cafeteras

Cafetera is the common term in Spanish for a device used to brew coffee. In English, the equivalent is a coffee maker or coffee machine. Cafeteras vary widely in design but share the basic goal of extracting soluble compounds from ground coffee by passing heated water through the grounds. They range from simple stovetop pots to more complex electrically heated systems.

Common categories include drip coffee makers, which pour hot water over coffee held in a filter and let gravity deliver brewed coffee into a carafe; espresso machines, which force hot water through finely ground coffee under pressure; moka pots, which use steam pressure in a sealed metal vessel; French presses, which brew by immersion and then separate the grounds with a plunger; percolators and siphon (vacuum) brewers, which extract coffee through circulating water.

Materials used for cafetoras include heat-resistant metals and glass, such as stainless steel, aluminum, and borosilicate glass. Many devices employ disposable or reusable filters, with reusable metal or mesh filters becoming more common in recent decades.

History and development of cafetoras span several centuries. Modern filter coffee popularized in the early 20th century after Melitta Bentz introduced a paper filter. The moka pot, a popular stovetop brewer, was invented by Alfonso Bialetti in 1933. Espresso machines emerged in Italy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and evolved into the diverse range of fully automatic and semi-automatic models available today.

Care and sustainability notes: regular cleaning and descaling help maintain flavor and performance. Some cafetoras use single-serve capsules or pods, which raise environmental considerations regarding waste and recyclability.