Hot, smoking pot

While going through some old stuff I came across an old friend, my almost forgotten moka pot, bought from Ikea many years ago. The gasket is rather old and brittle. I know this because I broke the only spare that came with it. So with only the existing rubber gasket left, I gingerly cleaned every component.

Nearby was the mini hot plate I conveniently used as the heat source.
That was when I figured I could finally have espresso at work, albeit from a traditional Italian invention.

So for the past few weeks I’ve been re-experimenting and tweaking the pot, getting the correct grind setting and adjusting the pressure in the water chamber, all in the pursuit of java love.

Here’s what I got so far.

My moka pot, to be used with coffee filter paper, carefully cut into round pieces to fit the basket's opening, . Here's a Wikipedia link to learn how a typical moka pot works.

Espresso oozing from the spout, complete with crema (of the crop, I must add). Now that's what I call java lava! Yeah baby...

More crema... Oh, by the way, the filter paper I mentioned earlier is put between the ground coffe and the top metal filter. This adds to the pressure in the water chamber thus optimizing extraction to near perfection. If I could only tell you exaclty how many bars of pressure it created.

I can't. But it does the trick. And it prevents a muddy espresso too. Lovely.

Almost there. Just look at the froth! Gosh!

Pour me gently, pour me good... Pour me like a java lover would.

Good to the last drop.

After you've had your espresso, or during, it's always nice to see how the filter paper held up, indicated by the clean top metal filter. Achtung! The pot's smoking hot!

Dont forget to blow the end of the funnel to get that coffee cake out, examine it's firmness and watch it crumble as you break it into pieces. Like a crumbly cookie it does.

Conclusion; despite not giving a perfect shot like an espresso machine would, a moka pot works wonders, given good effort and attention. Love and passion truly go a long way. Just ask the Italians.