clynch Senior Member Joined: 5 Jun 2011 Posts: 2 Location: Pensacola Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Smartgrinder Roaster: Freshroast
Posted Tue Nov 20, 2012, 1:11pm Subject: Re: Confessions of a Brikka Lover
Wow, this is a long thread!!! I've enjoyed reading it but I'm getting a bit confused.
Would I esentially be correct in saying a moka pot leans towards the coffee side? Especially the 8-10 cup models that are being offered. 2 Brikka leans towards espresso shots? More crema because of the valve on top? I do understand its not 9 bar pressure with true espresso.
"crem" styles give you the ability to add milk if you wish to make a latte or cappucino drink? I'd like to try one pf these but I only want one general pot. I believe a 6 cupper would get me 2 decent size cups. Also, I suppose I could get the crem style, not put in milk, and it would mimic the brikka? I'm leaning towards something that makes cappucino's with the milk in it.
Enkerli Senior Member Joined: 1 Aug 2004 Posts: 711 Location: Montreal, Qc Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: (At cafés, not at home) Grinder: Hario hand grinders Vac Pot: (Moka Pot) Bialetti Brikka Drip: Steep and release pour-over Roaster: iRoast-2
Posted Sat Dec 15, 2012, 7:32am Subject: Re: Confessions of a Brikka Lover
clynch Said:
Would I esentially be correct in saying a moka pot leans towards the coffee side? Especially the 8-10 cup models that are being offered. 2 Brikka leans towards espresso shots? More crema because of the valve on top? I do understand its not 9 bar pressure with true espresso. "crem" styles give you the ability to add milk if you wish to make a latte or cappucino drink? I'd like to try one pf these but I only want one general pot. I believe a 6 cupper would get me 2 decent size cups. Also, I suppose I could get the crem style, not put in milk, and it would mimic the brikka? I'm leaning towards something that makes cappucino's with the milk in it.
Welcome to our thread! So, yes, Brikka is closer than espresso than is any other moka pot. At the same time, it should be clear that what it produces is still quite different from espresso. Not that it’s not as good, but it’s significantly different. Haven’t tried any of the moka pots which combine milk, partly because I’m not drinking any milk-based coffee drink. They sound interesting but I’m not sure they really produce what people expect it might produce. I also expect that they’re meant to always be used with milk. If you want cappuccino instead of latte, it’s likely difficult to achieve in something like this, as you probably don’t have much control on the proportion of steamed vs. frothed milk.
Any specific reason you’re not using it? What’s your main method, these days?
My routine, these days, is to start with an AeroPress, followed by a moka pot. Then, when I need something espresso-like (for instance, for a quick boost while I’m grading), I whip up the Brikka. I’ve also started drinking more tea (wulong in a mixing teapot, green in a glass teapot). But that’s another story.
My Preciso grinder (that I mentioned in late October) is helping with my routine in that it’s easy and quick to go back and forth between grind levels. Because I grind quite fine for AeroPress (between 5–7), going to a coarser grind for moka pot or Brikka allows me to get some remaining grounds out of the grinder without affecting the burr. I do this by running it empty for a few seconds, once it’s at that coarser level (12–14). Not sure the quality of my moka pot or Brikka coffee has improved tremendously from using a Hario handmill, but the convenience of switching does make a huge difference. Also, the fine grind I use for AeroPress would take so much time on the handmill that I’d rarely use it.
I tend to put the moka pot or Brikka basket right underneath the Preciso chute. It’s noisier, but it’s convenient. Distribution of grounds isn’t so important with moka pots, but if it were, that method would seem appropriate.
So, moka pots are still a big part of my coffee experience. Mentioned this thread to someone in the coffee biz and we had a discussion about the “trick” to make moka pots work. The short version, for me, is always the same: play with your heat source. I still maintain it’s the key thing. If you’re getting a burnt or metallic taste, it probably has to do with the heating process, either too hot or not hot enough. Other things matter, but heat seems to be the key thing for people who get started in moka pot coffee.
I’m finishing a cup of year-old Yirg that I roasted yesterday. Tastes like celery/fennugreek. Less unpleasant than the baggy flavours I was getting originally. I should definitely get fresher beans.
johnny4lsu Senior Member Joined: 27 May 2011 Posts: 78 Location: The Sticks Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: NS Oscar Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly Drip: Clever, Chemex Roaster: Behmor 1600
Posted Sat Dec 15, 2012, 8:18am Subject: Re: Confessions of a Brikka Lover
Seems as though I could never quite tweak my formula just right to get a decent cup. I use the moka pot much more these days and frequent a local coffee shop that is awesome!
I'm actually waiting on this machine to arrive in the next few months. I was able to get in as an early backer. Click Here (www.kickstarter.com)
1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
transient Senior Member Joined: 5 Nov 2011 Posts: 6 Location: Turkey Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Evolution, Bialetti... Grinder: Hand Mill Roaster: Popcorn popper
Posted Sat Dec 15, 2012, 11:41am Subject: Re: Confessions of a Brikka Lover
Enkerli Said:
The short version, for me, is always the same: play with your heat source. I still maintain it’s the key thing. If you’re getting a burnt or metallic taste, it probably has to do with the heating process, either too hot or not hot enough. Other things matter, but heat seems to be the key thing for people who get started in moka pot coffee.
I think the water level might be playing an important role on brewing temperature as well.
The long story: i came to Germany about two months ago, and brought my 4c Moka Express with me. I used to have a gas stove at home and i was happy with my pot. But here i had to use an electric stove, and my pot insisted on making coffee that was not hot enough. At first i thought this was because of the heat level, i played with the various settings on the stove (and it doesn't have many: 1-5). Changing the heat level changes the brew time, but it doesn't seem to affect the final temperature.
I was actually about to give up and blame the electric stove, but then i had the idea of playing with the water level. I used to fill the pot to about 1cm lower than the mark (as per your generic moka instructions) and it used to work fine at home; but not here. So, when i finally tried it with more water, the coffee got hotter. What i found after many trials is that, when i fill the pot to just a little below the mark (maybe 2-3mm), the coffee comes out right. When i fill it exactly to the mark, it has a burnt flavor. And when i fill it less, it's not hot enough, and thus a bit sour.
So, the water level seems to let me control the brewing temperature, which is pretty cool. But it also seems to get a bit sensitive around that mark -- a tiny bit of more or less water can prevent the coffee from coming out "just right". I haven't brought my scale with me, so i try to adjust the water level "by eye", which is a bit of a hit-miss.
By the way, since you mention it, i also brought my Aeropress with me, and some days i use that instead of the Moka. But for Aeropress, i've been grinding a bit coarser than Moka, because it seemed to be the "general internet advice" :) Now i'm curious to try it with a finer grind.
Indeed. But it’s one that should be pretty constant, usually. Interesting effect that you got, especially since the heat level couldn’t correct it. I’ve mostly been using electric heat and was always able to find the sweet spot. In fact, I’m not very careful with the water level in my 6c Moka Express. Had tried a number of things with water level (including overfilling) but I didn’t find that it helped so much. Maybe I could resume my experiments.
transient Said:
By the way, since you mention it, i also brought my Aeropress with me, and some days i use that instead of the Moka. But for Aeropress, i've been grinding a bit coarser than Moka, because it seemed to be the "general internet advice" :) Now i'm curious to try it with a finer grind.
To be clear: I’m using the “S-Filter” on my AeroPress. Went all the way down to the finest level on my Preciso (which could work for a coffee brewing method associated with your home country, but let’s not get into that). Even with that “powder”, I wasn’t really getting fines in the cup. Pretty much the same with the Coava disk, though. The method I use is a variation on the inverted method in that, instead of inverting, I put the plunger back to keep the liquid in, for as long as I want. A few drops come down but nothing to impact the cup.
That’s a bit sad, but as long as you get quality coffee, we’re fine.
Let us know about the Polyakov machine. I’ve been considering getting into home espresso. I still don’t get that much enjoyment out of most espresso, even when it’s really well crafted (including shots which would place well in championships). But maybe I’d have some fun making it at home.
My theory is (and it may be completely wrong) that; the more water there is, the less space is left for steam, so it takes longer to build up enough steam force to push the water up, and meanwhile the water gets hotter.
I also had this cold-coffee problem with my Brikka back at home with my gas stove, but i hadn't thought of adding more water. Lowering the heat had helped a little, but it hadn't solved it completely. Maybe a little more water would have accomplished that. Well, something to try when i go back (i didn't bring the Brikka with me).
Thanks for mentioning the S-Filter, i was thinking about getting a non-paper filter for my 'Press, to let the coffee oils through. This one looks good. I actually haven't experimented with Aeropress all that much. I've been trying the inverted method, and the coffee usually comes out good, but it's not as good as my "good" Moka brews, something seems to be missing. I suspect the paper filter is to blame.
Posted Sun Dec 16, 2012, 9:12am Subject: Re: Confessions of a Brikka Lover
I don't normally fill mine up to capacity (I use only about 14-16 grams for my 2cup) nor grind anything finer than drip. This thing acts much like pressurized portafilters wherein things can potentially go wrong if you let anything other than the intended pressurization system restrict the water flow.
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