Stovetop espresso maker; history and development

The Stovetop espresso maker has a rich and solid history that ensued from the year 1918. Alfonso Bialetti begins this rich history when he left France and went back home to Italy, away from the aluminum factory where he worked in France. In Italy he began a small metal industry building household stuff from washing machines to blenders and other stuff.

The basic idea about the Stovetop espresso coffee maker emanated from the washing machine concept. Alfonso upon observing the women in Crusinallo in Italy washing clothes in a sealed machine that had a boiler and a pipe that drew water into the vacuum and have the cloths washed decided to use the same concept to make an espresso maker that will help Italians enjoy the sweet, rich and strong espressos. In fact, he literally studied the washing machine mechanism to get the basic concept of the machine that is now well loved the world over for its quick and simple espresso making.

And as is true of many scientific innovations, much work is needed to actually have the desired result. Therefore, for Alfonso innovation of the espresso machine meant that prototype upon prototypes had to be build to create the perfect coffee maker. Aluminum was the original metal used to build the very first Stovetop espresso makers and not specifically out of design but out of an embargo on imported stainless steel enforced by Mussolini’s government. In fact, aluminum from the Italian aluminum ore was considered the “Italian metal.” As a result, it seemed to Bialetti that the espresso machine wasn’t going to last with aluminum as its metal component.

The technical hitch had to remain bedeviling until 1933 when Moka Express, the first Stovetop espresso machine was invented by Alfonso. This new machine derived its design in the common Italian coffee making service machines. But also had a very unique form about it that Alfonso said that the espresso could now be enjoyed in the home as in the bar. The Express became undoubtedly and inevitably the precursor of the Italian Stovetop espresso maker. And with so much gusto about it, it began selling massively in the Italian state. The sales were even more massive after the World War II after Alfonso’s son Renato became a member of the family business.

The sales heightening and the prominence of the Bialetti Stovetop espresso maker skyrocketing, other companies joined the bandwagon in using the Bialetti concept to build their own coffee makers. As a result of an ensuing competition, Renato chose a mascot of his father to become a solid fixture in all the Moka Express coffee makers therefore making a marked difference between the ‘real’ deal and the rivals’ coffee makers.

Aluminum is the basic metal for the coffee makers more than 70 years on because the manufacturers insist that it carries depth and flavor that existed in those Alfonso hey days. The coffee that is brewed by the Bialetti Stovetop espresso maker is still sweeter and prime for long use.