Can You Be a Specialty Coffee Drinker and Enjoy the Moka Pot?

Zoe Cirrone, founder of My Moka Home, presents the moka pot as a love letter to Italian coffee culture.

BY SARAH CHARLES
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Photos by Sarah Charles

At the London Coffee Festival earlier this year, tucked between sleek espresso machines and futuristic grinders, I noticed a lovingly curated corner of moka pots. The stand—My Moka Home, founded by Zoe Cirrone—felt less like a showroom and more like a love letter to Italian coffee culture. Vintage models were displayed alongside bespoke designs while Zoe’s mother, who is Italian, told visitors stories about her memories of the moka pot in rural Italy. 

“My mum actually started selling vintage moka pots and cups over 10 years ago,” Zoe says. “I remember visiting her at markets and being amazed that she managed to find so many. I then left my job in advertising and decided to carry on the business for my mum who had moved abroad.”

“I gave it a brand name and a bit more of an identity that built on what she’d created. I wanted to educate people on how this incredible object holds so much Italian history and culture alongside design and functionality,” she adds. “I wanted to encourage people to take things a little slower in the mornings, use their favorite moka pot and cup, engage with clever design and get their home smelling of fresh coffee.”

Her stand was a sharp contrast to the rest of the festival floor, where much of specialty coffee was presented in the language of precision, purity, and control. My Moka Home celebrated something else entirely: heritage, ritual, and memory. You could almost say that it felt out of place, or even naive, in a place occupied by the elite specialty coffee “club.”

“This was my first ever festival setting outside of vintage markets,” says Zoe. “So I had no idea how it would be received and I was incredibly nervous to be around such well-known and established coffee brands. But I think it felt like a bit of respite amongst the gadgets and machines of the festival. I had so many conversations with people who were taken back to their own memories of using a moka pot or family members using one. The moka really is how coffee entered people’s homes. Without it, I am not sure how far the industry would have gone.”

For many specialty coffee drinkers, the moka pot doesn’t appear on the short list of “approved” brewing methods. The Aeropress, V60, or fancy La Marzocco espresso machine are far more likely contenders. The moka pot often carries a reputation for over-extracted, bitter cups more associated with an Italian grandmother’s kitchen than third wave coffee shops.

This made me wonder: Can you love specialty and still enjoy a moka pot?

Legacy Meets Specialty

The moka pot is more than just a brewing device; it’s an icon. Designed in the 1930s by Alfonso Bialetti, it has been a staple in households across Europe, Latin America, and beyond. Instant coffee aside, it represents one of the most democratic forms of coffee preparation: inexpensive, durable, and simple to use.

Specialty coffee, on the other hand, often prioritizes control: exact grind size, water temperature, extraction yield, TDS. To many, the moka pot feels unpredictable by comparison. But does unpredictability mean incompatibility?

Influencers and educators have already begun reframing the conversation. Morgan Eckroth recently made a TikTok video about moka pots, and James Hoffmann has dedicated a full YouTube series to them. Both suggest that while the moka pot may not offer the same precision as a V60, it can deliver satisfying, complex brews when used with intention.

“I feel like the moka pot is slowly heading into the specialty space because of the increased attention it’s gathered within the industry, with more tutorials and coffee being marketed towards moka pot users,” says Zoe. “However, I don’t think it will ever have a solid place and I also don’t believe it should. The concept and place of the moka is one of simplicity, authenticity, and everyday-ness. It should be celebrated for this and not trying to be something it’s not.”

More Than a Cup

Coffee isn’t always just about what’s in the cup. Sometimes, it’s about what surrounds it. For Zoe, the moka pot is not just an object but a cultural artifact: one that connects her to family, heritage, and the rhythms of daily life. 

“The moka pot has been part of my life since I can remember,” she says. “Every morning, my dad puts on the moka pot and brings it back to bed to share with my mum. He still does it to this day. It’s been part of all our childhood holidays (when visiting) my grandparents in Sicily. In the mornings, afternoons after lunch, and in the evenings, when neighbors would come around—it’s as much about ritual as it is about sharing, conversation, and being with friends and family.”

Nostalgia is a powerful flavor. The hiss and sputter of the moka pot on the stove, the smell filling the kitchen, the ritual of pouring it into little ceramic cups—aren’t these sensory cues as meaningful as tasting the perfect pourover?

In a specialty coffee industry that sometimes risks becoming too clinical, perhaps the moka pot reminds us of something vital: Coffee is also about culture and comfort.

“I think it has taken on quite a romantic representation—a nod to history and culture that newer coffee machinery and technology can’t replicate or even generate as when you use a moka,” says Zoe. “It has definitely also become a representation of slower and more intentional living.”

A Place for Both

Enjoying moka pot coffee doesn’t mean abandoning specialty coffee principles. It can mean choosing great coffee and brewing it in a way that leverages both tradition and modern knowledge. 

“For many, it’s the start of a completely new coffee journey,” says Zoe. “And the appeal of a morning ritual seems to be on the rise—that and the desire to use something easy and simple that can also be displayed in your home like a piece of art that doesn’t take up much space and feels a little historic.”

I love specialty coffee, and also took one home with me from London. It’s a romantic little moka pot for two, with a dual spout, and it makes me happy every time I see it.

As Zoe and her brand show, the moka pot can be both an object of design and a functional part of a specialty coffee drinker’s daily routine. It doesn’t need to compete with precision tools; it can stand proudly alongside them, offering something different, not better or worse.

After all, isn’t specialty coffee supposed to embrace diversity, curiosity, and joy?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Charles (she/her) is a senior editor and writer who makes sense of the world’s messiest systems—climate, trade, culture, food—through sharp storytelling, fresh angles, and analysis. She translates global politics and economics into stories that show how they shape our daily lives, and vice versa. You can reach her at sarahcharlz@gmail.com.

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