A Compact Coffee Maker That Brews Powerful Coffee
The Moka pot is one of the most popular coffee brewing equipment used in homes across the world. It is a stove-top coffee maker that brews coffee by passing boiling water pressurized by steam through ground coffee. Named after the Yemeni city of Mocha, which until the early eighteenth century, was a major port for Yemen’s coffee export to Europe, it was invented by an Italian engineer named Alfonso Bialetti in 1933. Alfonso Bialetti, the story goes, got the idea for the coffee pot after observing local women washing clothes on the banks of a lake.He saw that the wash was bubbled in tubs with a focal funnel in the centre. This channel would draw the soapy water up and redistribute it over the clothing. This was when Bialetti’s got the idea that a simple coffee machine could be fashioned on this model and could produce real “espresso type” coffee at home. This new model could vastly improve the extraction time, enabling fresh cups of coffee to be served quickly. Bialetti Industries continues to produce the same model under the name "Moka Express". Even though it was Alfonso who invented the Moka Pot, it was his son Renato Bialetti who made it a symbol of Italian style worldwide. Through clever marketing, Bialetti expanded the business transforming the coffee maker into a worldwide sensation. Fast forward 60 years, and the company, which Bialetti sold in the late 1980s, says it has sold more than 200 million Mokas internationally.
Bialetti’s Moka Express continues to be regarded as an iconic Italian design symbol. Starting from Italy, the Moka pot is today used even in Europe and in South America. It has become an iconic design, displayed in museums such as the Wolfsonian-FIU, Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, and the London Science Museum.
This little coffee maker that whipped up espressos almost instantly has experienced a resurgence in the last 3-5 years owing to its ability to produce delicious and intense coffee without using electricity. Convenient, easy to use and carry around, the Moka Pot is increasingly becoming the first choice for coffee brewing at home. Many have also been fascinated by the gurgle it makes as it brews coffee.
Araku Coffee as a brand has design & aesthetic at the very heart of it. It also is, an introduction to Coffeeology; a reinvention of the coffee experience as one of the finer things in life. Hence very early on into the inception of the brand, we decided to reinvent the approach to brewing coffee as well. We wanted to break the perception of coffee as a dull brown liquid that isn’t too pleasing to look at, gushing out of a machine at the press of a button.
Coffee is a fine epicurean drink that deserves a lot more attention and when the quality of it is as outstanding as Araku, the artisanal produce of farmers in the Eastern Ghats, we have to reinvent the coffee ritual entirely. A look at the brewing equipment that was available in the market, and we knew our challenge was to not only contemporize them as they lacked aesthetic & efficiency but to be path-breaking in our approach. Hardly any effort had been made with the South Indian Filter, or the French Press, or the Percolators and so if the coffee experience was to be elevated, there was a vital need to incorporate aesthetic into all the coffee accessories as well.
So, one of the first objects we conceptualized was our iconic Moka Pot, designed exclusively for Araku by award-winning Norwegian designers Anderssen & Voll.
Anderssen & Voll was established in the fall of 2009. Torbjørn Anderssen and Espen Voll were previously founders and running partners of the design group Norway Says. They work within various fields of design but focus on domestic objects. Design at A & V means being receptive to cultural and market influences. Anderssen & Voll have received several awards for their work; including Wallpaper Award, Red Dot Award, IF Award and Honorary Award for Best Design in Norway.
The designers had an Araku immersion tour in which they visited the Valley and various parts of Southern India to get a feel of the culture & aesthetic that exists within the country. Inspired by the same, they came up with the stunning accessories that Araku Coffee has to offer. For the Moka Pot, the designer duo's idea was to move away from the traditional boring sort of industrial design and transform it into a piece of art. Sometimes even called percolators because of their functionality, Moka Pots traditionally are shoved into a kitchen sink or a dishwasher immediately after brewing because they look like kitchen equipment with zero value for presentation. The idea was to change that and make the Moka Pot a conversation starter, a pleasing object to look at that you can show off to people, placed beautifully on your dining tables or absolutely anywhere!
The colors, ergo, fine lines, and the combination of metal and wood are an ode to Coffeeology; which includes combining knowledge with design to thrust a sense of aesthetic in our coffee ritual. The Araku Moka Pot is a heady cocktail of best in design combined with engineering & efficiency and therefore heralds a change in the world of coffee accessories.
In addition to its stellar looks, the Moka Pots are very easy to carry and can easily fit into hand luggage making it a perfect travel companion for a writer, an artist, a geek, almost everyone who is a coffee enthusiast! With a design that is so inclusive, warm, and welcoming in a range of vibrant colors, the Araku Moka Pots are a breakthrough in design and functionality, and the perfect partner to spend your daily coffee ritual with.
In partnership with designers Anderssen & Voll, Araku has developed a range of bespoke Italian coffee makers. A design representative of Scandinavian minimalism, this equipment would not just create the perfect brew for you in about 10 minutes, but would also blend in elegantly with your kitchen.
You can choose from any of the 6 colors from Araku’s stunning line of Moka Pots. Each Moka Pot’s brew chamber, water chamber, and filter are made with food-grade stainless steel for an optimal brewing experience. The insulated wooden handle has been put in place for safety and convenience. The Araku Moka Pot is a lovely centrepiece that makes delicious and intense coffee.
How To Use The Araku Moka Pot
A Moka Pot consists of three main parts, the water chamber, the filter, and the brew chamber. The filter sits in the to the water chamber which then screws on to the brew chamber. The water chamber is designed to hold the water where it will begin to boil and create pressure. This will push the water through the filter.
To brew the coffee, you will need to fill the water chamber with water and make sure to fill it just up until the pressure valve. If you want a stronger brew, you need to fill the water chamber with less water. The filter holds the fine ground coffee powder. You can either grind the coffee ourselves using a grinder or can order customized grinds at our website www.arakucoffee.in. The next step is to then assemble the brew chamber and the rest of the parts and then place the Moka Pot on a gas or induction stovetop. Once the water starts boiling, it will pass through our coffee powder and will extract all the coffee flavors. Upon placing your Moka Pot on a stovetop, do not keep the temperature too high. This can cause the water to pass through the coffee grounds too fast and there won’t be a complete and balanced extraction. Soon enough you will see a slow overflow of coffee through the central pipe of the Moka Pot. When you see the vapor being released from the pressure valve, you know that your coffee is ready to be served. You can use the Moka Pot itself to pour the coffee directly into serving cups. Your coffee is now ready and can be complemented with milk/sugar as per your taste preferences. However, do not use milk in the Moka Pot as it can cause damage to the equipment. Additionally, also refrain from boiling your Araku brew with milk as this will cause the milk to split.
To buy one of these stunning pieces of design, head to click here
