The Bialetti Moka Express

When talk turns to householdcoffee machines, no discourse is complete without discussing the world famous Bialetti Moka Express stove top espresso machine . It is a tad different to other styles of stove top espresso machines, in that it uses steam to move water up from the lowest pot and into the coffee basket.
Don’t be mislead into assuming it’s not an authentic stovetop espresso maker .

It makes superb coffee. The Bialetti Moka Express stove top Espresso machines are available in different sizes, starting at a single cup model and working through cups sizes of 3,6,9, and 12.



The Bialetti Moka Express stove top espresso machines are renowned for their quality.

Their machines are made of the highest grade aluminum, helping even heat distribution and a consistent even flow into the coffee holder ensuring a perfect brew. A great tip when using the Bialletti is to let some coffee stand in the pot for some time prior to cleaning . It is believed that this adds to the flavour of subsequent brews.

Bialetti Moka Express stove top Espresso makers have been made unchanged for over 70 years and you always know what you get when you buy one.
Adding sweetener to coffee is a little frowned upon today, but still part of the espresso tradition. Having said that, a made to perfection espresso requires nothing to enhance the taste and your doctor will be happy that you’re staying away from sugar. It’s worth mentioning that great espresso starts with great coffee.

Roasting coffee beans is an art and freshly ground coffee is essential, but if you don’t have a grinder yet make sure you buy the highest quality freshly ground coffee you can find. Buy as little as you can get away with, as ground coffee only has a limited shelf life. Don’t forget the most important part of stove top espresso espresso coffee, enjoyment! Having great company to share with you and a few choice biscuits enhances to the experience.

The perfect coffee bean

No matter how well your stovetop espresso setup is, the  coffee bean  can make or break your brew. With the right knowledge and a little experimentation, you can master this      crucial step in making that perfect stovetop espresso.

Let us start with a little history. The coffee bean is the actual seed of the coffee plant. Although not technically a bean The fruit, often referred to as the berry or cherry, of the coffee plant is normally red or purple in color and the pit  is housed inside the fruit. The beans (seeds) are two flat sided stones sitting against one another.
There are dozens of coffee plant variety, each producing their own distinct flavors and it is the understanding  of these differing varieties and how they fit in with your personal taste that help to make that perfect brew. 

The Coffea arabica variety accounts for around 75% of coffee consumed around the world today and is very rarely blended with other beans as it is of the highest quality and really does stand on its own when it comes to taste. Once harvested the raw green coffee bean is dried and here again the multitude of drying techniques effect the resulting flavor of the coffee.
The dried beans then travel through a number of processes to clean and sort the beans, removing any defective beans that would adversely effect the final blend. It’s a slow process and even though modern technology does help, all the finest coffee is still hand sorted and re checked a number of times to ensure the highest grade product.

The part that interests us most as stovetop espresso fans is the grading. This is a complicated procedure where factors such as; altitude of crop, quality of bean, picking and drying process are all judged along with “cup quality”.

Although Arabica does stand on its own for stovetop espresso coffee, blended varieties, known as Melange, are popular with people looking for a twist. This really is an area of personal choice and experimentation is needed to find your ideal blend. Blend combinations such as dark Colombian full bodied beans mixed with Kenyan Estate roasted for example, give a light acidic bight to a full flavored bold bean.

Melange blends are as varied as the people that brew them.

The best advice is to find a local supplier (markets are great for this) and experiment. Start with your nose and work towards your pallet. Specialist coffee sellers will guide you based upon your tastes and will suggest different beans for you to try. Take a few small quantity of different samples home and see what jumps out at you……and it will.

Stovetop Espresso

Stovetop Espresso
You’ve just opened the box and there it is on the bench top, your brand new stovetop espresso maker, all shiny and waiting to for you to enter the world of stovetop espresso.
But now what? This is the easy and fun part…..

The stovetop espresso maker has 3 chambers. The bottom chamber holds the water, the filter for the ground coffee and the pot for catching the brewed coffee.
Ideally you want to use filtered water to fill the bottom chamber with, as filtered water doesn’t contain any of the metals and minerals that can clog the feed tube in your stovetop espresso maker. It’s argued that filtered water gives a better taste to the brew. Make sure you don’t overfill and allow space for the filter basket.
The next step is to fill the filter basket with fine ground coffee. The rule of thumb here is one teaspoon per cup of coffee. With a little practice you will find the right balance for your palette.

When the “music” subsides and you can no longer her the gurgling of coffee moving up the machine, it’s time to remove the pot from the stove and pour your fresh brew into a small espresso cup, sit back and enjoy!

When the “music” subsides and you can no longer her the gurgling of coffee moving up the machine, it’s time to remove the pot from the stove and pour your fresh brew into a small espresso cup, sit back and enjoy!

Why not roast coffee beans at home?

The coffee ritual can be one of life’s most enjoyable pleasures. When it comes to making sotvetop espresso coffee, how do you choose one brand over another? What makes the perfect espresso? 
There are two main coffee plants that supply most of the world’s coffee, Arabica and Robusta. Coffee beans harvested from the Aribica plant, account for around 75% of coffee consumed. It is grown is subtrobical and tropical climates and producers a finer coffee. The Arabica bean have a rather more bolder aroma and flavour, yet not as bitter as the Robusta variety.

Robusta is considered a lower quality to Arabica and is therefore predominately used in blends (where beans of different qualities and flavors are mixed together) and are typically found on your local supermarket shelves. If you want the highest quality coffee for you stovetop espresso, you need to ensure it’s 100% Arabica.

If you are after high quality coffee you should always buy beans and grind at home as you need, or if you don’t have a grinder, have the store grind a small enough amount for you to use over a few days as ground coffee doesn’t store all that well and tends to drop in quality in a short time frame.

A great alternative and a way to ensure you get the highest possible quality coffee is to roast your beans yourself at home. It really isn’t as difficult as you might thing and if you take a little time to get it right, it is well and truly worth the reward.

The most difficult aspect of roasting coffee beans at home, is actually sourcing green / raw coffee beans. Local markets and coffee supply retail stores usually carry a selection of green coffee beans for you to roast yourself.

Today there are more and more online stores supplying green beans from around the world.

With a little research you should have very little trouble finding a supply of fresh green coffee beans.

The roasting is the fun part. You can start with something as simple as your everyday popcorn maker , a frying pan over the stove (my preference), through to dedicated coffee bean rosters. The frying pan method requires a medium heat and takes about 15 minutes of regularly turning over the beans to avoid burning.

After this time you will notice beans starting to turn that beautiful chocolate brown and oil forming on the bottom of the pan. Another 5-7 minutes of roasting the bean’s own oil and you are done.

All that is left is to place the beans on a sheet of tissue paper to absorb the excess oil and dry. Then all you have to do is grind as per normal, setup your stovetop espresso maker, kick back and indulge in that perfect cup.