Mokapots, Moka, or Stovetop Espresso, Period.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by T.G

...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?

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.

Originally Posted by T.G.

I saw that one [Brikka] 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.

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.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

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.

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.

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

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.

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??!?!?

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

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.

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

Not really into lattes to be honest.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by T.G

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??!?!?

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.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by T.G

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

Not really into lattes to be honest.

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.

[JaKaacH]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

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.

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