I love my Moka pot!

[Daliz]

I haven't seen that Brikka before. One more thing that I have to add to my list of things to buy.

Yeah you should, it's great! The Moka express is a great little thing sure, but the Brikka is even better I have both and lately it's been mostly the Brikka that I've used.

 

[OldSaw]

Mind you, I'm not an expert, just a fan. However, my understanding is that the term espresso used in a coffee sense is, like you say, "forcing hot water through finely ground coffee". Espresso machines force hot water, under pressure at (I think 20???) milibars through a tightly tamped (50lb) puck of grounds in less than 30 seconds.

Moka uses much lower pressure, and much more time to accomplish it's brew. While it may not be the same, it's still delicious!!

In this manner, Espresso varies from Moka, albeit they belong to the same family.

Sounds like you listen to the Talking Dog. Is that correct?

Here's mine. It's a Bialetti in stainless steel.

View attachment 46054

 

[Jasonian]

Mind you, I'm not an expert, just a fan. However, my understanding is that the term espresso used in a coffee sense is, like you say, "forcing hot water through finely ground coffee". Espresso machines force hot water, under pressure at (I think 20???) milibars through a tightly tamped (50lb) puck of grounds in less than 30 seconds.

Moka uses much lower pressure, and much more time to accomplish it's brew. While it may not be the same, it's still delicious!!

In this manner, Espresso varies from Moka, albeit they belong to the same family.

9bar, or ~130psi of pressure (on average... a lot of quality-driven retailers drop theirs to 8.5bar or so.. most don't intentionally go to 10, but you'll see "9-10bar" references here and there on the web.. which is a source of vast misinformation when it comes to coffee, at least).

Tamp pressure depends on the barista. The "industry standard" in the US was 30lbs. about ten years ago. These days, there are multiple theories in use, and this can range from next to none on up to 50lbs. ("next to none" being the new standard in Italy, these days)

Extraction time can range from 20 to 45 seconds, depending on the coffee, the barista, and the intended results. Sometimes even less, and sometimes more, but it's usually pretty close to 30 seconds.

 

[danek]

I am no expert either. Just the observations of a cranky old fart. In Italy I noticed that almost every bar made excellent coffee. Bars there are like coffee shops that serve alcohol if you desire and many would sell gelato as well. Every bar had a coffee machine. Many had an old ornate one with lots of brass and copper, but most had the more modern versions. The Barista would efficiently serve you but didn't have a proprietary language that Star bucks and that ilk have developed. Incidentally Barista pretty much means bartender or counter man where I lived. Over here I think we created much hoopla and marketing around the experience. A venue to micro analyze it and develop a whole culture of coffee snobbery that I never saw in Italy. Now that was 25 or so years ago, so it is possible that now even in Italy, they insist that you call a small coffee a tall and are contaminating it with caramel and whipped cream.

That's precisely my point; it's unfortunate that people have paired "espresso" to outfits like Starbucks. Espresso doesn't need to have carmel and mocha and whatever artifical flavors added to it - that's an American, appeal-to-the-soccer-moms marketing ploy.

At home, to have great coffee, a $2,000 machine isn't necesarry. A 70? year old contraption will extract a great deal of flavor using a large propotion of grounds to water. It's a simple device that uses basic, yet profound physics to deliver a fantastic cup.

To hell with the "vente-half-calf-carmel-cinamon-low-fat-macchiato"...

 

[OldSaw]

That's precisely my point; it's unfortunate that people have paired "espresso" to outfits like Starbucks. Espresso doesn't need to have carmel and mocha and whatever artifical flavors added to it - that's an American, appeal-to-the-soccer-moms marketing ploy.

At home, to have great coffee, a $2,000 machine isn't necesarry. A 70? year old contraption will extract a great deal of flavor using a large propotion of grounds to water. It's a simple device that uses basic, yet profound physics to deliver a fantastic cup.

To hell with the "vente-half-calf-carmel-cinamon-low-fat-macchiato"...

My wife always gets all that macchiato, pumpkin spice crap. Then when it's my turn to order I always ask them if they have coffee flavored espresso or cappuccino. Sometimes they give me a weird look like I don't know what I'm talking about. So I explain I just want a plain one with none of that macchiato crap in it and especially no stinking pumpkin spice!

 

[Daliz]

To hell with the "vente-half-calf-carmel-cinamon-low-fat-macchiato"...

Simple is beautiful (with as few electrical gadgets as possible).
Old-school hand grinders, french presses and mokapots for the win

 

[MotoMike]

To hell with the "vente-half-calf-carmel-cinamon-low-fat-macchiato"...

 

[ogopogo]

To hell with the "vente-half-calf-carmel-cinamon-low-fat-macchiato"...

Don't forget the soy "milk".

 

[Jasonian]

Don't forget the soy "milk".

edamame has "teets"?

 

[snufflesdarkness]

I have been using a moka pot since 2005. A friend of mine used one and then I got one. It makes a very strong tasting coffee. Its true, do not use fine grind, it will tear up the gasket and give you sludge. Usually I drink coffee black, maybe some sugar, but if I use any creamer, its Irish Cream. For a little flavor. Has anyone tried the mukka pot?

 

[OldSaw]

Mind you, I'm not an expert, just a fan. However, my understanding is that the term espresso used in a coffee sense is, like you say, "forcing hot water through finely ground coffee". Espresso machines force hot water, under pressure at (I think 20???) milibars through a tightly tamped (50lb) puck of grounds in less than 30 seconds.

Moka uses much lower pressure, and much more time to accomplish it's brew. While it may not be the same, it's still delicious!!

In this manner, Espresso varies from Moka, albeit they belong to the same family.

I was listening to the talking dog again and got thinking about you. Are you a fan?

 

[syzygy]

Here's the secret with a stove top: fill the bottom with boiled water so the grounds don't have to be brought up to temp with the water. Sit it on a pot holder, fill with boiled water, quickly screw it together and put it back on the burner and your results will be much better. And even better still if you pull it off the burner right before it starts to spit - the first 70% that is extracted is by far the best stuff!

 

[danek]

I was listening to the talking dog again and got thinking about you. Are you a fan?

I don't know what "talking dog" is, so unforturnately, no. My statement must just be a coincidence to what you are referring to. Sorry

 

[danek]

Here's the secret with a stove top: fill the bottom with boiled water so the grounds don't have to be brought up to temp with the water. Sit it on a pot holder, fill with boiled water, quickly screw it together and put it back on the burner and your results will be much better. And even better still if you pull it off the burner right before it starts to spit - the first 70% that is extracted is by far the best stuff!

I'll definitley give that a go, haven't tried that bit yet. In my very limited physics knowledge, I understood that as the water in the first vessel heats up, a vacuum (sp?) in the upper device "sucks" the water through the grounds. I wouldn't have thought that the temparature of the grounds would have much effect.

 

[syzygy]

I have been using a stovetop for 15 years and it is still my favourite method. One of the reasons a burr grinder is better than a blade grinder is that the chopping action of the blade causes the grinds to heat up and you lose some of the flavour. By using boiled water the grounds are less affected and the flavour better retained. Also, don't grind until just before you fill the little basket - that aroma that comes off of freshly ground beans is way better in the cup than floating around in the air! Check out Stumptown Coffee roasters site - they are incredibly knowledgeable about methods and they talk about this one.

www.stumptowncoffee.com

 

[danek]

Check out Stumptown Coffee roasters site - they are incredibly knowledgeable about methods and they talk about this one.
www.stumptowncoffee.com

Stumptown in Portland, OR is a great roaster. That's one of the benefits of living in the NW, there are LOTS of great roasters around here. But, before anyone ordered coffee from the web, I'd highly recommend they get to know a local roaster - fresh coffee makes a huge difference.

 

[OldSaw]

I don't know what "talking dog" is, so unforturnately, no. My statement must just be a coincidence to what you are referring to. Sorry

OK, I just thought you might be a fellow listener. He is a bluegrass DJ from Australia.

 

[OldSaw]

I have been using a stovetop for 15 years and it is still my favourite method. One of the reasons a burr grinder is better than a blade grinder is that the chopping action of the blade causes the grinds to heat up and you lose some of the flavour. By using boiled water the grounds are less affected and the flavour better retained. Also, don't grind until just before you fill the little basket - that aroma that comes off of freshly ground beans is way better in the cup than floating around in the air! Check out Stumptown Coffee roasters site - they are incredibly knowledgeable about methods and they talk about this one.

www.stumptowncoffee.com

Thanks for the link.

 

[fuzz2050]

The other is a 6-cup standard moka pot, suitable for making moka for a number of people, e.g. at a dinner party, etc.]

I'm obviously doing something wrong, I drink a full one of those each morning.

 

[JDC]

I had one of those in Italy and barely use it now. Think I should dust it off. Remember, Cappucio and Caffe Latte before noon, Cafe the rest of the day. Sure way to spot tourist.