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What's the difference between a Moka pot and a coffee machine? Does coffee from a Moka pot have the same crema as espresso? Who invented the Moka pot?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, The "Moka pot" is a pressurized coffee extraction tool invented in 1933 by Italian engineer Alfonso Bialetti. Convenient, compact, and capable of extracting aromatic and delicious coffee, it has become a popular item on many shopping lists. If we were to say,

The "Moka pot" is a pressurized coffee extraction tool invented in 1933 by an Italian engineer, Mr. Alfonso Bialetti. It's convenient, compact, and can extract fragrant and delicious coffee, which is why it has become a popular item on many people's shopping lists.

If you're buying a Moka pot for its convenience and ability to extract strong coffee, then there's no problem. However, if your purchase is driven by the belief that the Moka pot can extract crema and you want to use this crema for latte art, then you should think carefully before making that decision.

Why? Because the crema extracted by a Moka pot is significantly different from the crema we often refer to - the one extracted by espresso machines that floats on the surface of espresso.

What is Coffee Crema?

What coffee enthusiasts call "crema" is often misunderstood as grease in the broad sense - referring to substances secreted from animals and plants that are insoluble in water. In reality, coffee crema refers to a layer of tiny bubbles filled with carbon dioxide and the lipids from the coffee beans themselves. Because this layer of bubbles is extremely fine and rich, giving people a creamy, thick sensation, it was named "Crema," a Spanish word meaning cream. Espresso coffee has more significant identifying features thanks to its existence. Later, when it was introduced to China, language barriers led people to misunderstand it as cream-like grease, so it became known as "grease" among the community.

Conditions for Creating Crema

There is only one condition for having this layer of crema, and that is the extraction method must use pressure. Through pressure combined with high temperature, the lipids in the coffee grounds are broken down into extremely small particles, which then combine with carbon dioxide to form bubbles, and finally, what we see as the golden crema on the surface of coffee. Like espresso machines, Moka pots also use pressurized extraction. Therefore, it can also extract similar substances. However, it's only similar - it cannot be as fine, rich, and persistent as the crema extracted by coffee machines. Why? Because there is an essential difference between them!

Differences Between Moka Pot and Espresso Machine Crema

This essential difference lies in the pressure each one uses! Espresso machines typically operate at 9 bar pressure, and if the resistance of the coffee puck is sufficient, the pressure might even increase further during extraction. Only such high pressure is enough to stabilize the structure of the bubbles, allowing the crema to have more abundant aroma and greater persistence.

In comparison, a Moka pot's pressure is only 2-3 bar, and even dual-valve models are the same. This pressure cannot extract bubbles with stable structures because the lipids within the coffee haven't been completely broken down by the pressure to combine with carbon dioxide. Therefore, these "crema" elements produced by a Moka pot are not only coarse but also dissipate quickly within a short time (about two minutes), making them unsuitable for latte art.

Because of this, the crema extracted by a Moka pot is considered by most people to be different from the "crema" extracted by coffee machines. However, even with this understanding, many friends still want to use a Moka pot to extract rich crema, which is not a difficult task. But we must clearly understand one point: more crema is not always better! (For details, you can refer to the article "Why Espresso Crema is a 'Scam'?")

To extract rich crema using a Moka pot, we only need to control the extraction pressure and select suitable coffee beans. As mentioned earlier, higher pressure allows for the extraction of richer crema; the more carbon dioxide contained in the coffee grounds, the more conducive it is to crema formation. You can still find relative explanations in the crema article mentioned above, so FrontStreet Coffee won't elaborate further here.