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- Bialetti has been making stovetop espresso makers since the dawn of the ages, at least where we're concerned.
- The brand offers all shapes and sizes, but the Mini Express (1-Cup or 2-Cup) will get you the closest to thick, rich espresso from a machine.
- Tiny, stowable, and dare we say cute, the Mini Express is very little skin off your nose ($20-$30), and even less space on your countertop.
If you're not familiar with stovetop espresso makers, know at least this: They are as close as you'll get to true espresso (which is Italian for "expressed," or simply "pressed") coffee from a motorized machine, which is made using, yes, you guessed it, pressure. The finer the grind, the more pressure required to push water through it, and the richer and foamier the product.
But there's a limit, especially with a stovetop espresso maker. It has no motor generating pressure, just steam in a water-filled chamber heated atop your stove. Too fine or tightly packed, your grounds will burn, or water won't be able to seep through at all (which will also, in effect, burn the ground). Just right - finely ground but not powdered, and evenly but loosely packed in the funnel - and, well, see for yourself.
On the stovetop
Owen Burke/Business Insider
Not a bad little dose of foam, or "crema," if you want to call it by its fancy Italian name.
Now, I could have done a little better above, but not much. To boot, this is espresso, or caffè crema, almost as good as it gets. I like the 2-Cup because I've managed to get twice the foam, and it's good for having company.
Even after testing espresso machines for months on end, and fiending over them for several years on my own, one thing you'll never catch me complaining about is when a Bialetti Moka Pot is my only device at hand. Sure, there's probably a bit of nostalgia at play, but that's because it works so perfectly well. It also comes everywhere with me, and if I'm camping somewhere I can have a fire, it's how I'll make my morning coffee. In fact, I spent nearly a year camping, and my Bialetti often saw the campfire three to four times a day. Sure, it was charred at the end, and the handle had melted off (I fastened a wooden replacement), but it still did its job.
How to use a stovetop espresso maker, aka Moka Pot
A stovetop espresso machine works with pressure just the way an espresso machine works, but from direct heat, not a powerful steam-driving motor. The heat drives the water in the basin to steam, which then pushes through the funnel (or basket, which holds the grounds) and up through a spout and into the top chamber, and presto: Tip it over and pour it out.
Getting the balance right so that your espresso comes out as, well, espresso, is an art form and a half. You'll find your own way in time, and I'll have my critics here, but this is how I do it:
- First, pre-boil your water in a kettle. This is optional, but it seems to help with quality, based on my humble experience.
- While your water is boiling, take apart your espresso pot if you haven't already.
- Place the basin on a heatproof surface or cloth.
- Fill the basin with enough near-boiling water to produce the size of the pour you want, plus about a third extra to account for condensation, steam, and absorption into the grounds.
- Place the funnel in the basin, and spoon in your espresso (not coffee) grounds, lightly patting them down. I usually just give the thing an authoritative tap or two on the counter and even it out with the back of a spoon.
- Screw on the top, and set the pot on a medium-low heat.
- Wait for the smell and the sound of that glorious elixir of life to gurgle to the top. The second you hear it passing into the top chamber (that is, up the spout), you can probably kill the heat. Let it sit so that it can finish producing, but not so long so that the crema disappears.
- Pour away and enjoy, or, if it's burnt, toss it and try again. You'll get it right eventually.
The bottom line
If you're after espresso at home but not looking to spend a couple Benjamins (at the very least), there's hardly any choice other than a Moka Pot. And while Bialetti has seriously dropped off in quality over the years (see the cheap plastic handle, which used to be metal, that I always end up having to replace), the Mini Express just seems to produce the closest thing to what I'm after, which is a thick, bunker fuel-like substance with a comparably thick foam, or crema if you want to get fancy about it. If that gets your blood running, too, look no further.
If you just want a basic stovetop espresso pot and crema isn't your primary concern, I'll point you to Grosche: They're making a much higher-quality pot than Bialetti these days, and the handle is heat resistant (at some point when you leave yours on the stove a tad too long, you'll thank me).
Pros: Easy to produce foam, or crema, stowable, portable
Cons: Cheap parts (particularly plastic handle that melts far too easily)
Buy the Bialetti Mini Express 2-Cup from Amazon for $29.99
Buy the Bialetti Mini Express 1-Cup from Amazon for $19.34
Shop all Bialetti products on Amazon
Buy the Grosche Espresso Pot from Bed Bath & Beyond starting at $25.99 for a 3-cup (member price: $20.79)
Read our full guide to the stovetop espresso makers.
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