Bialetti Moka Express

Bialetti Moka Express 9 Cup

I had seen the Bialetti Moka Express many times when shopping for coffee accouterments but never gave it much thought.  To be honest, it looked antiquated and kind of cheep at first glance.  It lacked the shine of stainless or the rich glossy finish of enamel.  Yes, we have all succumbed to marketing at one point or another.  But recently I found myself on the market for an espresso machine.  I had a small one for years and don't really remember what happened to it.  I couldn't find it anywhere, so I finally gave up and started looking for a replacement.  Then sticker shock set in and I looked around my kitchen and remembered that I don't have any spare counter space to devote to a unitasker like an espresso machine.  What to do.  Then I noticed the Moka Express sitting there quietly in the list of search results and I clicked on it.  I learned a lot that day.  Mainly, don't dismiss things by how they look, and the Moka Express has an almost cult-like following.  People not only use these things, but they collect them for seemingly no other reason than they are cool.  And they are cool.  I also feel I should mention that the following may seem like I am promoting the product.  I am, but only because it is cool and I want everyone to have happy coffee time whenever they want, not because I am getting anything from anyone, monetarily or otherwise, to do so.  When I find something that I really like, I tend to share it with people that I think would also like it.  I digress.

I didn't realize the history behind the Moka Express.  These things have been around for a long time.  I'm not going to regurgitate it here since you are only a couple clicks away from tons of info on it, but I will say that it is one of the coolest gadgets I have ever owned.  Is it an espresso maker?  Not really.  Is it a coffee maker?  Also, not really.  It is kind of like an espresso maker and a coffee maker got together and had a baby.  It works on the principle of using steam pressure to push water through coffee and makes a rich rocket fuel type of coffee that is neither coffee nor espresso.  That being said, it can be used much in the same way as espresso.

The concept is simple.  Reservoir A is filled with water.  Filter funnel B is filled with coffee.  The funnel B is placed in reservoir A and pot C is screwed onto reservoir A with a gasket sealing the seam where the funnel B and reservoir A meet.  Then heat is applied, the water heats up, pressure builds and pushes the hot water through the bottom of the funnel, up through the coffee, and up further through the riser tube in the pot on top.  The riser tube is hollow and has two holes on either side of the small part on top of the tube, thus stopping coffee from draining back into the reservoir.  So, everything from the bottom to the top of the riser tube is a sealed unit and steam pressure does the work.  In case you are wondering, yes there is a pressure release valve on the reservoir just in case.

Image linked from wikiHow.com

The process is pretty simple and I have summarized it for you here:

• Fill the reservoir with very hot water up to the bottom of the safety valve.  I have an instant hot water system in my kitchen so the water comes out just under boiling.  The idea is to give it a head start so the grounds don't get too hot during the heating process, which negatively affects the coffee flavor.  Personally, I have used both hot and cold water and didn't notice much, if any difference in flavor.  I mainly use the hot water to move things along so I can be drinking coffee sooner. :-)
• Fill the filter funnel with coffee that is a bit more course than espresso but finer than a drip grind.  Do not pack it down like you would for espresso, but feel free to level it out with your finger.  The main reason is that you want the water to be able to push through without popping the safety valve.  To be honest, I have tamped it down with a spoon with no ill effects, but again, it was just a gentle tamp, not anywhere near 30 pounds like you would use for espresso.  We are talking mere ounces.
• Place the funnel into the reservoir, making sure there are no grounds on the lip where the gasket seals.
• If you used hot water to fill it, remember to use a towel to hold the bottom while you thread the top on, and firmly snug it up.  No need to gorilla tighten it.  You just want the gasket to seal without damaging it.
• Put it on medium low heat.  Lower heat works best.  It takes some time to dial it in.  In my kitchen, I use my smallest gas burner on medium-low and it is enough to gently push the water through.  Too much heat and it will sputter and the coffee flavor will suffer.  I like to leave the lid up until the coffee starts to flow, then I close it.
• Once it starts to gently push steam without any gurgling, it is done.  That this point, remove it from the heat and pour cool water on the reservoir using your sink faucet.  This will shut down the process so it isn't steaming all over the place.
• Serve your coffee.  It is way to strong to drink on its own, for my taste.  I like to put a couple teaspoons of sugar in my cup, with about 3-4 ounces of half and half, then give it a quick froth with my Bodum milk frother until it doubles in volume, then hit it with some rocket fuel.

I started out with a 3 cup Moka and fell in love with it.  While it was fine to make one beverage with, it sucked when you had guests, so I bought the 9 cup.  I may even consider the 12 at some point.  All that said, the 3 cup worked like a charm right out of the box.  First try and I had delicious coffee.  Not the 9 cup.  No matter what I did, it sputtered and never made a full batch.  After doing a bit of searching, I learned that it was not an uncommon problem.  The solutions were don't use so much heat, make sure your gasket is clean, tighten it up more, etc.  I had tried all those.  Then I stopped for a second and thought, "This is a basic steam system.  This concept has been around for hundreds of years.  I should be able to figure this out!"  And, the only reason I bring this up is because if you have tried the basic stuff and still have a problem, this may be the fix.

Let's dissect the concept a bit.  In a good Moka, the water comes in from the bottom of the funnel.  Meaning, there should be mainly water coming up the funnel and maybe a bit of air bubbles from the heating process.  The only way to get the amount of air sputtering that I was getting was if the steam was somehow getting around the filter.  Since the gasket was brand new and looked good under inspection, it had to be coming from the seal between the filter and the reservoir.  Upon closer inspection, bingo, the basket sat too far down into the reservoir.  It appeared as though it hadn't been properly finished.  On my 3 cup unit that worked great, the basket and top of the reservoir were flush at the top.  On my malfunctioning 9 cup until, the lip of the reservoir was sitting higher than the filter. Now, I suppose that if I gorilla tightened it, it would probably have worked, as the higher part of the reservoir would have sunk into the gasket until it met the filter.  But my gasket would have been shredded in a couple of days.  So, I took it to my shop and touched up the top of the reservoir, without the filter, with a random orbit sander with 220 grit paper.  Slowly and carefully, testing the fit of the filter along the way until the top was flush.  I washed the parts up and tried it again.  Success!

I am not sure if I just got a lemon, or if it is a more common problem.  To be fair, the overall quality of the product is very good and this experience has not soured me in any way.  I love my Moka Express and would gladly buy another one.  I get my "espresso" fix and it easily fits in my cupboard for storage so it doesn't take up valuable counter space.  If you are in the boat I was in, wanting espresso, but not wanting to spend the money or give up the counter space, I highly recommend this product.  I think I spent about $45 on the 9 cup unit plus about $9 on the frother.  A far cry from a descent espresso machine.