Because it's not technically espresso, I thought I'd post here and see if anybody has thoughts on moka pots, like the Bialetti Moka Express. It only is good for 1-2 bars of pressure, so you can't pull an actual espresso shot from my understanding. However, my espresso machine recently died, and for just over $20, I decided to give the Bialetti a shot. Damn if it doesn't make some damn good "espresso"! Bonus that it can sit on my stove or easily fit into a cabinet rather than taking up half my counter.

I would say it is somewhere between an espresso shot and a very strong cup of coffee.

Any thoughts on these things? I'm very strongly leaning towards using this thing to make my at home "espresso" and leaving the real stuff to the professional baristas, of which there are plenty in my hood.

thecoffeerooster.com wrote:Because it's not technically espresso, I thought I'd post here and see if anybody has thoughts on moka pots, like the Bialetti Moka Express. It only is good for 1-2 bars of pressure, so you can't pull an actual espresso shot from my understanding. However, my espresso machine recently died, and for just over $20, I decided to give the Bialetti a shot. Damn if it doesn't make some damn good "espresso"! Bonus that it can sit on my stove or easily fit into a cabinet rather than taking up half my counter.

I would say it is somewhere between an espresso shot and a very strong cup of coffee.

Any thoughts on these things? I'm very strongly leaning towards using this thing to make my at home "espresso" and leaving the real stuff to the professional baristas, of which there are plenty in my hood.

M.P. and similar don't make a true espresso, I make a mean Americano with a Moka Pot.
Only time I use them now is for entertaining my Italian side relatives (lol). I have a few including large variant.
No way I'm making 8+ consecutive espressos with my single lever.

Considering the amount of sugar and/or grappa they place in the espresso, I doubt they could judge mediocre to great espresso.

The grand majority of moka pot users overfill the basket and leave it over the burner way longer than it should.

But if you remember that the moka pot is a brewing method like any other, and that you can control parameters to affect the brew, you can dial in coffees to get some pretty pleasant stuff out of it. Dose and grind are two obvious things to experiment with, never use enough coffee that it has to be compressed in ore yo screw the top part back on. As for grind, err on the coarse side. Too fine will require a more pressure buildup and lead to overextraction.
Finally, you have some degree of temperature control with the water. I have to go back and find the article, but filling less water in the basin means the moka brews at a lower temperature. This is good to play with if your coffee has been "burnt" tasting.

The brew produced by a Bialetti is not really espresso, yet just about every Italian household uses it for their daily cafeine fix in the home environment. That does not mean the real thing is best left to the pros, of which this forum with all the expertise is the ultimate proof. With a quality grinder a very good cup of espresso can be had using a basic entry level portafilter machine, but in general the lower price range of machines requires a higher degree of barista skills.

Coming back to the Bialetti: I do enjoy using it on vacations, both for straight shots and cappuccinos. There is less intensity, less sweetness and a less syrupy texture compared to a shot pulled from a semiautomatic machine, but still with the right balance between acidity and bitterness the Moka pot yields an enjoyable drink. The most significant contribution to a good cup is still the use of beans of a recent roast date, ground fresh with a decent burr grinder.
I just bought an electric milkfrother (Illy) as well, which won't be good for latte art, but produces beautifully silky albeit thick foam.

The Bialetti Moka Pot gets no respect on this side of the ocean, but I have a customer that loves them.

I got one and following his lead the darn thing does a commendable job of making a nice cup of strong, not over extracted coffee.

Grind finer than they recommend, not quite espresso but in that direction.

Turn the heat way down once you get activity.

This is far easier on a gas range or gas hot plate, just above simmer really then you wont go over the top with heat or burn potential...

No complaints here with it as it really is its own animal for coffee style.

dominico wrote:The grand majority of moka pot users overfill the basket and leave it over the burner way longer than it should.

But if you remember that the moka pot is a brewing method like any other, and that you can control parameters to affect the brew, you can dial in coffees to get some pretty pleasant stuff out of it. Dose and grind are two obvious things to experiment with, never use enough coffee that it has to be compressed in ore yo screw the top part back on. As for grind, err on the coarse side. Too fine will require a more pressure buildup and lead to overextraction.
Finally, you have some degree of temperature control with the water. I have to go back and find the article, but filling less water in the basin means the moka brews at a lower temperature. This is good to play with if your coffee has been "burnt" tasting.

+ 10000 !!!

I was probably 5 years old when I got started with coffee, and it was either from a "greca" (Moka pot) or from a "media de café" (coffee sock).

It used to be brewed just like Dominico explained. Nowadays, I use the same protocol as Gabòr ("homobarista") with really, really great results. We use ours on a weekly basis.

Being an italian family, I grew up seeing those on many stovetops.

Also, every house had a percolator.

But absolutely, if you look at it with your enthusiast glasses on, you can make it perform nicely.

Of course, you can also pack it full of Medaglia D'oro Espresso Italian Roast, put it on the stove until its steaming, pour it into some demitasse's and serve with a twist of lemon and top it off with grappa, and have the classic italian coffee. Although I first had coffee when I was four years old, I was never a fan of "demitasse coffee". It was the percolated brew I enjoyed as a kid. Its really a shame that the percolator is like the one brewing device that you can't just add properly ground fresh roasted coffee too and get a great result, like you can with any other brewing method out there. The sound and aroma of a percolator working in the kitchen is something I do truly miss from my childhood.

Hey Jeff, when you say percolator, do you mean a moka pot? Or do you mean the stovetop pot with a glass knob on the top that shows the coffee spurting as it brews?

I am not Italian, but grown up here in Massachusetts, USA. My parents have always brewed coffee with the later definition of a percolator. They still do. And, I have a pretty nice 8 cup stainless percolator that actually makes pretty good coffee. Recently, I filled it with cold water and grinds and measured the water temp as it came spurting out over the coffee while brewing. It was NOT boiling, but rather 195 - 205 range over the 4 minutes of brewing. This is very close to ideal temps for brewing.

For years I brewed with a Bialetti 4 cup Brikka moka pot. Coffee was good and I usually made an Americano with it.

Any thoughts on these things? I'm very strongly leaning towards using this thing to make my at home "espresso" and leaving the real stuff to the professional baristas, of which there are plenty in my hood.

I really enjoy it, and use a 3 cup bialetti moka pot every morning for a latte. As others have said you can manipulate the extraction by controlling the fill level, how hot the water is when you pour it in, grind, and dose. Personally I like to fill about 70g of water which takes it to a hair below the relief valve on my 3cup pot. I use water just off the boil (it cools down quickly as it transfers heat to the pot while you screw in the top etc.), I use a medium-fine grind and use a combination of dose and compacting the grounds to affect the flow. the instructions say to use it on a medium flame but I blast it with high heat with the idea of shortening the total time the coffee grounds are sitting in that hot environment cooking away.

Also, I find that stopping the extraction at the right time (just as it begins to blond or gurgle) with a cold towel, bowl of ice water etc. is key to avoiding a burnt bitter taste in the cup.

The brew method does inherently bring out the lower notes in the coffee, so it doesn't always give you all that a third wave coffee has to offer. If I want a brighter cup that accentuates the floral or fruit notes in the bean, I'll brew it with an aero press or a pourover.

Let us know how you get on!

So far, I'm loving it! As some have said, I'm finding that I can really control the process. I have the 6-cup, so for just me I fill about half way to the pressure valve and also fill the filter about half way with coffee grounds. At first I was using some Colombian espresso grounds that I just wanted to use up, but now I've moved on to my favorite go-to grounds from my local neighborhood roaster in Chicago. With the local grounds (and grinding myself to my preference), it was night and day. I made one of the best iced Americano's that I've had in a really long time!