Who knows if Alfonso Bialetti would he have ever thought that while watching his wife do the laundry, his name would enter the home of every Italian, it would arrive at the MoMA in News York and even at the Triennale in Milan. Yet she went exactly like this: Mr. Alfonso Bialettiwho in 1919 had opened a workshop for the production of semi-finished aluminum productswatching his wife wash the clothes with a «lisciveuse», proto-washing machine consisting of a tank with a central turret from which the water heated by a boiler rose, he thought about coffee. She thought more or less: «What if we used the same method to make coffee?». Thus it was that the brilliant idea supported by the entrepreneurial spirit produced, in 1933, the first Moka.
We must all say thank you to Alfonso Bialetti if the sound of the bubbling Moka and the smell of coffee lives somewhere happy in the memory of each of us. The Moka is in all probability the most loved object in the kitchen, certainly the best known (it has a brand awareness level of 100%), it is a cult object, but above all we like it because it is democratic (And the cheapest system for making coffee, with around €0.07 per cup)and it is also naturally eco-sustainable: the aluminum of the machine lasts a lifetime, it can only be washed with water, without soap and the only waste product is the coffee grounds (which can also be used to fertilize plants).
Its ninety years of history are a success that fortunately does not seem to stop: they are approximately 2 million Moka Express sold worldwide in one year (40% Italy, 60% Abroad), this is thanks to a careful vision of the company which innovates where it is needed (obviously the induction Moka pots have also arrived) and above all gives the right space to the traditional and timeless coffee machine, with special editions (like the one with Dolce & Gabbana), 100 Bialetti stores in Italy and a marketing in 90 countries of the world (with approx 1000 employeesand revenues for 152.9 million euros in 2022).
He tells us the story of the success of Moka Egidio Cozzi, CEO of Bialetti, a Coccaglio, in the province of Brescia, the current headquarters of Bialetti. We visit the company which has a fully automated production line from which the Moka pots come out one after the other, shining in aluminium, a material that Alfonso Bialetti had chosen because it was light and resistant.
Today the company has expanded its production: in addition to the Moka, in 2010 the project was born roasting, of which Bialetti follows all the phases: from the selection of the beans, to the roasting and grinding, up to the final packaging. In the same years the production of capsules for espresso machines with i Coffee of Italyblends designed with the idea of enhancing the differences in habits and taste in coffee consumption, from the north to the south of the Peninsula, while in 2020 Gioia arrives on the marketthe compact espresso machine with a pop design.
In the company we taste the different coffees to distinguish the aromas of the different blends, when arabica prevails and how much robusta there is, among Bialetti’s Caffè d’Italia blends, between the Milan, Turin, Venice, Rome, Naples, Palermo. But for those who love Moka the indispensable product is «Perfect Mocha», that is, the coffee that solves the doubts of all of us when we want to make the perfect Moka, the one ground to the right degree so that it releases its aroma and does not burn. It’s obvious, we asked for them «instructions» to prepare the perfect Moka, because that remains the art that every Italian is proud of. Here’s what Bialetti thinks:
How to prepare the perfect mocha
- The best water for making coffee is the one with less limescale: with harder water less is extracted, with bottled water the differences in flavor can be felt better.
- Put the water up to the valve.
- Place the coffee level, level it without crushing.
- Keep the flame low.
- Turn off immediately as soon as only water starts to come out to avoid the risk of burning the coffee.
Source: Vanity Fair
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