For me it is a toss up between Coffee and Wine, as to which is the national beverage of Italy. But, here Coffee became a national beverage thanks to the spread of espresso bars during the beginning of the 20th century.
And when I think of Italian coffee I think of a Bialetti Moka pot.
Alfonso Bialetti, invented the italian moka in 1933, changing Italian history and the life of all coffee lovers forever.
During the following years, new inventions and techniques spread all over the world, and the coffee preparation became easier and faster with coffee filters, steam pressure and espresso machines…. but it’s really with Bialetti and his moka that the revolution in the coffee ritual begun.
It is with the Bialetti invention that one could enjoy “in casa un espresso come al bar” (“An espresso in the home just like one in the bar”).
And to make this you will need just a couple of things:
And you will need water and a stove and a coffee cup.. but, that’s pretty obvious..
To start pour water to the bottom part of your moka pot.
Fill it up to the pressure valve, But don’t let the water cover the pressure valve. The pressure valve is the little button looking thing.
Now, put the filter (funnel looking thing) in place like you may see in the pictures below. Basically you just put it on the top of the bottom of the pot with the funnel down.
Then fill the filter with your coffee grinds.
be careful not to get coffee around the edges (the threads), you want a good seal when you screw the top of the pot on. Also, this might take you a few times to get this right, the amount varies with the brand you are using and so you will have to play with it. And don’t tamp the grinds down..
Now, screw on the top of the moka pot.
Pretty Darn tight, but you don’t have to twist it as hard as you can, you just don’t want the pressure to build up and it starts leaking all over your stove.
And before screwing on, you should check the gasket on the bottom of the top of the moka. Just make sure it looks good, I mean if it’s getting old, replace it.
Then, put your moka pot on top of your stove and put it on pretty high heat. Make sure you place your moka pot on the stove with the pot’s lid closed.
After a a few minutes you will start to hear a little ” girgling noise” which is the water boiling and distilling through the coffee grinds and up to the top. When you hear this noise, remove the pot from the heat and the stove.
Your espresso is now almost ready and if you lift the lid you should see something like the picture below, and even some coming out of the little holes in the middle.
Once your espresso is ready and you have removed it from the stove, take a spoon and give the espresso a little stir.
Your espresso is now ready to be poured.
You will have to do this a few times to get it right.
If you leave the pot on the heat to long the espresso will taste burnt.
So you are all ready to go forth and make some espresso the way we do.
I also have a french press and a professional espresso machine in my house…. that sounds like I have a total addiction to coffee……. yeah I do.
Things I’m thinking about today:
I was bored, and trying to figure out something to do today, so I got to thinking, hmmm DIY things. So I have a ton of wine corks, I decided to make trivets and a train engine…. the train engine was actually challenging, Like I had to think about how to make it from a picture I saw.
