Dreaming for an Expresso with my Moka

Thinking of those funny things that happen in this country, we all look pretty weird and very far from all international standards but, as far as concerned of the coffee quality, I feel confident to say Italians set some very high standards.
Due to this, one needs to spend some time in Italy to understand how much I suffer when I travel abroad, looking for an Expresso that fits with the Italian standards. Hundreds of times I sadly tried to find a bar with a high quality coffee machine, but as far as my memory reaches, I was always disappointed with a nasty coffee, "what else?”. It’s really tough for me to deal with a business day without the expresso made with my MOKA.

As being tenacious and determined, I have recently decided to change my strategy coming up with a midterm solution for such a social issue.
First of all, I decided to have just a TEA when travelling abroad, behaving like a real English gentlemen, and pretending to know everything about Tea philosophy and culture. As a result, I still missed the coffee but at least I avoided any nasty dark poison claims to be called coffe and, I’ve definitely improved my knowledge on Tea.
As the second step, I will be giving to every colleague of mine a MOKA as gift, arranging for all of them a special training. Eventually, as I don’t expect from them to learn at once, have prepared a tutorial of “How to make coffee with a Moka machine”.

Sooner or later I should expect to taste a good Italian Expresso when travelling on business. If it doesn’t happen, I’ll start bringing with me the coffe and my Moka (wherever I’ll go).

Enjoy the tutorial:

1. Buy the type of grind for the Moka, that is neither the Turkish one nor the French. The grind doesn’t define the flavour and the quality but how fine each grain is;
2. Keep coffe in an hermetic box made of glass or metal;
3. Use fresh water without limestone(if it is possible). Don’t use hot/sparkle water;
4. Put water in the Moka’s boiler until the valve;
5. Put quite much coffee in the filter without pressing it with the spoon;
6. Close the Moka strongly and put it on a low fire with the closed lid;
7. It takes roughly 5 mins to see the coffee coming out and you will also hear the steam;
8. Wait for 5/10 seconds since you hear the steam rising and take away the Moka. Never let the coffee boil on the fire!
9. Enjoy your coffe adding some sugar;
10. Wash the Moka with water only so without any soap. If you haven’t used the Moka for a while or it’s brand new, I recommend making a couple of coffees with water only.

Francesco@Lifeware