Bialetti - Moka Express: Iconic Stovetop Espresso Maker, Makes Real Italian Coffee, Moka Pot 1 Cup (2 Oz - 60 Ml), Aluminium, Silver

We bought the Hamilton Beach 80374 Custom Grind Hands-Free Coffee Grinder, hoping to make the perfect grind for our Moka Express. Unfortunately the one we got came without instructions so we have been experimenting to find the best way to get a fast excellent cup of coffee. We have several different coffee machines, so if grinding for the Moka Express, we use the largest espresso grind setting. The Hamilton beach coffee grinder has a minimum cup amount, which is 4 cups. Bear in mind that most coffee pots are using a 6 ounce cup as their standard. Since our Moka Express only makes 2 cups espresso style coffee, we found that adding coffee beans until the blade in the grinder is just covered with beans worked great. It's important to be sure that the inside grinding cup is in place and then turned clock wise to lock in place before putting outside clear plastic cover on and turning clock wise to lock in place. They both need to be locked in place separately! This could be why some people claim that the grinder fails to work after a short time. If the inside cup is not locked in place the grinder will not work and if you try to force the outside clear plastic container you can damage the locking tabs. We discovered that using 2 measuring spoons of the ground beans (that come with the grinder) are perfect for the drinks we craft in our Moka Express. In order to shorten the brewing time we decided to start with boiling water in the lower chamber. We were very happy to save the 5+ minutes of brewing time. If you are using the boiling water, then obviously you will need to use a pot holder to protect your hands while connecting the top and bottom of the pot. We set our electric stovetop to 8 on heat indicator set the oven timer to 5 min. and proceed to heat and froth milk while coffee is brewing. Pour 1/2 coffee cup of froth and pour coffee over the milk froth. Hooray! coffee is wonderful. We use a medium roast coffee. The actual brew time is only about 2 min. using this method. The brewed coffee is very robust with medium roast more so then a drip method. Our over all goal was not to waste coffee. We have a family that get's up at different times and makes a full pot, which then would get thrown down the sink as who wants a cup of coffee that's a hour old. This way we get the benefit of saving money and having a relatively quick cup of coffee, kind of like the K cup machines, but without the cost. The flavor of an espresso machine without the cost and the counter space. It's been a win win for us. We have a battery run frother, that makes great frothy drinks. We bought rechargeable batteries so we would always have fresh power. Sending thanks to other people who suggest not to wash the Moka Express with soap. We are thrilled with all the great advice that has literally saved us hundreds of dollars on experimenting on other pricy coffee making products. Thanks Amazon that we have access to to simple, great, affordable products.

I really love Cuban coffee, but since I live in a small town, in a cold weather climate state, if I want Cafe con Leche at home, I have to make it myself. After a ton of research, including reading reviews and watching YouTube videos, I decided to get the 3 cup Bialetti. You can't go wrong with the price, and it seems to be a very sturdy little coffee pot. It's very easy to use, and after some experimenting, which has been fun and delicious, here are my suggestions/instructions on what I have personally found to work the best. These are just my personal suggestions, use them if you wish, or feel free to do something completely different!!!! - First things first, for the sake of technicality, please be aware that this coffee pot doesn't technically make espresso. True espresso is made by forcing very hot water, through the ground coffee, by use of very high pressure. This little unit doesn't build up enough pressure to technically create true espresso. What this unit is going to produce is approximately 2 times the strength of drip brewed coffee, with a very high level of oils from the grounds. And unlike espresso machines, which create a layer of golden crema on top of the espresso, this machine isn't really going to do that either. There will be a little bit of golden brown foam on the top, but not really. So for any espresso purists out there, while I commend you for your appreciation of fine espresso, this unit is not for you. - Always use good water. If you have bad water (ie: hard water, chlorinated, rusty), use bottled water. You are trying to pack a lot of flavor into a small amount of liquid, and bad water will make bad coffee. - Fill the water chamber to just below the valve. Please don't overfill it. - I currently am using Cafe Bustelo in the can, but will be experimenting with other brands like Pilon. - For the 3 cup version, I spoon in coffee by the teaspoon, leveling the coffee with each spoonful. When the basket is full, add a little extra coffee on top to create a mound. Total amount I put in ends up being about 4 heaping teaspoons. Make sure the threads are clear of any grounds, and screw the top on. This will compact the coffee down on its own. - Before you place the pot on the stove, make sure that the top portion is firmly screwed on to the bottom. If it is not, the pot will not brew properly, and you will lose moisture and steam pressure from between the threads. - Never use high heat for this coffee pot. I have an electric range that is about 12 years old or so, and I use one of the small burners, and never turn it past 5. It takes a little bit longer to do it this way, but makes a huge difference. High heat will cause the coffee to have a burnt, bitter taste. - I cannot emphasize enough the importance of keeping the heat low. You have to be a little patient during the heating process, but the difference in the flavor is worth the extra time! - Until you become really familiar with exactly how the pot will work on your stove, I would recommend not walking away. It takes a bit of time for the water to heat enough and build up the pressure, but once the coffee starts coming out into the top chamber, its going to go fast. - Resist the urge to keep lifting the lid of the pot. It's hard to do because its pretty cool to see the coffee filling up the top chamber :) I left my lid open the whole time I made my first batch, and lost some coffee in the process. The coffee will kind of spurt and splatter around during the brewing process, so you can imagine what my stove looked like afterwards. - The first few spurts of coffee that come up will probably have an almost syrupy appearance. This is GOOD! You want this! If the coffee doesn't look like this, and/or its pretty pale, you don't have enough coffee in your filter basket. If the coffee is pale, its still ok to drink, but treat it like you would a regular drip coffee. It will not taste like espresso at all. - Each pot sounds a little different, but learn to tell when the bottom chamber has no more water in it. The sputtering noises in the top of the chamber will increase in volume a little as the water chamber empties. - As soon as the bottom chamber is empty, immediately remove the pot from the heat source. If you let it sit on the heat, it will burn the coffee. This is bad! Burnt coffee is nasty!!!! - If you are dividing the coffee between multiple cups, make sure you either gently swirl the pot a few times, or stir the coffee gently before you pour. You want to make sure that the inital thick liquid from the first few moments is evenly distributed throughout the liquid. If you don't, the last cup you fill will contain a much larger portion of the oils from the coffee, and will be stronger than the other servings. I recommend NOT sharing the espresso, and drinking it all for yourself! It's too good to share!!! :) At this point, you can drink it straight if you wish. If that's what you would like, stop reading now............ If you want to do a little more with it and make it even better, keep reading. Like I said before, I love Cuban coffee. I love how strong and rich tasting it is, BUT it is a little sweet for me. I mean, it's got a LOT of sugar in it. So I do mine with a little less sugar than traditional, though I do like a genuine version once in a while. -While the coffee is starting the brewing process on the stove, I pour about 1 cup of whole milk into a glass measuring cup and add about 2 1/2- 3 teaspoons of sugar. - Microwave the milk and sugar until very warm, but not scalded or boiling. - Remove it from the microwave, and use a milk frother to mix the milk and sugar and to make some foam. This is not necessary of course, but I like a little bit of foam. - Pour it into a large mug or coffee cup (I use a 2.5 cup travel mug) and when the espresso is done brewing, pour it into the milk and stir gently. That's it! Easy and delicious, and a great way to cheer yourself up on a snowy, gray day!!!! Enjoy!

Good quality product, brews deep flavorful coffee. It does produce a small cup, maybe about the same size as a single shot espresso, but not quite as strong as a coffee shop espresso. It is easy to use and clean, and I like the aluminum shine. It still shines in the coffee collection top reservoir. The water reservoir at the bottom did get some discoloration from the heat and grounds dripping on the inside. This is normal use. It is usually recommended to go for the 2cup size for one person. The pot is very small. If you have a gas stove, the 1 cup moka pot may not fit on it directly and you may want some adaptor. I used a small sauce pan and eventually bought a stainless steel small flat pan for this.

People confuse espresso and moka as being the same thing, which because of some differences in how water is heated and passed through the grinds does cause some differences in taste and character. That out of the way, this makes a good enough moka that I didn't miss my espresso maker anymore, particularly when I compared the effort to make the two different styles of coffee. The product is made of very durable aluminium and manufactured in Italy to very high specifications of quality, a welcome change from the flood of low quality Chinese products we US citizens have to wade through. The bottom chamber holds the water and screws into the top chamber against the metal filter and rubber gasket providing a solid seal. A tip is to tighten the bottom till its snug, and then give it one more quarter turn, this gives a very tight fit upon heating as the metal and rubber will expand with the heat to finalize the fit. The top is easily figured out by the picture and handling except it has another quality that most ignore. When you first get the moka maker its very shiny on the inside, after a few uses it starts to dull with a light brown tone having banished the aluminium shine. DO NOT SCRUB THIS AWAY!!! That brownish tint to the aluminium is proof that your moka maker has been properly seasoned to get the best taste possible. All you need to do in the cleaning of this is to rinse it with tap water, though at the rubber seal on the bottom, take a little extra time and use a toothbrush there to make sure no grit or grime is present when you set it to dry since that will greatly extend the life of your seal and insure a reliable fit for your next brew. Typically it takes me less than a minute to clean mine after use. There is a little cup that fits into the bottom chamber that acts like the coffee basket, just load it up with grinds and drop it into the bottom chamber, clear any grinds along the edge to prevent it from coming into contact with the rubber seal and you're good. The use of grinds then comes into consideration, you can use a espresso grind or a somewhat finer than drip coffee grind for your base, some experimentation suited to your taste will be necessary. I grind my own beans (which if you haven't done yet I highly recommend) and use a couple notches above espresso for the fineness of the grind, as this lets a great deal of flavor from the coffee come through without unduly impeding the flow of the steam rising up through it, and I would definitely not recommend turkish grind settings. A quick word of caution based upon a friend's experience and that is do not add spices to the coffee grinds in order to make some sort of flavored moka, in particular cinnamon. Typically spices in powder form do not react the same way to hot steam the way the coffee grinds do, and frequently will clog the fine mesh filter the steam travels through, my friend ruined her moka maker this way by trying to make cinnamon flavored moka. If you must flavor your moka, use either flavored beans or after brew flavorings. Finally the taste the Moka Maker produces is different than a espresso, its got a softer tone to it and a richer flavor where my palate is concerned, and while a good espresso is still a joy of mine, the moka maker's coffee is actually preferable to me when I want something different than my usual fare from my press maker.

I first want to mention the ease of use and cleaning of this type of maker. The top rated amazon reviews, while very helpful, nearly kept me from purchasing this device; the "how-to" and "best practices" made it seem like a complex process. This is not the case. While those reviews are extremely helpful for first-time users, after your first pot or two, this is the simplest device I have ever owned, the easiest coffee maker to clean, and the best quality coffee I've ever made at home. I've gone through various sizes and quality of home coffee machines and a few years with a french press. I've never been able to make coffee at home as good as I can get at a real coffee shop. When my machine broke recently, I looked into espresso machines only to find them to be outside of my price range. This maker is not a true espresso but what it does create is something I enjoy much more. Size does matter here. I purchased the "6 cup" Moka machine, assuming incorrectly that it meant 6 measured cups. I was initially disappointed with the size. One pot barely fills one of my standard size coffee travel mugs. I tried doing Americanos with my first two pots, intending to increasing the quantity by adding hot water, as if this was espresso. That did not work. In fact, I've found that the product of this maker is already about the strength and consistency of a good Americano. Upon realizing that, I've discovered this is really, for me and my partner, a single-cup maker for the size of cups and travel containers we own. I should probably now purchase some smaller cups, but I am more likely going to buy the 12-cup maker in the near future. The quality is the best I've ever been able to produce at home, as good if not better than anything I've purchased at a coffee house. If you don't make lattes, you'll want to start because this makes a perfect latte straight out of the pot! No need for an expensive machine. Just buy a frother, sprinkle a little sugar into the foam, and you've a perfect latte. Lastly, the ease of use and cleaning can't be overstated. This is really simple... there are just three pieces and it takes less than a minute to simply spray them out at the sink and let dry. To make you fill one pot with water, fill another with grounds, and heat until it start making a sputtering noise. The only "trick" is to ground your own beans to a good level of coarseness.

We have limited counter space, so a standard drip brewer is out of the question. My wife and I kept "forgetting" to clean the grounds from the old French press, hoping the other would take care of it. We tried a Peruvian style brewer, which left a lot of grounds in the actual coffee. After watching some videos, I decided on the Bialetti. The Bialetti makes phenomenal coffee. The best approach is to use a coarse grind of coffee, but even standard pre-ground coffee works, in my experience. Keep the gasket seal clean, and make sure the pitcher is screwed on tight. Bialetti recommends not straining the handle to tighten the pitcher. I just use the top to screw it down well - it seals fine. Between the filter tray that holds the coffee and the filter/gasket on the bottom of the pitcher, it's like a double filter for the coffee. Apart from drip brewers, the Bialetti allows the least amount of residue leakage of any brewer I've used. You really only need a medium heat level. I use the smallest burner on our gas range. It's best to not allow the flame to extend beyond the edge of the base. As long as you follow these recommendations, it's durable enough to last a lifetime. Many thanks to Bialetti for helping me rediscover the joy of brewing coffee!

We LOVE our Bialetti. All of the raving reviews are accurate! We have gone through so many espresso machines, both inexpensive as well as pricey and this is by far the best because it is delicious and the price is amazing! Why did we ever stray away from the old fashioned way of making espresso?! Yes it takes a little time but honestly, not really any more than a machine. And I feel like the clean up is less also. Its been a while since I have used our machine because it just became a pain to prep, use and clean. Which is irritating because it expensive and now due to the time it went unused, the pump is no longer working. So I can't sell it, total waste of money. Moral of the story is, go with one of these babies! I also LOVE the percolating since you can just prep it and then go and do something else. I know about how long it takes so I just come back when it should be ready. LOVE LOVE that. Normal machines you basically have to stay the whole time. It's just too much if your on your way out of the house. I read allot of reviews on suggested espresso brands and have yet to stray away from Illy so I can't suggest anything else yet. One thing I am unsure of is the exact grind. We don't have an expensive grinder so we don't have a Moka grind on ours. I tried to grind resembling the Illy for Moka pots that we purchase and I think I got it too fine. I purchase some at a natural foods store and ground it with their machine for the percolators and it was much too course. Can anyone suggest a solution for this? I also read a review that they were a little frustrated that you have to wait for it to cool to clean. Im a neat freak so at first I thought I would share that frustration but it turns out that I like it. With kids and work, as most people, I am always in a HUGE hurry in the morning so since I CANT clean it, its actually good that I can just leave it and clean with the dinner dishes or something. Otherwise I know myself, I would have to clean it before I left and then it would just take more time in the morning that I really don't have. So that is worked in my favor. I had read reviews that the 6 cup is enough for only 1 person. For health reasons (kidney cleanse) my husband has been into tea lately so I just thought I would try it out for myself. My husband tasted and ended up wanting some as well so I would split the 6 cup pot with him. Reason I explain that is if you like a decent amount of milk in yours, then the 6 cup would work for 2 people. Or, if you just want small size portions. Ours always comes out very strong so I think its definitely possible to have the 6 cup for two people. However, I drink allot of coffee so we ended up returning the 6 cup and getting the 9. Works out perfectly, I usually get at least a half cup refill if its two of us or two full cups if its just me. I usually have the chill the second cup for an iced coffee later. We do have a Nespresso machine that we Love and is the only espresso pod brand I have ever tasted and felt like it was real espresso and not water "tea" coffee lol. So we use that if we are in a rush and the Bialetti if we have a little more time. Perfect for us! Long review but I hope it helps out!

This is the iconic, standard setting moka pot. You can't go wrong with this style and brand, as it's tried and tested. The 3-cup size is a bit awkward unless you drink a ton of coffee. It's more than I want in a single serving but a little too small to share. Probably best to go with a 2-cup for yourself or a larger size for more people. It's lasted many years and is still going strong!