I've basically stopped drinking coffee to drink espressos. I haven't been able to make them at my convenience, but I drink coffee for the taste, not the pick-up, so I've managed to survive. I was talking to a Cuban co-worker the other day about coffee and she mentioned that she makes espressos at home without a machine. Whaaatttt!?!? Yes, you too can make a cheap espresso with what is called a moka pot or a caffettiere. I came home and hit the local streets for one of these beauties:
After perusing the collection of thrift shops in Sunnyside, I checked the 99 cent store and found one for 7.65. Sweet deal!
I forgot to mention that my Cuban friend told me that she uses Cafe Bustelo, which happens to be one of my favorite coffees (we go way back). The mechanism is pretty simple. There's a chamber in the middle of the hourglass shape with strainers above and below it, where you pack your fine ground coffee. You pour a half cup in the bottom section. Screw the caffettiere together and put it on a stove for a minute. Watch it. And then.....
The water will boil up through the packed grounds and spill out two holes at the top of the spout. A full batch will yield about 3 demitasse cups. Take the caffettiere off the stove as soon as it's done, otherwise the coffee will burn.
While its true that espressos are simply concentrated coffee, a fine Arabic espresso has a peculiar bite to it not found anywhere on the flavor palate of regular coffee. These espresso's didn't quite make the cut here. They were basically very strong, small cups of coffee. The taste was no different than regular Cafe Bustelo, strong, simple, consistent. I talked to my Cuban friend about this and she told me that her family mixes it with an equal portion of milk and lots of sugar, and then dunks Cuban bread in it. I'll let you know how that works out sometime.
Overall, this is a fun little toy. Good for a coffee enthusiast who likes to try different brewing methods and tastes. Maybe down the road I'll learn some tricks on using it or some dishes to pair it with. If nothing else, brewing Cuban espressos is pretty badass.
(photo cred: wikimedia commons)
