Photo/Illutration A cup of coffee (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

I recently received an email from a friend in Italy whom I have known for 40 years, updating me on the happenings in his life.

The message said he had lost both his parents during the COVID-19 pandemic and his child got married in the summer, leaving just he and his wife at home.

He was wrapped up in work and didn’t feel lonely for a while, but he teared up when he placed a new and smaller Macchinetta coffee maker on his stove.

The famous Bialetti Macchinetta (little machine), almost a staple in Italian households, is a stovetop caffettiera (coffee maker).

It has three steps: put water in the lower water chamber, pack ground coffee in the filter basket in the coffee chamber in the middle of the machine, then place the device on the heat.

When it boils, the coffee gurgles and collects in the top chamber.

Among the models of varying designs, the most famous is one bearing the “omino coi baffi” (the little man with the mustache) logo. The maker’s upper section is octagonal, made of aluminum, and available in various sizes.

As I think about my friend, who had switched from a long-loved six-cup size model to a three-cup one, I cannot help but imagine the loneliness of being part of a family that has shrunk.

The Macchinetta, more globally recognized as the Moka Express, was invented 90 years ago. The Great Depression also directly hit fascist Italy.

A man named Alfonso Bialetti invented the device after being inspired by the “lisciveuse,” a washing machine with a boiler consisting of a tube with a perforated upper end. He started selling the Moka Express under the slogan “In casa un espresso come al bar” (“An espresso at home, just like at a cafe”).

After the war, his son Renato took over the business, and the beloved Moka stovetop espresso maker, thanks in part to a media blitz, quickly became widespread.

Over 200 million units have been sold domestically and internationally, and it has also been chosen as a permanent collection piece at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The ashes of Renato, who passed away seven years ago, were placed in a giant replica of the iconic Italian coffee pot.

Oct. 1 was International Coffee Day. With more people consuming coffee at home due to the pandemic, the Macchinetta, deemed eco-friendly because it produces less waste thanks to its functional simplicity, is regaining attention.

Maybe I’ll brew a cup with my 10-year-old Macchinetta at home for the first time in many years.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 1

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.