I have a confession to make; I have never made a very good cup of coffee at home. I’ve had a few coffee makers over the years but I could never seem to get the right taste. I had a wonderful cappuccino maker I received as a gift in 1993 that made great cappuccino but it broke about 6 years ago and I never found another to replace it. Maybe it’s really that I enjoy lattes and cappuccino more, but then why do I enjoy coffee at other people’s houses?
The first week or so I was in Florence I bought a latte every morning from either the café across the street or the one on the corner. Every morning it was €1,30, or about $1.75, for a latte. I know by American standards $1.75 for a latte is a steal, but that was only if you stood at the bar to drink it. There is a whole other price if you actually sit at a table to drink it (which I never did).
There is an Italian coffee pot in our apartment, well actually two, a 3-cup model and a 6-cup model. They are a cute little hourglass shaped apparatus that I had NO idea how to use. So wanting to sit and enjoy a latte in the comfort of my own apartment, I went online to find out how to work this thing. I even found a YouTube video that showed the whole process.
There is an Italian coffee pot in our apartment, well actually two, a 3-cup model and a 6-cup model. They are a cute little hourglass shaped apparatus that I had NO idea how to use. So wanting to sit and enjoy a latte in the comfort of my own apartment, I went online to find out how to work this thing. I even found a YouTube video that showed the whole process.
Sounds so mysterious to me; put water in the bottom, coffee grounds in the strainer/funnel apparatus, and set it on the bottom section. Next screw the top section on (it has a rubber gasket and the bottom of it is nothing but little holes). Set on the heat and when you hear it start to make gurgling noises turn the heat off. They made it sound a little more daunting though, “put in the proper amount of coffee grounds, the grind should be right, don’t compact the coffee, blah, blah, blah…”
I know I bought the right coffee at the super market, it was Lavazza and it had a little silhouette of a moka pot right on the package. Making my first pot I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right or if it would come out good but, what the heck, the package of coffee wasn’t that much money.
I love my moka pot. Sure I have to heat up a little milk in a separate pan for a latte but it has become my own little morning ritual. The Japanese have a tea ceremony, I feel like I have my own little latte ceremony every morning. I warm the milk stirring it while the coffee starts to steam. I hear the gurgling noise and turned off the burner. I mix the coffee and milk, added a little sugar and OH MY, I have made an incredible little hot morning beverage in the comfort of my own home.
I know I bought the right coffee at the super market, it was Lavazza and it had a little silhouette of a moka pot right on the package. Making my first pot I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right or if it would come out good but, what the heck, the package of coffee wasn’t that much money.
I love my moka pot. Sure I have to heat up a little milk in a separate pan for a latte but it has become my own little morning ritual. The Japanese have a tea ceremony, I feel like I have my own little latte ceremony every morning. I warm the milk stirring it while the coffee starts to steam. I hear the gurgling noise and turned off the burner. I mix the coffee and milk, added a little sugar and OH MY, I have made an incredible little hot morning beverage in the comfort of my own home.
From Wikipedia: The moka pot, also known as a macchinetta (literally "small machine") or "Italian coffee pot", is a stove top coffee maker which produces coffee by passing hot water pressurized by steam through ground coffee. It was first patented by inventor Luigi De Ponti for Alfonso Bialetti in 1933. Bialetti Industrie continues to produce the same model under the name "Moka Express".