9 "cup" Bialetti Moka pot. Out the door for about $29. I'll start on sea trials in a few weeks...
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
Steve, sea trials as you are in the Navy or just giving the new moka pot a good workout? There is nothing wrong with Moka pots but I have not used mine in ...... OH, about 30 years!
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
Steve, sea trials as you are in the Navy or just giving the new moka pot a good workout? There is nothing wrong with Moka pots but I have not used mine in ...... OH, about 30 years!
sea trials are just a quirky misnomer - means the latter, trial and testing in actual usage, rigorously testing the full range of designed performance (i.e. not just going out for a jaunt).
If I'd known, you could have just sent me yours! LOL
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
I begged my darlin to buy me a moka pot for Christmas a couple of years back. What do you know, she did!
While I am more likely to use a french press, the bialetti moka pot makes this absurdly strong brew that is close to espresso and is a very sturdily-built product.
The one thing that I don't like about it is that you have to fill it all the way with grounds - there's not a way to make a smaller quantity. It makes about a mug full of super-strong coffee, so you either like to be wired or you'll only want to drink half of it at a time.
I put mine on the stove top at medium or medium/high setting and it gets rolling in about 5 minutes. If it takes too long, just crank up the heat.
Let us know how you like it!
For anyone who is OK with a used product, you can spot them in thrift stores often enough if you troll around. I think people get them for gifts and are then wondering what the heck it is, and why their Folgers doesn't taste good in it.
And after a handful of brews, I've decided to take it back.
It just isn't the brew method for me. It's as much of a pain to clean as a siphon brewer. Calculating brew ratio is too complicated. There's coffee water left in the bottom when the brewing is complete (because the water at the end has too much air in it and can carry some of the grounds back down into the brewing water). If you don't use a paper filter, fines can make their way into the final brew. It's difficult to be consistent and for me is really imprecise.
Waiting at the end is a decent coffee if you stumble on the right setup, otherwise it's overextraction city. Espresso - it sho' ain't. I don't prefer coffee at high strength (and part of the reason I'm just not into espresso), so I end up diluting to normal strength.
Putting a paper disc filter at the bottom and the top helps - it prevents some of the back draw of grounds down into the lower chamber, and prevents a lot of the fines from getting up into the produced coffee, but it isn't completely clear.
It is quaint, and has a certain allure, and when you get the brew right, it's as good as a high brew ratio press pot. But just "as good as". My wife didn't like any of the produced coffee, but I got a couple of brews that worked.
It's like finally getting a Fiat 124 Spyder running well - at the end you've got a well-running... Fiat 124 Spyder.
LOL
Maybe one day, when I'm bored and have nothing else to investigate, I'll return to the Moka pot, but for now I'll run my other brew methods to ground and fully understand them. I don't think the next revolutionary brew method will be based on the Moka pot - but my short time with the little device was fun anyways.
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
And after a handful of brews, I've decided to take it back.
It just isn't the brew method for me. It's as much of a pain to clean as a siphon brewer. Calculating brew ratio is too complicated. There's coffee water left in the bottom when the brewing is complete (because the water at the end has too much air in it and can carry some of the grounds back down into the brewing water). If you don't use a paper filter, fines can make their way into the final brew. It's difficult to be consistent and for me is really imprecise.
Waiting at the end is a decent coffee if you stumble on the right setup, otherwise it's overextraction city. Espresso - it sho' ain't. I don't prefer coffee at high strength (and part of the reason I'm just not into espresso), so I end up diluting to normal strength.
Putting a paper disc filter at the bottom and the top helps - it prevents some of the back draw of grounds down into the lower chamber, and prevents a lot of the fines from getting up into the produced coffee, but it isn't completely clear.
It is quaint, and has a certain allure, and when you get the brew right, it's as good as a high brew ratio press pot. But just "as good as". My wife didn't like any of the produced coffee, but I got a couple of brews that worked.
It's like finally getting a Fiat 124 Spyder running well - at the end you've got a well-running... Fiat 124 Spyder.
LOL
Maybe one day, when I'm bored and have nothing else to investigate, I'll return to the Moka pot, but for now I'll run my other brew methods to ground and fully understand them. I don't think the next revolutionary brew method will be based on the Moka pot - but my short time with the little device was fun anyways.
Wow, I am in a state of shock over these comments. First of all, with practice that trusty ol' moka pot can give you the brew of your life. It just takes experience. For example an americano made with it is spectacular, as well as using it for an espresso substitute. It is an awesome brew method used by millions in Europe as well as here in the US. Much different than a pourover brew. Keep at it and you may become an addict like me. Also, the occasional cuban coffee requires it.
Wow, I am in a state of shock over these comments. First of all, with practice that trusty ol' moka pot can give you the brew of your life. It just takes experience. For example an americano made with it is spectacular, as well as using it for an espresso substitute. It is an awesome brew method used by millions in Europe as well as here in the US. Much different than a pourover brew. Keep at it and you may become an addict like me. Also, the occasional cuban coffee requires it.
As I said - it just isn't the brew method - for me. It's just my opinons - there isn't a right or wrong way to brew coffee. I had my epiphany cup with a press pot decades ago.
It is a brew method used by millions in Europe as well as here, that is true - just not me. Lots of people love espresso, but again, another coffee-producing method that just isn't for me.
Personally, I've liked Americanos made from a Mypressi Twist (darn shame they don't make them anymore) much better than any I've had with a Moka - and I've had some pretty good ones from a Moka pot. This is just the first Moka pot I've owned, not the first time I've had coffee made from a Moka pot, nor the first time I've ever made coffee in one. This was the first time I've applied measurements to the results. Now that I've been hacking how to make stronger and stronger coffee from drip and AeroPress brewers, I just don't feel a need to pursue the moka method further for now.
I get the gist of how it works, I've made a couple 19% and 20% extractions, I've had them clarified and yes, they're pretty good - but I've got a backlog of other things I need to work on and just don't feel I need add "mastering a moka pot" to my "to do" list... LOL
Another observation - lots of oil droplets and overall oils in the end cup, with a general emulsion of oil. Reminds me of a really high brew ratio hot extraction or a half-strength espresso. Body is more than most other brew methods.
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
I'm disappointed to read this. I was looking forward with anticipation to your usual exhaustive exploration of a brew method. But instead of "sea trials" you gave up after only a handful of brews? It seems out of character somehow.
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