My wife is Italian, so no argument, Italians invented coffee. Expresso that is. Of course! I mentioned this thread to her, and we thought it would be fun to take a photo of her collection of moka express pots.
The ones down the left side and two cup one in the middle are all Bialetti (after the inventor), 1933, Italian engineer Alponso Bialetti. The four on the right hand side are from other designers. Aluminum seems to perform better than stainless steel. I've heard that the pressure gets up to no more than 2 bar, whereas it is much higher in an expresso machine, like 10 bar. But the results from the moka pot are what we are used to at home. Every Italian kitchen seems to have a few. Setting it up to brew is a habit, and the "choice" amounts to what beans and water to use, how much of each, how tight to pack, the fire, and a few other things as well. Wake up and smell the coffee!
My wife is Italian, so no argument, Italians invented coffee. Expresso that is. Of course! I mentioned this thread to her, and we thought it would be fun to take a photo of her collection of moka express pots.
The ones down the left side and two cup one in the middle are all Bialetti (after the inventor), 1933, Italian engineer Alponso Bialetti. The four on the right hand side are from other designers. Aluminum seems to perform better than stainless steel. I've heard that the pressure gets up to no more than 2 bar, whereas it is much higher in an expresso machine, like 10 bar. But the results from the moka pot are what we are used to at home. Every Italian kitchen seems to have a few. Setting it up to brew is a habit, and the "choice" amounts to what beans and water to use, how much of each, how tight to pack, the fire, and a few other things as well. Wake up and smell the coffee!
Thanks! (laughing-smiling)
I have the largest of the Bialetti's (used every morning), the next largest (in my cabin), and the next-next largest is in my small sailboat. Nothing beats the Bialetti taste!
My coffee machine project is not really about making coffee, but about learning Propeller, Spin, SPI, I2C, pressure sensing, temperature sensing, level sensing proximity sensing - and the list goes on. Having made this over-instrumented, over-automated machine, I can make anything. An example of the not-so-serious functionality is that if I swipe my ID card on the machine (RFID) it responds by saying (EMIC2) "The usual Americano, Erlend?", and all I have to do is put my coffee cup in place (LRF) and it will start brewing. It uses a gas burner to heat water, so it works perfectly fine off-grid. It gives me a lot of fun in this crazy world.
My wife is Italian, so no argument, Italians invented coffee. Expresso that is. Of course! I mentioned this thread to her, and we thought it would be fun to take a photo of her collection of moka express pots.
The ones down the left side and two cup one in the middle are all Bialetti (after the inventor), 1933, Italian engineer Alponso Bialetti. The four on the right hand side are from other designers. Aluminum seems to perform better than stainless steel. I've heard that the pressure gets up to no more than 2 bar, whereas it is much higher in an expresso machine, like 10 bar. But the results from the moka pot are what we are used to at home. Every Italian kitchen seems to have a few. Setting it up to brew is a habit, and the "choice" amounts to what beans and water to use, how much of each, how tight to pack, the fire, and a few other things as well. Wake up and smell the coffee!
And she doesn't slap you for calling it 'expresso' instead of espresso? ;-)
And she doesn't slap you for calling it 'expresso' instead of espresso? ;-)
Not so long as I pronounce it correctly! :-) . And macchiato rather than cappuccino dopo pranzo!
And what would your expert suggest I use for names - for the variants of coffee the machine makes? Ranging from the strongest to the weakest drink I have used 'Turkish'-'Espresso'-'Americano'-'Dishwater', the main difference being the duration of pumping water through the portafilter.
And she doesn't slap you for calling it 'expresso' instead of espresso? ;-)
Not so long as I pronounce it correctly! :-) . And macchiato rather than cappuccino dopo pranzo!
And what would your expert suggest I use for names - for the variants of coffee the machine makes? Ranging from the strongest to the weakest drink I have used 'Turkish'-'Espresso'-'Americano'-'Dishwater', the main difference being the duration of pumping water through the portafilter.
Erlend
Knowing Italians, the names would be: 'No!'-'Espresso'-'No!'-'No!' ;-)
There's a spectrum within espresso. Short (for very intense, concentrated), single (what you get if you don't add a modifier), long (espresso lungo, for long pull on a lever operated machine, more time running at high pressure), double (two shots of whatever), and so on. Americano adds hot water to espresso, tending toward dishwater, but much nicer flavor.
Turkish is something completely different. Finely ground coffee and sugar are boiled together in a special pot. Kind of like the coffee you might make over a campfire, with the grounds used to clean the egg off your frying pan. But the grounds in Turkish coffee are so fine that you slurp them up. An acquired taste, in small doses, all depending on the flavor of the beans!
Comments
The ones down the left side and two cup one in the middle are all Bialetti (after the inventor), 1933, Italian engineer Alponso Bialetti. The four on the right hand side are from other designers. Aluminum seems to perform better than stainless steel. I've heard that the pressure gets up to no more than 2 bar, whereas it is much higher in an expresso machine, like 10 bar. But the results from the moka pot are what we are used to at home. Every Italian kitchen seems to have a few. Setting it up to brew is a habit, and the "choice" amounts to what beans and water to use, how much of each, how tight to pack, the fire, and a few other things as well. Wake up and smell the coffee!
Thanks! (laughing-smiling)
I have the largest of the Bialetti's (used every morning), the next largest (in my cabin), and the next-next largest is in my small sailboat. Nothing beats the Bialetti taste!
My coffee machine project is not really about making coffee, but about learning Propeller, Spin, SPI, I2C, pressure sensing, temperature sensing, level sensing proximity sensing - and the list goes on. Having made this over-instrumented, over-automated machine, I can make anything. An example of the not-so-serious functionality is that if I swipe my ID card on the machine (RFID) it responds by saying (EMIC2) "The usual Americano, Erlend?", and all I have to do is put my coffee cup in place (LRF) and it will start brewing. It uses a gas burner to heat water, so it works perfectly fine off-grid. It gives me a lot of fun in this crazy world.
Erlend
And she doesn't slap you for calling it 'expresso' instead of espresso? ;-)
Not so long as I pronounce it correctly! :-) . And macchiato rather than cappuccino dopo pranzo!
And what would your expert suggest I use for names - for the variants of coffee the machine makes? Ranging from the strongest to the weakest drink I have used 'Turkish'-'Espresso'-'Americano'-'Dishwater', the main difference being the duration of pumping water through the portafilter.
Erlend
Knowing Italians, the names would be: 'No!'-'Espresso'-'No!'-'No!' ;-)
Turkish is something completely different. Finely ground coffee and sugar are boiled together in a special pot. Kind of like the coffee you might make over a campfire, with the grounds used to clean the egg off your frying pan. But the grounds in Turkish coffee are so fine that you slurp them up. An acquired taste, in small doses, all depending on the flavor of the beans!