Damn hard to find a 2-cupper anymore - don't know why. I have a Bialetti Dama and a Guzzini pot both in the 2-cup model and they're just right for me. I like the way the 1-cuppers brew best but, yes, they don't brew more than a double shot. They make one great Americano or cafe-au-lait, but not one and a half. :-)

Never used that bent-spigot double thingie; REI sells them and I keep thinking it'd be fun to try each time I'm in the store. Memory says I read some bad reviews on it a while back but I can't say that firsthand. A Bialetti Express 3-cup isn't so bad but you might want to cruise the net hard looking for an real 2x. Or get an AeroPress.
[Reply]

or a Brikka - http://www.bialettishop.com/BrikkaMain.htm
[Reply]

Norm at UncleBeanz has some fantastic decaf.

http://www.unclebeanz.com/merchant2/...egory_Code=DEC

The Opus1 exotic is quite good and an interesting story. As I understand it, the Opus1 is actually a arabica bean genetically bred to be less than 1% caffeine.

For decaf in general, I prefer coffee treated with the Swiss Water Method that doesn't require chemical solvents to remove the caffeine.

In general there is no shortage of good decaf coffee from good roasters it just tends to cost more due to the extra processing. I do know some companies will use a lower quality of bean for their decaf to keep the price per pound the same as their caffeinated coffee.

I did a lot of research on decaf as I got my wife hooked on coffee and then got her pregnant... twice and she wanted good quality decaf during her pregnancies. Even though I don't need to drink decaf after a cup or two of regular sometimes I still want coffee and having good decaf around is a nice thing.

When I was in grad school I used to have six-cupper every morning. What does that make me? It was pretty crazy I would have a travel mug with with ten oz of moka pot coffee with honey and half/half at 6:30 and still be tweaking at 10pm. After two years of that I had to cut back. :-)
[Reply]

Thanks.

Yeah, the 2-cup pots seem to be pretty much non existant.

So, Bialetti and Guzzini, any other manufacturers that are decent? Any that should best be avoided?

The Aeropress and the mokapot seem to be very different in operation and principle to me. I was thinking that the mokapot would be more capable of producing what I was looking for, the aeropress is more of a coffee maker, correct?
[Reply]

I saw that one the other day when I was looking at Bialetti's online shop & webpage. Seemed like some people here were less than impressed with them. Seems like a lot of money for a mediocre piece of coffee making equipment.
[Reply]

Guzzini's are hard to find and very pricey but well made; anything Bialetti is going to be fine. I never tried the $6.95 Chinese versions at the grocery store.

AeroPress and mokapat are two ways to approach the taste of espresso without the $ investment or learning curve. I recently ran espresso (Nuova Simonelli Oscar), moka and AeroPress coffee from the same batch of beans and taste-tested them, side by side. The grinder was a Mazzer and the grind was specific to each coffeemaker. Tell you what - they were all different but not THAT different. Each was good in its own way; the AeroPress makes a VERY smooth espresso-like brew, by the way.

I never used one but some reliable non-purist coffee'ites I know swear by (not at) the Brikka. I wouldn't have one - prefer making my own crema the olde fashioned way. I believe the pressure/crema widget in the Brikka in similar to that in the Mukka (of which I have a pair); it works well to produce latte-like milk froth in coffee if it is milk froth you want.
[Reply]

Dag, Robbo.... that last batch of ethiopian was fantastic! It was all about blueberries. Major "Wow."
[Reply]

I noticed that the one or two Guzzinis I found online yesterday were rather expensive, I think $90 or so, That's way more than I want to spend for casual use. I happened to be in the neighborhood of a CostPlus Worldmarket yesterday, so I ducked in to look what they had. Meh. They had the $6.95 Chinese knock-off of the Bialetti, piced at $19.99 (3-cup). Looked and felt like total junk compared to the Bialetti I looked at the other day at Target.

Ok, so it seems I was a bit off on my understanding of the Aeropress. I'm liking the 1-4 cup versatility, I'm liking the fast brew times (can't stand bitter, acidic coffee/espresso - the lower caffene content is a bonus), liking the filter to prevent sludge & crap in the coffee/faux-espresso. Also interesting is that I can't seem to find any negative reviews on the Aeropress, usually there is always at least someone who hates something, but with this nope, zip, zilch, nada. Closest I can find is someone sayig "350 filters lasting two years is misleading. Who only makes one espresso every other day?"

Will the Aeropress work with the pre-ground espressos? Or is that too fine a grind?

Lastly, how much coffee does each scoop hold? I saw someone on amazon write that each scoop is 3 tablespoons. Not teaspoons, but tablespoons. So to make 4 aeropress shots you need 3./4 cup of ground coffee??!?!?

Ok, seems I phrased that poorly or mistook some commentary about the device then.

Not really into lattes to be honest.
[Reply]

Duuuuurrrr...

No need to address that question anymore as I measured what the size of the scoops are that I use in my B&D single cup drip machine each morning and they are 1 tablespoon scoops, maybe a bit more. I typically use three of them, three heaping scoops of them.
[Reply]

The Brikka is a straight up mokapot with a little pressure widget that makes crema without particular regard to technique; it does this similarly to how the Mukka makes milk froth. People who use them for moka like them. The Brikka is not a latte maker - the Mukka is.

I sent my AeroPress off for someone to use and I can't recall the details it - except, it makes excellent coffee with med/fine grounds. fresher the better.
[Reply]

Dan,

Thanks. You've given me some things to think about & go look for.
[Reply]

Get the AeroPress TG you will love it. The filter works no matter how fine the grind is.
[Reply]

Thanks Dan, I really like that bean and feel I have the roast for it down.

I never thought I would get a Brikka nor would I have thought it could produce different results then a Moka pot but I got one and it does. I use the Brikka mostly for light roasts (city to city+) and for brighter coffees that I find bitter in the moka pot. IMO the difference between a Moka pot and a Brikka brew is the brew time, the Brikka is all said and done in 10 seconds or less where my best moka results are 20+ seconds. This year it will be coming on vacation instead of any of the moka pots. I don't think it is any easier to get a good cup from then the moka pot, both require dose and grind adjustment to get them just right. The Brikka will produce plenty of false crema when fresh beans are used but that is just a visual as far as I am concerned and has nothing to do with how the brew will taste. I have had many of a false crema Moka pot that I over extracted and plenty that had none that where heavenly.
[Reply]

New (old) mokapot with frother from a consignment store in Raleigh - needs a little repair on the filter but it works. $11. Too cool.

Image
[Reply]

Dan I am so glad to finally find this thread. I am just beginning my coffee/espresso journey. Unfortunately I have to do it on a rather limited budget. In another thread you mentioned that my Capresso grinder is the best of the cheapest burr grinders. I was afraid to even mention my new Bialetti 3 cup pot. Now things are looking up. If my order from Unclebeanz would just arrive...

Thanks.
[Reply]

Have at it, brother bean. No moka question to big - none too small. I love sweating mokapot details. :-)

If you are not already a wizard, practice with a bag of the cheap grocerystore shine-ola before Norman's stuff shows up. Who knows - you might like it! I cop stellar moka from grocery beans once in a while. :-)
[Reply]

I would love to see a video of that thing in operation. Neat design.
[Reply]

I'm trying to edit a (regular) mokapot "How to" for youtube right now. I might do one for this pot next year. I fooled with it the other day and managed to get a shot out and managed to froth milk about 20% of the way. It was pretty stinky coffee though, even after I cleaned it out. It needs a little, uh... conditioning.

Best as I can figure, you fill it with water to the desired line inside the lower pot (3, 6 or 9 cups) and fill the basket with the requisite amount of grinds. You then screw down the top, close the steam wand knob-valve, open the coffee knob-valve and fire the mother up.

When coffee is done flowing you must close the coffee valve and wait for a few minutes to build up steam and hear a rumble. Put a frothing pot under the wand, crack open the wand knob-valve and blow some steam. Presto-presto.

I gotta say this... When something is as rare as this pot it must have gone away for a reason, right? There is the original Atomic or the Bellman reproduction but - seriously - who uses one of those? :-)
[Reply]

I've just finished reading this thread (again) in its entirety, and you have my interest. I have nearly given up on finding a 2-cup bialetti (or other), so I suppose a 3-cup will have to do. I have a feeling it's going to be more than I really want on a regular basis, though.

I currently run a Cuisinart DBM-8, which has always been serviceable for drip and press (thought chewy at the bottom), but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with fine grounds produced by this model. Will it perform for moka?

Alternately, I may have the opportunity to make a choice between some mid-range grinders, and I'm wondering if it's really necessary.
[Reply]

Most any burr grinder will make a very passable moka; should grind quality improve with acquisition of better or exotic mills down the road you can then make miraculous claims. Until then, expect a good moka. I think a whirley blade pretty much craps out on moka, however.
[Reply]