka pot as a love letter to Italian espresso tradition.
BY SARAH CHARLES
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Pictures by Sarah Charles
On the London Espresso Pageant earlier this 12 months, tucked between modern espresso machines and futuristic grinders, I seen a lovingly curated nook of moka pots. The stand—My Moka House, based by Zoe Cirrone—felt much less like a showroom and extra like a love letter to Italian espresso tradition. Classic fashions have been displayed alongside bespoke designs whereas Zoe’s mom, who’s Italian, informed guests tales about her recollections of the moka pot in rural Italy.
“My mum really began promoting classic moka pots and cups over 10 years in the past,” Zoe says. “I keep in mind visiting her at markets and being amazed that she managed to seek out so many. I then left my job in promoting and determined to hold on the enterprise for my mum who had moved overseas.”
“I gave it a model identify and a bit extra of an identification that constructed on what she’d created. I wished to teach folks on how this unimaginable object holds a lot Italian historical past and tradition alongside design and performance,” she provides. “I wished to encourage folks to take issues a bit slower within the mornings, use their favourite moka pot and cup, have interaction with intelligent design and get their dwelling smelling of recent espresso.”
Her stand was a pointy distinction to the remainder of the pageant flooring, the place a lot of specialty espresso was introduced within the language of precision, purity, and management. My Moka House celebrated one thing else completely: heritage, ritual, and reminiscence. You can virtually say that it felt misplaced, and even naive, in a spot occupied by the elite specialty espresso “membership.”
“This was my first ever pageant setting exterior of classic markets,” says Zoe. “So I had no thought how it will be obtained and I used to be extremely nervous to be round such well-known and established espresso manufacturers. However I believe it felt like a little bit of respite amongst the devices and machines of the pageant. I had so many conversations with individuals who have been taken again to their very own recollections of utilizing a moka pot or relations utilizing one. The moka actually is how espresso entered folks’s properties. With out it, I’m not certain how far the business would have gone.”
For a lot of specialty espresso drinkers, the moka pot doesn’t seem on the quick checklist of “permitted” brewing strategies. The Aeropress, V60, or fancy La Marzocco espresso machine are much more possible contenders. The moka pot usually carries a popularity for over-extracted, bitter cups extra related to an Italian grandmother’s kitchen than third wave espresso retailers.
This made me surprise: Can you like specialty and nonetheless get pleasure from a moka pot?
Legacy Meets Specialty
The moka pot is greater than only a brewing machine; it’s an icon. Designed within the Nineteen Thirties by Alfonso Bialetti, it has been a staple in households throughout Europe, Latin America, and past. Immediate espresso apart, it represents probably the most democratic types of espresso preparation: cheap, sturdy, and easy to make use of.
Specialty espresso, alternatively, usually prioritizes management: precise grind measurement, water temperature, extraction yield, TDS. To many, the moka pot feels unpredictable by comparability. However does unpredictability imply incompatibility?
Influencers and educators have already begun reframing the dialog. Morgan Eckroth not too long ago made a TikTok video about moka pots, and James Hoffmann has devoted a full YouTube sequence to them. Each recommend that whereas the moka pot could not supply the identical precision as a V60, it might ship satisfying, complicated brews when used with intention.
“I really feel just like the moka pot is slowly heading into the specialty house due to the elevated consideration it’s gathered throughout the business, with extra tutorials and low being marketed in direction of moka pot customers,” says Zoe. “Nevertheless, I don’t assume it should ever have a strong place and I additionally don’t imagine it ought to. The idea and place of the moka is one among simplicity, authenticity, and everyday-ness. It ought to be celebrated for this and never attempting to be one thing it’s not.”
Extra Than a Cup
Espresso isn’t all the time nearly what’s within the cup. Typically, it’s about what surrounds it. For Zoe, the moka pot isn’t just an object however a cultural artifact: one which connects her to household, heritage, and the rhythms of each day life.
“The moka pot has been a part of my life since I can keep in mind,” she says. “Each morning, my dad places on the moka pot and brings it again to mattress to share with my mum. He nonetheless does it to today. It’s been a part of all our childhood holidays (when visiting) my grandparents in Sicily. Within the mornings, afternoons after lunch, and within the evenings, when neighbors would come round—it’s as a lot about ritual as it’s about sharing, dialog, and being with family and friends.”
Nostalgia is a strong taste. The hiss and sputter of the moka pot on the range, the scent filling the kitchen, the ritual of pouring it into little ceramic cups—aren’t these sensory cues as significant as tasting the proper pourover?
In a specialty espresso business that typically dangers turning into too scientific, maybe the moka pot reminds us of one thing very important: Espresso can also be about tradition and luxury.
“I believe it has taken on fairly a romantic illustration—a nod to historical past and tradition that newer espresso equipment and expertise can’t replicate and even generate as once you use a moka,” says Zoe. “It has undoubtedly additionally turn into a illustration of slower and extra intentional dwelling.”
A Place for Each
Having fun with moka pot espresso doesn’t imply abandoning specialty espresso rules. It may well imply selecting nice espresso and brewing it in a method that leverages each custom and fashionable data.
“For a lot of, it’s the beginning of a totally new espresso journey,” says Zoe. “And the attraction of a morning ritual appears to be on the rise—that and the need to make use of one thing straightforward and easy that may also be displayed in your house like a bit of artwork that doesn’t take up a lot house and feels a bit historic.”
I like specialty espresso, and likewise took one dwelling with me from London. It’s a romantic little moka pot for 2, with a twin spout, and it makes me comfortable each time I see it.
As Zoe and her model present, the moka pot might be each an object of design and a practical a part of a specialty espresso drinker’s each day routine. It doesn’t have to compete with precision instruments; it might stand proudly alongside them, providing one thing totally different, not higher or worse.
In spite of everything, isn’t specialty espresso alleged to embrace range, curiosity, and pleasure?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Charles (she/her) is a senior editor and author who is smart of the world’s messiest programs—local weather, commerce, tradition, meals—by sharp storytelling, recent angles, and evaluation. She interprets world politics and economics into tales that present how they form our each day lives, and vice versa. You’ll be able to attain her at sarahcharlz@gmail.com.
Subscribe and Extra!
As all the time, you’ll be able to learn Barista Journal in paper by subscribing or ordering a problem.
Learn the October + November 2025 Situation without cost with our digital version.
Without cost entry to greater than 5 years’ value of points, go to our digital version archives right here.
