This is the best method for delicous Moka Pot coffee
Chances are, you've seen one of these somewhat confusing little devices. Maybe at a your local bodega, parent's or grandparent's home, even some camping enthusiasts may have one of these kicking around.
Regardless if where, or if you've even seen one, they are very popular, especially in Italy, where in some places, if you ask for espresso, this is what they'll use to make it, and im not going to argue with them.
The trick with these is that they are capable of making some delicous coffee. They are also capable of producing some of the most horrendous coffee you'll ever encounter. All of this comes down to the method, which we'll dive into next. Note: If your Nonna's method is different, I will defer to her. Nonna always knows best. Im not looking to start an international incident here.
Start with Good Coffee Beans
Get yourself some good coffee, something you already know you like. For an even more authentic experience, (this is one of the only times i'll suggest this) is to buy some pre-ground Italian style coffee from your local grocer. You may have seen those vacuum sealed, Lavazza options on the shelf. Start here. There are better options of course, but this may just end up being to your liking. The idea here is to make this as easy as possible.
Get the kettle on
That's right. Get that kettle on and boil some water. We do this first to avoid scorching the coffee we're about to add to the hopper. If we allow the water to heat up from cold, it increases the amount of heat the ground coffee is exposed to, creating bitterness.
Fill the bottom of the Moka Pot to just under the release valve. Filling further than the release valve can cause some safety concerns. One being rendering the safety release useless. Let's not do that.
Fill the coffee hopper
With your coffee of choice, fill the little coffee hopper level to the lip. You don't need to mound it. You also don't need to tamp your coffee like you would an espresso portafilter. Just clean up the edges to ensure a proper seal with the main body.
Pro tip: If you have one, place a dampened aeropress filter on top of your coffee hopper. They should be the same size or very close. This will produce a very clean cup of coffee.
Put it all together
At this point you can attach the top portion to the bottom. Be careful here as the bottom portion will be quite hot due to the boiling water. You also don't have to muscle this too tightly. Snug is enough.
Place the Moka Pot on your oven at just above medium heat, and open the lid to watch what happens. This part will take some practice. What you want to avoid is a huge violent eruption once the coffee springs forth. If that's the case your heat is too high. Next time, reduce it slightly. You want a calm, flow of coffee from the spigot.
Once your Moka Pot is around half full, remove it from the heat. and let it fill with the residual heat. Once it gets as full as you want it. Run the bottom under cold water to stop the coffee brewing process.
Enjoy your coffee!
Now pour yourself a lovely cup of coffee and fancy it up however you like. Call your mother, pet your dog, and have a lovely morning.
My choice for the best entry level machine for the home espresso enthusiast.
To start, this is my daily driver for espresso. Before I purchased this machine, I already had a decent hand grinder, in the Commandante C40. While not everyone likes hand grinding, I know my grinder was capable of grinding fine and consistently enough to produce good espresso. I drink 1 - 2 espresso beverages everyday, and on the rare occasion make espresso for guests. The C40 is more than capable for my needs. If I was making more drinks through the day I would certainly consider an electric solution.
I have a rather small kitchen so space is a premium. I also have cabinets that sit fairly low so I needed to ensure my machine was going to fit properly. This was a major factor as not many espresso machines fit the dimensions I needed, especially in my budget.
The time get ready is miniscule. The Bambino is ready to pull a shot in seconds thanks to its vibration pump. Traditional espresso machines that use a heater coil can take up to 30 minutes to reach the right temperature. Examples of these would the Gaggia Classic Pro or Rocket Appartamento.
The Bambino comes with pressurized filter baskets, which are great if you aren't into grinding your own beans. I invested in a few precision baskets from vst. These ensured uniformity in those tiny holes in the basket, non pressurized, and ensuring I have the right size basket for the size of shot I want to pull, and the amount of coffee I can put in the basket.
This takes the guess work out of tamping. It's impossible (without a hydraulic press) to tamp too hard, but you can tamp too lightly, and unevenly, meaning the puck is not level. A calibrated tamper such as the Normcore V4 Coffee Tamper This will eliminate the tamping variable from your workflow, making calibrating your shot much easier.
The Weiss Distribution Technique has come into vogue for home espresso enthusiasts. The tool for this looks like a wine cork with accupuncture needles embedded in it. There are also some very complicated look tools to perform the same job. Which is basically removing clumps of ground coffee, to ensure a more even extraction. You won't see baristas at Starbucks performing this action, you may not even see this happening at independent coffee shops as it adds a lot of time, and some question if it makes any difference at all, other than to make a prettier bottomless portafilter video. I use one daily, as it's a habit I got into when I first got my machine. I'll leave this one up to you. The next one can be the same category.
I only use my bottomless portafilter when im dialing in a new bag of beans. This, with the WDT let's me know that im on the right track with my extraction and my workflow. If my bottomless is spraying everywhere and uneven, chances are my grind needs adjustment, or my beans are too fresh or stale. I use a calibrated tamper which eliminates that variable.
A food grade scale is a great way to monitor how your espresso is flowing. Ideally, you want a 1:1 ratio of ground coffee to espresso for a single shot, and 1:2 for a double shot. Or 18g in 18g out for single, 18g in 36g out for a double (these are just guidelines). A good scale will also have a timer so you can adjust your flow rate (by grinding coarser or finer). The guideline here is to hit your target ratio in around 30 seconds. Again, this isn't a rule, just a guideline. You can follow this method perfectly and still have espresso that isn't to your liking. Adjust and play around.
Examples of scales:
A good set of properly sized ceramic cups or glassware can go a long way to heighten your enjoyment, and get ratios right. For example, it's tough to make a latte in a 4oz espresso demitasse, but you could make a nice macchiato.
Some of my favorite brands: