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Basically, I love decent coffee but haven’t settled on the ideal method if making it (instant excluded of course 😉 )
I usually use a 1 cup cafetière. Tastes great but usually get quite a lot of coffee filtered through into the cup.
I’d like to use a stove-top maker but you usually have to put a lot of coffee in (wastage) just to make one cup (which is all I ever need). Hence why these are meant for espresso I guess.
Is there another simple method to the perfect cup that doesn’t involve the cost of a fancy machine?
Maybe a small stove top maker that is specifically for 1 cup of regular coffee.
What do you suggest?
there is only one
https://www.johnlewis.com/bialetti-moka-express-hob-espresso-maker/p1407523?size=6-cup
Used the same one for 15 odd years. Daily use, on gas/electric/dodgy camp ground stoves/woodburning stoves etc. Never had an issue. Starting to get a bit battered though.
Doesn't work on induction though
Yes, that's the one. If you have an induction hob, then one of the others is a better choice, but Bialetti make good stuff.
Ikea make a copy of one of their models that also works well, but my Bialetti is a really well made piece of kit.
And another for Bialetti. I have the 3 cup version which makes 3 espressos, but I'm not so much of a fan of that all out coffee hit, so use an espresso sized serving topped up with hot water for the tastiest Americano. (Lavazza coffee FTW).
I'll generally only have 1 or 2 a morning, but just leave it on the side, it tastes fine to me when used the next day like this.
bialetti all day, damn induction Hobs
The bialetti is good, Lidl do them occasionally for less cost. They get better with time, first few goes the taste is a bit poor so persevere.
Also, someone once put mine in a dishwasher so tainted it for a few goes.
The more expensive ones are made of heavier metal, and made in Italy or Spain. Cheaper ones from China.
Good luck, long slow heat for best result.
This one - better than the non-induction I reckon and can be used on anything. It works a bit differently - some water remains in the base when it's done
If you want simple cheap one cup then a v60 and filter paper is the way to go. Not an espresso but makes good coffee. All you need is a kettle.
Nice one - thanks all!
Will check out the Bialettis and the V60 as well.
Much appreciated!
An Aeropress ticks the box too & is quicker but I do like my stove top morning ritual.
I had a Bialetti but gave it to my daughter as I found the coffee it made tasted a bit "muddy" for want of a better word. Can't quite describe it, but it just had a sort of vaguely unpleasant aftertaste, whatever coffee I used in it.
I use an Aeropress and have done every day for the last 3 or 4 years. It's easy to use, a doddle to clean, cheap to buy and makes fantastic tasting coffee. Even mediocre supermarket coffee taste OK from it. It produces a short, espresso type shot which I usually make into a longer cup with hot water.
Brilliant bit of kit, highly recommended. Aeropress linky
As above, if you want a stovetop get the Bialetti, cheap copies not worth it.
OTOH if you want a single nice cup of coffee, with a bit of flexibility as to style (long/short etc) and minimal faff - aeropress all day long.
(i have both, they make different sorts of coffee.)
Alternatively, a better grinder for use with your cafetière. A nice coarse grind with a burr grinder leaves few small particles to get through. Still won't match an aeropress for a clean cup mind.
Bialetti Venus. Stainless steel, so works on induction, and avoids the taste from alu.
Lots of Stainless Steel moka pots now. We still have one for camping and holiday cottages and in case the coffee machine breaks.
The Stainless ones can go in the dishwasher (will kill the alu ones)
Don't put an aluminum Bialetti in the dishwasher#. In fact don't wash it, the oils are supposed to help with the taste. Or buy the stainless steel version!
For longer cups, I like freshly ground beans into the Bodum caffetiere, timer for 3:30 and drink. Very good coffee. I use the well regarded KG79 De'Longhi grinder. For espresso I havea bean to cup Jura.
#Mentioning for a friend...
Bialetti Moka, the only way.
Hence why these are meant for espresso I guess
The 'Express' in the name confuses people, but it's not an espresso maker. Though maybe they label it by cup as an equivalent in quantity, but I would struggle to even get two cups out of my three cup Moka.
Though I three quarter fill coffee part and I fill the water to the level. Quantity is more than an espresso, not as rich, though I find it brings subtle flavours out better and a sweeter quality. Also, I tend to add milk (yeah I know, but as said, it's not espresso 😉 ).
I've got my grinder set for it and if I use my Gaggia I just grind the same quantity twice, so makes a double shot (fills a double shot basket), so in theory I'm using a single shot quantity in the Moka.
Is there another simple method to the perfect cup that doesn’t involve the cost of a fancy machine?
As already said, aeropress every day
Oops! I've been washing my aluminium Bialetti, so do you not even wash the 'pot' at the top?
Suits me, I'll go several days between washing my cup in the office... 😳
I wash my ali all the time. I even use the cleaner stuff I use for the Gaggia. Though did take a shine off the surface but don't notice a difference to the coffee.
Minipresso
https://www.wacaco.com/
A bit more expensive than an aeropress, and a little bit more faff to make a cup. However, I have never had a better espresso outside Italy. Very portable - mine has been all over the world with me, to some very out of the way places.
If mine broke I’d order another today.
I clean mine after every use too. It’s a bit of an old wives tale about not cleaning it to improve the taste.
Also, someone once put mine in a dishwasher so tainted it for a few goes.
I assume sir had a new patio shortly afterwards?
Stovetops are rubbish - they apply too much heat to the coffee and almost always over extract it.
As an aside, I don't know how the stale oils from coffee will ever improve taste (shows that you should never trust Italian coffee folklore).
Get yourself an Aeropress.
Before anyone mentions how popular stovetops are in Italy, you need to understand that Italy hasn't been at the forefront of coffee for many years now (my friend Rubens Gardelli being one notable exception) and that Italians are predominantly staunch traditionalists when it comes to coffee.
JP
Stovetops are rubbish – they apply too much heat to the coffee and almost always over extract it.
Oh do snob off 🙂
Its a personal thing, coffee should be made how you want, I'll bet you're the sort of person that tells people they're overcooking their pasta as well...
Go for a Bialetti Brikka. It makes something more approaching espresso than the standard Moka. It makes 2 shots worth, which along with a cheap milk frother gets you a flat white style coffee (I can't get the micro foam, it's a bit frothy, but I'm not that bothered!)
You have to experiment a little with the heat you apply, too hot and you don't get the crema so turn it down a bit.
I've got both the Brikka and Moka, i definitely prefer the coffee the Brikka makes.
Currently on aldi's Egyptian coffee, works well in it.
Its a personal thing, coffee should be made how you want
Totally agree, but coffee from my stovetop is not great. Could always be my technique I suppose but I have done the reading, watched the YouTubes etc and it still comes out meh at best. I don't know if it's too much heat, over-extraction or what but it's not to my taste. It's good for Affogato but not as a drink. If I'm away from my machine I use a filter or maybe a cafetiere.
Stovetops are rubbish – they apply too much heat to the coffee and almost always over extract it.
Oh do snob off 🙂
meh. I drank stovetop for years and having got used to a decent machine made espresso it really is not great BUT i still prefer it to cafetiere and it's less faff than the alternatives.
I have a Bialetti Mokka and an Aeropress. I prefer the Bialetti for a short cup and the Aeropress for a proper mugfull - inverted method, fill it right up, top up with a wee bit hot water, delicious 😋
In my experience you can make great coffee with a stovetop, but I find it really easy to ruin the coffee with it. It's a matter of personal preference as to what constitutes 'ruined' coffee, but I certainly find it tricky to get consistent results from my stovetop.
I've got a few other brewing methods, and I'd say the hardest to get wrong is the Aeropress. It's also much easier to clean than a stovetop or cafetiere.
You don't get crema with a Brikka - it's just froth
Stovetops are rubbish – they apply too much heat to the coffee and almost always over extract it.
Oh do snob off 🙂
Its a personal thing, coffee should be made how you want, I’ll bet you’re the sort of person that tells people they’re overcooking their pasta as well…
In what way is it snobby to state a fact (stovetop coffee makers over extract coffee) and offer a cheaper, better alternative (Aeropress)?
I do despair of these sort of responses. It's as if I've ridiculed some deeply held belief that you have; I haven't - I've just told you that a particular device doesn't make good coffee. Deal with it.
JP
Ikea do one that's not bad - good for two cups of Americano.
Oddly, I get great coffee every time with the Bialetti, but the Gaggia is a lot more effort and hit and miss. The latter can be bitter if not quite right. Never get that with the Bialetti. Though could be the coffee. I prefer Has Bean which I know isn't typically strong dark roast, but then I feel such coffee is over roasted and maybe full espresso is a way to get something decent out of it.
I've never enjoyed the coffee from my moka pot. It's always very bitter which I understand to be because of the excessive heat burning the grounds. I may be wrong. Similarly, cafetières make coffee that’s too earthy for my tastes.
The Aeropress makes great coffee with minimal fuss. My preference is a clean smooth long black coffee in the morning which it does really well. I used to keep the moka for camping trips but the Aeropress works better for that too.
Basically for anything other than when you need espresso, I think an Aeropress is a better option than a moka pot unless you really love bitter coffee.
#hijack#
I’ve got a Bialetti but I struggle to figure out how to make nice “long” coffees rather than espresso.
If I brew it and top it with hot water it tastes awful yet tastes really nice with hot milk (I get through a lot
Of milk)
Any ideas? Ta
I’ve never enjoyed the coffee from my moka pot. It’s always very bitter which I understand to be because of the excessive heat burning the grounds. I may be wrong. Similarly, cafetières make coffee that’s too earthy for my tastes.
What you're describing is over extraction - coffee has many compounds, some of which extract easily (fruit acids, simple sugars, etc) and some of which are hard to extract (burnt distillates for instance). Extraction is increased by heat, pressure, time and surface area (grinding finer increases surface area and, therefore, extraction). Stovetop makers over extract because they apply too much heat to the coffee over too long a period. This means that you will nearly always end up extracting the undesirable compounds in the coffee, which give, woody, bitter and burnt flavours.
JP
I much prefer an aeropress coffee to a stovetop coffee. The latter always tastes a bit bitter to me.
What you’re describing is over extraction – coffee has many compounds, some of which extract easily (fruit acids, simple sugars, etc) and some of which are hard to extract (burnt distillates for instance). Extraction is increased by heat, pressure, time and surface area (grinding finer increases surface area and, therefore, extraction). Stovetop makers over extract because they apply too much heat to the coffee over too long a period. This means that you will nearly always end up extracting the undesirable compounds in the coffee, which give, woody, bitter and burnt flavours.
I’ve just told you that a particular device doesn’t make good coffee.
Wow, apparently I've been doing coffee wrong all this time and yet still enjoying it, feel ashamed to call myself (part) Italian now.
Would it really upset you to know that I actually quite enjoy Scotmid's 'Generic Italian Blend' with the picture of the Vespa on front? I even drink it out of a Bianchi mug for maximum authenticity 😆
Stovetops are rubbish – they apply too much heat to the coffee and almost always over extract it.
I agree, based on my personal experience. I don't use the stove top at all any more, went through a French press, aeropress and cheap espresso machine phase. I now have a reasonable grinder and a Flair manual press and it's the best coffee I've ever drunk.
Going back to my Brikka then, it might not make true espresso, but it doesn't stay on the heat as long as a Moka pot as the volume of water is less (even less time if I used or boiled water I guess but I've never tried that.) Plus the pressure is greater than a Moka so perhaps you get better extraction from it?
I can make what I think is a decent coffee with it and assembling it is all part of the process, it's quite satisfying!
Let's try an analogy then: if you'd only ever eaten at McDonald's you might think that their food is perfectly acceptable.
No one would object to someone coming on here and saying McDonald's burgers are terrible, yet I'm somehow branded a snob because I say that certain methods of making coffee and certain types of coffee are poor.
JP
I think it's because you've taken it upon yourself to define what is 'good'.
Did the first ever people to make coffee understood distillates and over-extraction and all that nonsense? No.
Is 'coffee' way more than just a brown drink in a mug? Yes.
Do I enjoy my coffee more for not having just squirted it out of a massive brown plastic syringe? Yes.
I respect someone who has a passion for a subject and wants to REALLY REALLY REALLY understand what goes into that passion, but to write off everybody else's experience based on your arbitrary (and ridiculously precise) definition of what makes 'good' coffee is, if not snobby, then definitely a bit blinkered.
Plus as I think you know, on a scale of 'McDonalds' to 'Artisan', Bialleti coffee still sits way closer to 'Artisan', compared with, say, those wee sachets of Nestle instant with the powdered milk already mixed through, but only the plebs drink that stuff 😉
I much prefer an aeropress coffee to a stovetop coffee. The latter always tastes a bit bitter to me.
Other way round for me 🙂 Aeropress, like French press, tastes 'thin'. But then I really like bitter 🙂
Dark, over-roasted, oily beans are my fave!
I do despair of these sort of responses
haha, I was joking about the snob thing, but, oh dear, you've managed to out yourself haven't you?
How other people make and enjoy their coffee is none of your business,
Deal with it?
Having said all of the above, I'm going back to squirt out (no Bialetti in the office...) another mug of this delectable dark roast my wife got me.
Doesn’t work on induction though
Sit it on a cast iron trivet, works fine.
How other people make and enjoy their coffee is none of your business,
Yes, fancy passing comment on a public thread about coffee making.
I've had (and worn out) a couple of Aeropresses and they are convenient and make good coffee.
But recently I've become concerned about drinking two or three coffees a day from a plastic tube. I have no idea what compounds are leaching into the drink.
Does anyone else have this concern?
Currently my coffee making approach makes use of what I think of as a poor man's cafetier: that is, a Pyrex jug and a fine sieve!
Ransos
Recommending you’re own method is, of course, expected and good. Telling other people the way they like coffee is wrong is not so good, and will provoke a reaction.
tomparkin
If I were you I’d be worried that I was only drinking ‘two or three coffees a day’. Up your game.
Recommending you’re own method is, of course, expected and good. Telling other people the way they like coffee is wrong is not so good, and will provoke a reaction.
It would be difficult to recommend a preferred method without comparing it to other methods. If that is upsetting then I suggest people might try getting over themselves.
It would be difficult to recommend a preferred method without comparing it to other methods. If that is upsetting then I suggest people might try getting over themselves.
No. You've got it wrong. You need to understand that what I wrote is a fact, your's is an incorrect opinion.
... I don't actually believe that, btw. I was trying to show the difference between politely offering an opinion and rudely telling others their preference is invalid.
Anyway, you're right - people can write whatever they want. I just don't understand why they then get all defensive if someone calls them out on it.
… I don’t actually believe that, btw. I was trying to show the difference between politely offering an opinion and rudely telling others their preference is invalid.
I can't say I'd be particularly bothered if someone didn't like my method for making coffee.
🙂 Me neither
But I like McDonald’s coffee.
Got to love a STW coffee thread 😁
I spent years faffing with Bialetti stove top moka pots, Aeropresses, and all sorts.
Then I bought this https://www.lavazza.co.uk/en/coffee-machines/jolie-plus.html, and frankly, short of a proper machine, the espresso it produces wipes the floor with everything else I’ve tried.
That machine takes pods right? So your coffee tastes of metal.
They are incredibly easy to use, but I've never really liked the coffee they produce - and the pods are difficult to recycle.
Yeah, it’s a pod machine. But a moka pot is such a pain in the backside.