The moka pot is a stove-top or electric coffee maker that brews coffee by passing hot water driven by vapor pressure and heat-driven gas expansion through ground coffee. Named after the Yemeni city of Mocha, it was popularized by Italian aluminum vendor Alfonso Bialetti and his son Renato starting from 1933.It quickly became one of the staples of Italian culture. Bialetti Industries continues to produce the original model under the trade name "Moka Express". 

Spreading from Italy, the moka pot is today most commonly used in Europe, Latin America, and Australia. It has become an iconic design, displayed in modern industrial art and design museums including the Wolfsonian-FIU, the Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, the Design Museum, the London Science Museum, The Smithsonian and the Museum of Modern Art. Moka pots come in different sizes, making from one to eighteen 50 ml (2 imp fl oz; 2 US fl oz) servings. 

After surviving aluminum shortages during World War II, Alfonso’s son, Renato Bialetti, propelled the company to global fame in the 1950s by introducing the whimsical “little man with a moustache” mascot—a caricature of himself stamped on every pot. Renato’s marketing genius turned the moka pot into a household staple across Europe and beyond. His 2016 passing was marked by a fitting tribute: his ashes were interred in a giant moka pot, underscoring the family’s deep ties to the brand.

Bialetti first acquired his metal-working skills by working for a decade in the French aluminium industry. By 1919 he had established his own metal and machine workshop in Crusinallo (his native Piedmont) to make aluminium products: this was the foundation of the Bialetti company. He transformed his workshop – Alfonso Bialetti & C. Fonderia in Conchiglia – into a studio for design and production.