A combo coffee/espresso maker

[Trius]

I bought one of those today while looking for something else. I'm a little puzzled over how I can make it work for my usual lattes, but I'm excited about the mechanics of it. I should be in for a real treat.

Thank you, Trius. About the "explosion" - what am I to expect? Do I leave the lid closed or do I need to monitor the flow?

Also, this moka pot is aluminum. Do I need to make a batch and throw it out in order to "prime" the pot?

Great questions!

The "explosion" is nothing to fear; Bialetti recommends to keep the lid open. I agree with this, as I think you get slightly better crema. It's never escaped the chamber even with the lid open.

As for seasoning the pot, yes, the first pot will not be very good, so I would use "junk" coffee that you don't care about. It's been awhile, but I think the moka was good on at least the 3rd pot, maybe even the 2nd.

Another thing -- don't use soap or detergent to clean the Brikka (or any aluminum moka pot) -- normally I just rinse and scrub with a nylon scrubby. Sometimes I polish up the exterior with a non-abrasive cleaner such as Bon Ami. I have even used Bon Ami on the boil pot interior. The boil pot, for some reason, doesn't dry well even when you put it in a dish drainer or on a counter top, mouth down. I haven't gotten to the stage of drying it out with a towel yet, but I probably should. Still and all, my moka/espresso tastes fine with only minimal care of the pot.

One thing I might recommend is to buy a repair/spares kits when you buy the Brikka. This is in case you do something stupid and the seals get shot. Not that I would have ever, in the fog of pre-coffee-morning, attempted to make espresso with no water ...

 

[TimmyBoston]

Yama coffee syphon $30.00-40.00.
Mocha pot (stove top) $20.00-40.00
French press $15.00-40.00.
And then there is the good old pour over cone filter method that should run you about ten bucks total.

Part of the fun is just experimenting with the different brewing methods that are available. So just remember to have fun, and remember that each brewing device will highlight something different in the coffee.
Enjoy!
DJ.

I use an Aeropress, which makes great coffee, but it takes a ton of coffee grounds to make a cup, so much so that I don't get to drink coffee very often because I can't afford it. Is there a good method for brewing that doesn't take as much ground coffee to make a cup. Thanks!

 

[Spacegeezer]

I use an Aeropress, which makes great coffee, but it takes a ton of coffee grounds to make a cup, so much so that I don't get to drink coffee very often because I can't afford it. Is there a good method for brewing that doesn't take as much ground coffee to make a cup. Thanks!

It depends what you consider a lot - I haven't used the aeropress, so I don't know how much you're talking about.

I have a 2-shot Bialetti stainless steel Moka pot that uses about 1.5-2 tablespoons of grounds and a 6 shot Bialetti-ripoff (but made in Italy) SS Ikea pot that uses about 1/4 of a cup. Maybe a bit less, I'm not sure.

I went with stainless because I don't have to worry about ruining the flavour by cleaning the pot, although it's slower to heat up. I wish they had one with a copper base or something - though that'd still have to be lined with SS, I guess. All of Italy and space or budget conscious people around the world have been using the Aluminum pots without complaint for decades, so I guess I should just suck it up and switch. I'd like to try 'em back to back and see just how much difference there is before I spend the money, though.

 

[Dinder1]

I use an Aeropress, which makes great coffee, but it takes a ton of coffee grounds to make a cup, so much so that I don't get to drink coffee very often because I can't afford it. Is there a good method for brewing that doesn't take as much ground coffee to make a cup. Thanks!

Tim,
Try using a small vac pot. Yama makes a 2, 3, and 5 cup model. I think that you would be impressed with the results.

 

[TimmyBoston]

Tim,
Try using a small vac pot. Yama makes a 2, 3, and 5 cup model. I think that you would be impressed with the results.

Do you recommend the stovetop or the tabletop brewer?

 

[bishop]

I've made a few rounds of espresso and lattes with the moka pot. I definitely want a higher-quality pot such as a Brikka...this cheap aluminum off-brand I found at Ross makes pretty good espresso, so a quality pot should be even better!

I did find one at BB&B that has a "pull for cappuccino" knob...I assume it introduces more air to the bubbling espresso and makes a better crema. The pot I have now doesn't do much with crema. I have been steaming/frothing my milk with the Krups machine.

A very good find and advice. I think I'll invest in a good Brikka pot and then keep the Krups machine for steaming the milk (and an occasional forced-steam espresso to remind me how good the moka pot method is).

 

[Suzuki]

My experience is that if you can't/don't want to spend the money on a really good machine, the Mocha is the way to go. For very little money, you can consistently get a really good cup of espresso-like coffee.

There are bigger ones out there if you want to make coffee for more than one, as well as fancier stainless models for those who don't want to use aluminum cookware.

 

[kingb71]

Upon reading this, I know have a few questions.
I have a Bialetti pot, a larger Moka Express I think. & I notice that there is no crema on top of my espresso. Am I doing something wrong? Maybe the heat is on too high?
I'm not grinding my own beans (I'm not that hard core yet, plus have no more cupboard or counter space), but am just using store bought pre ground stuff.
Also, I have black discolouration in the bottom chamber where the water goes. Did I overheat the pot while empty or something?