Bialetti Coffee Maker
 

We leave for Italy tomorrow and will be in Venice until Saturday then renting an apt in a villa in Tuscany for a week. The apt has a Bialetti coffee maker which I have never used before so I found some instructions online. What kind of coffee would you recommend buying in Italy for this kind of maker or should we take some Starbucks with us? We are definite cofee addicts in the morning so need to be able to make coffe when we get up and then enjoy the Tuscan morning!!!

Hi CJ,

If you have a favorite coffee, bring some and then shop for coffee in Italy.

I think that you will want Espresso grind.

((I))

Please please please don't put starbucks coffee in that Bialetti!
There'e Illy, Levazza, probably widely available, or look in Venice for some other brand. Anything local. If you put starbucks in there, the Bialetti will not appreciate it and will do something to take revenge...... :)

Good morning Bellastarr

Such a passionate response so early in the morning....made me laugh.

But it is true. You could start an international incident!! If you wont have time to shop on your arrival day, do it however. I will even bet that the apartment owner will leave you enough for your first morning. and espresso it is.

Buongiorno CanadianJane-That's because I just got back and am mourning the idea of darkening the door of any starbucks here.
:) Passion is Passion. and Italian Coffee is among other, a subject of passion. When you get there, just ask anyone! :) Have a wonderful time.

Just buy the Lavazza in the silver/red package, or the Lavazza Oro. Bialetti is the quintessential way of coffeemaking in Italy. Maybe you won't appreciate it if you are completely "starbuckized". Pity for you.

Illy fine grind, which I recommend you use in Canada as well. You'll find it here. If you like the coffeemaker, you can buy a Bialetti here as well. If you are a true caffista, there'll be no turning back! Back to Starbucks that is. It's only one step above Tim Horton's coffee.

Poutine-
D'accordo. S'bucks is swill! Yuck!

We use our Bialetti stovetop mocha pot on occasion and it makes really nice espresso and only in about 4 minutes.

Kimbo or LaVazza Oro

My wife and I drink Kimbo every morning. I actually prefer it over the much more expensive Illy

Though I'm not a big coffee drinker, I do find the emotional reactions to Starbucks interesting.

While their coffees might not be the absolute best in the world, and some individual blends might not be to everyone's taste, many of them have received good ratings when judged in blind tastings.

Starbucks is just fine.

"Starbucks with us? We are definite cofee addicts "

er how can you be both?

please do not mention the 'S' word iand italian coffee in the same sentance. And certainly don't in italy - coffee is almost as important as football (soccer)

Stick with Illy or LaVazza and you'll be pleased. As for Starbucks, only in a terrible pinch. It is far too acidic and not very tasty. That goes for nearly all American coffees too.
Have a grat trip enjoy the coffee.

Travelatte

Starbucks has many varieties of coffee, as do many coffee companies. They do not all have the same characteristics.

Don't let obvious irrational prejudice color your judgement.

Sounds very much like "All black people are lazy." Or "All Frenchmen are dirty." Or "All Germans are militaristic brutes." Or "All Americans are noisy and ignorant." Or "All Arabs are insane, bloodthirsty terrorists." "All Starbucks is terrible."

Certainly blind prejudice against human beings is much more serious than blind prejudice against a product, but it all comes from the same place.

Starbucks is fine for grabbing a cup on the go. I would not necessarily choose their beans for my expresso maker.

Off to Italy today...thanks for the passionate information about coffee in Italy. I am looking forward to this new coffee experience. Caio!

I have never been a coffee drinker, but now you have interested me in getting a Bialetti for DH. He loves it when we're in Italy.

I checked the Bialetti site and they have several models. Williams Sonoma has a 12 oz. capacity model, no model name, for $30 and they recommend using a medium grind. How many ozs. in an expresso cup?

Which model is the best for someone who can't brew a decent cup of coffee and will probably use it maybe 10 - 20 times a year - unless DH becomes an addict :-))

Williams Sonoma has Illy for $12.95 for 8.5 ozs. (over $25 a lb!!!) Is that a standard price for expresso? Depending on useage, does that go very far??

Thanks,

Nina

I forgot to mention that he is addicted to his daily "you know whose", grande coffee mocha with whipped creme. He also loves them in the little bottles.

I read the label, and gained two pounds and my cholestoral shot up 20 points :-)) Are those easy enough to make at home with expresso maker?

Nina

Nina 66:

Take a look at a Bialetti Mukka. I don't have one myself, but friends have recommended it. It makes exactly two cups of capuccino, including the milky froth. I think I may give myself a Christmas present soon.:)
They sell them for a lot less through ebay as opposed to Williams Sonoma.

Thanks. I guess this one is just the basic stovetop model, no milk frother.

I'll check ebay and maybe some other local stores and look for the Mukka. Is that the same as the Mocha model mentioned above?
other local stores. I didn't mind spending $30, just in case in ended up not being used that much.

Nina

I am not sure if Mukka and Mocha are the same. The Bialetti Mukka comes in a stainless steel version, and one that is white with big brown cowlike spots on it. I have seen it for $60 on ebay, but it is $20 or $30 more elsewhere I think.

It is also a stovetop expresso maker, but the top half does the milk part. Much less cholesterol that way, if you're counting!

i did some research, Ebay, Amazon and a Bialetti site and they all show that it is called the Bialetti Mukka Express Polished Cappucino Maker. About $80 in stores and $60 and up on Ebay - some new, some used and no longer wanted.

As per one of the sellers on Ebay, I checked Amazon.com for reviews. There were 30 reviews, ranging from I love it to I really hate it.

I do like the idea of the milk cooking on top of the pot. They said that it is more like the Italian soft foamy version, not the stiffer stuff at Starbucks.

I'd suggest that anyone considering buying one, read these reviews - just search on Amazon for Bialetti.

Hmmmmm, now I have to give the Mukka and the original 'Classic' model ($30) some more consideration. It has nothing to do with the price, as a frother would cost at least $20 more, depending on which one I bought.

The one thing in life that _should be_ easy - is shopping!

Nina

I did read the Amazon reviews. I think that it will require a bit of patience and experimentation to get the coffee right. I am ready to try it out however, as I don't want to buy another expensive pressure machine.

I think you are right about the milk froth. It is not the stiff kind, but more of a cafe au lait type froth.

Mmm, I could really use a capuccino now!

Just a note to consider William Sonoma, they will replace your item if something ever happens. Ever. I don't mind spending the little extra they may charge to know I really can take it back if it breaks years from now.

Travelatte

There was a discussion here a few months ago about Bialetti. I swore that I don't care for the aluminum taste but stick with the stainless steel ones. I have the best little Bialetti which is stainless, the one with the hard plastic knob on top and the same plastic handle which doesn't get hot to the touch.

I will now get slammed but in the mornings when I am half awake I do the easy frothing technique. I put a half a cup of milk into the microwave and take it out just as it starts to bubble up to the top. Pour in my coffee and sit back to comtemplate my day. Works for me.

SeaUrchin...

About ten minutes ago, before I read your post, DH said that he had heard that aluminum did have a funny taste. I too would prefer a stainless pot.

Do you remember the title of the post regarding the aluminum, I can do a search of your posts for it.


The Bialetti that I had decided to get, is the aluminum 6 cup Moka, without the frother on top. $19.99 at Bed and Bath (plus a 20% off coupon). Is your's the more expensive stainless Mukka model with the frother on top or is it just the expresso brewer?

It sounds like it may be another version of the one I'm probably going to get as you say you nuke the milk (which is proably what I will be doing). Or do you have the one with the frother and not put milk in it, just the expresso?

If I knew for a fact that I would be using the pot, I would gladly spend $90, but since I am not a coffee drinker (tea for me), I don't need yet another gadget to shove way back in an an already packed cabinet.

DH won't drink coffee in the morning, he waits until he gets to work. He doesn't drink it with dinner either. I think that he caffines himself out at work.

I would just be having a latte or a cappuccino occasionally, never a straight expresso.


So this would just be a once in a while thing, unless we both get hooked :-))

Thanks,

Nina

Hi, no I don't have the frother because I read I think on Amazon opinions that someone didn't like the it for a good reason, forgot what it was now.

I have the Bialetti model "Class", look under stainless steel here: http://www.bialetti.com/

I started out just using it once in a while but now I love it so much with my nuked milk that I use it almost every day! (some days are just tea days!)

I can't remember where I ordered it from but the stainless doesn't add a metal taste.

Let me know what you decide, I hope you like it if you do get it. (That thread may be on TTG, I'll check around).

Nina, I ordered it here:
http://tinyurl.com/m3lru

I remember now I had ordered a Moka one from Amazon and when it arrived it looked like it had been used. It must have been from one of their suppliers. It even had a drop of coffee on the bottom.

Now I feel like a good cup of coffee, but look at the time, better not, lol.

I love coffee and am passionate about which beans I use and how I make the coffee, so my 2 bits here to tis debate.

First of all I think Starbucks makes a not-too-bad expresso and cappucino for outside Italy that is, I have never seen one in Italy, it would be like bringing an Italian hamburger chain to USA! But why bring Starbucks beans to Italy, any supermarket has a wide range of beans and ground coffee, I would start with Lavazza Gold and experiment from there. I found the commercial blend I liked best was Mauro Special Expresso, more than Illy, but the supermarkets no longer carry it. Of course you can always go to an artisan coffee shop where they roast coffees from all over the world into whatever style you like, but at a cost!

Second I don't know about Bialetti, is this a like the smaller home expresso machines? I don't care for them as they can never match the pressure of a big bar machine, nor the expertise of a barrista. I use the little moka pot on the stove, but never aluminum, not only the taste but I believe aluminium leaches into the coffee and probably is carcinogenic to boot (IMO), stainless is the way to go, although I have seen some ceramic pot models.

Thanks SeaUrchin.

After reading about your preference for the stainess steel model, I got curious about it, as I had only been looking at the Moka aluminum models, so I googled it. What else is there to do after midnight, when even your dog is sound asleep.

Before returning here and seeing that you did my work for me, I found it on Amazon for $39.95 incl. shipping. It said in tiny print that it had been discontinued, but they still have it in stock.

That is so odd, and gross, that you got one from Amazon with coffee drops in it. I guess the previous owner didn't think that it 'good to the last drop'.

What kind of frother do you use?
I've been looking at the wand battery type on line, Bon Jour and Aerolatte, both very inexpensive.

Now that I got DH started on this, he wants the zillion dollar Miele set up that we saw when we bought our dishwasher. I think it was about the size of a small entertainment center and was $2500 or something like that.

He can buy it, think of the FF miles we'll get, but that's all he'll be consuming in this house for the next year, and he'll have to use cheap coffee and re-use the grounds.

Nina

Illy costs anywhere from about $10/can to $13/can in "normal" stores in the US.

Lavazza Crema E Gusto (a red brick) is also good for a Bialetti. Kimbo is most common in the south of Italy, especially around Naples where the Kimbo factory is.

Thanks tdyls, it's not so much the price of Illy, although not being a coffee drinker, it surprised me, it's that most of it would go to waste.

I was told and have read, that Illy and probably all other brands of good coffees should be used within ten days of grinding the beans and that you can only keep ground coffee for two weeks (Illy ad) in the refrigerator. Then I've also seen and been told that you aren't suppose to refrigerate it, just keep it in a closed canister.

If there are approx. 40 cups of expresso to a pound of coffee - beans or ground ??, than it would take us possibly three or four months for us to use a half pound can/bag. There is no way that I can buy Lavazza or Illy in a smaller amount if it only comes pre-packaged.

Boy, when I started thinking about this whole thing it sounded soooo easy, just buy it and use it .... now it has taken on a life of it's own, with accessories to match.

Nina

Sampaguita .... Bialetti is an old Italian brand of coffee makers. The only thing that I know about them is that they are small stovetop Moka pots, mostly octagionally shaped. The inexpensive ones are aluminum and the others are stainless steel.

Yesterday I couldn't spell Bialetti and today I am answering questions about it!!! :-)) The power of the internet.

Nina