ESPRESSO, BUT PRONTO.

READ HERE THE FULL INTERVIEW: https://www.spiegel.de/stil/bialetti-tueftler-aus-mailand-veraendert-ikonische-moka-express-a-e9ee1c01-f230-4991-86a7-f5912eede17c?giftToken=dc4891c4-7a77-4a26-b492-80da8611724d

READ THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION BELOWE:

ESPRESSO, BUT PRONTO.

The Moka Express by Bialetti is considered a perfectly designed espresso maker. Now, a tinkerer from Milan has made a decisive change: his Moka bubbles faster. But in Italy, that’s ruffling the feathers of those who enjoy waiting for their coffee.

SPIEGEL: For many people, waiting for coffee and then enjoying it is a daily ritual. Why do you want to shorten that time now?

Matteo Frontini: I actually find it a bit strange that everyone’s talking about time now. May I briefly explain how the idea came about? It wasn’t about saving time at all.

SPIEGEL: Then what was it about?

Frontini: In August 2024, I was in the mountains. It was wonderful — a great house — but one thing bothered me: it took forever for the water in the Moka to boil up. I had to keep changing the gas canisters. Four, five times. Then I’d had enough. I thought: I’m an engineer, there must be a solution! So I started thinking about thermodynamic basics — the kind you learn in your first semester at university. We optimized the flow of hot air in the lower part of the Moka. The surface area that absorbs heat has been increased. Perhaps the name is misleading — “Turbo Moka.” But I never wanted to save time; I wanted to save gas.To those who say they prefer to wait longer for their coffee, I say: folks, just turn the flame down to the lowest setting. Then you can still wait your five minutes, but you’ll use less fuel. If you don’t want to save time, at least you can save resources.

Matteo Frontini, born in 1990, is an engineer and designer. He studied in London and Cambridge and now lives in Milan. Until recently he made e-bikes; last year he came up with the idea for the Turbo Moka.

SPIEGEL: How did you implement the idea?

Frontini: I bought some copper pieces and welded them onto my old Bialetti. It looked a bit like a monstrous hedgehog. But it worked. So then I started drawing.

SPIEGEL: On Instagram you can be seen in a video standing in front of a gas stove: two equally strong flames, two Mokas of the same size for three cups of espresso. You say the taste is the same. Yours takes 106 seconds, the Bialetti Express 158. For 52 seconds I should spend 85 euros?

Frontini: Try calculating that over your whole life! The Moka lasts forever — it’s almost indestructible. Besides, we’re now working on a larger six-cup Moka. Tests show that ours takes 125 seconds, the other 240 seconds. We’re even considering designing frying pans based on this model.

SPIEGEL: The Moka Express bubbles daily in thousands of households in Italy and all over the world. It’s a design icon, even displayed at the MoMA in New York. It’s considered a perfect product. Do you disagree?

The Moka ExpressOctagonal, simple, yet spectacular: Alfonso Bialetti is said to have come up with it in 1933. The name refers to the Yemeni port city of Mocha. After World War II, the aluminum — and later steel — pots were marketed with great success. They became a symbol of Italian coffee culture. Company head Renato Bialetti was buried in 2016 in an urn shaped like a Bialetti Moka. In April 2025, the brand was acquired by Chinese entrepreneur Stephen Cheng from Hong Kong.

Frontini: At Bialetti, they’d probably say it’s perfect. But when the Moka came out, many Italians were using wood stoves. Since then, the product has never been changed.

SPIEGEL: Why not?

Frontini: “That’s the Moka, that’s just how it looks.” No one ever questioned it. I also owe the idea to a professor I had in London, who always taught us: engineers must think across disciplines — always question things and look at the whole system!

SPIEGEL: What does Bialetti think of your invention?

Frontini: We haven’t had any contact. You know, Bialetti is going through changes right now. The brand was bought by a Chinese fund in April. Many parts are no longer produced in Italy.

SPIEGEL: How do you produce yours?

Frontini: Some of the parts come from former Bialetti suppliers in Piedmont. There are four of us — a very small company. In Milan, we assemble the pieces. The lower part, which makes our Moka special, we manufacture ourselves. I’ve invested all my savings in it. In April, we presented the Moka at the Salone del Mobile furniture fair in Milan. It went quite well — influential people liked it — then it went viral. When something goes viral, it can quickly disappear again, I know that. But we’re getting many inquiries from around the world and now want to grow slowly. Of course, I hope the Turbo Moka will become a classic one day.

SPIEGEL: It also looks a bit like it’s in a hurry — off to the next meeting. What was your design idea?

Frontini: Maybe it’s simply a Moka for our times. As an engineer, it’s very important to me that everyday objects are not only functional but also aesthetic.