Bialetti Musa 4-Cup Stovetop Espresso Maker

We having been using the Italian made Bialetti aluminum espresso maker for about 4 years and really like it. However, the aluminum Bialetti can't be used in a dishwasher (it oxidizes and turns dark.) We thought that a stainless model would be more convenient to clean. However, this Indian made coffee maker isn't made to as exacting a standard as the aluminum Italian one. The top and bottom pieces don't screw together as well and is very hard to prevent the steam from leaking.

Two year update: This model got better with age. The pieces screw together better and doesn't leak anymore. In addition, slightly looser fit of the rubber gasket made it easier to remove and clean. It cleans nicely in a dishwasher and is very durable. Now will give it a four star.

Bialetti Musa 4-Cup Stovetop Percolator

I've owned a 6-cup "Moka Pot" for a couple years and recently purchased the Bialetti Musa 4-cup stovetop perconlator for $39 from amazon.

Moka Pot: Your standard Italian stovetop percolator that will last forever despite cheap construction. About $6 from the second-hand store, and very easy to find. Unfortunately, they're a bit more work -the aluminum construction results in a metallic taste if not properly cleaned. The "proper" way to clean it is to use only hot water and leave the oily coffee film in the pot (to coat the aluminum and provide a barrier). So, it provides increasing returns if *not* cleaned. :)

Bialetti: Stainless steel -easy cleanup, can use soapy water, no metallic taste. Harder to find (check amazon, health-food stores). Mine arrived via Amazon.com yesterday, no metal shavings or grease (as an earlier reviewer experienced).

As other reviewers have pointed out, the "4-Cup" version does 6-8 oz of espresso, so that's like that Starbucks "Venti" wonder that you're trying to avoid.

Here's an easy recipe that should kick you out the door in the morning:

6-8 oz espresso from Stovetop (1 Moka Pot)

1-2 Tbsp of sugar

6-8 oz of half-n-half

Throw it in the microwave for 30s, some like it hot.

Enjoy!

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I'm comparing the 4 cup Musa to the 6 cup Moka Express. First, the Moka Express takes roughly 3 oz of fine ground to fill while this Musa takes about 1.5 oz to fill. If you follow the directions, the end product for the Musa will be very weak compared to the Moka Express. I've learned that even though the directions say not to tamp the grounds, I lightly tamp the grounds to get a little over 2 oz of ground to make a product with the same potency as the Moka Express. The brew time will take a little longer, but worth the wait.

With that said, it all comes down to how the end product taste doesn't it. The Musa may win the looks contest, but the aluminum Express version wins on taste. Not sure how and why they taste different, but I did a taste test with friends and all agreed that the Express taste better and it's cheaper.

I would say get this if you a have fear of aluminum products and still want the Moka experience. I would pass on it if you're looking for a better product than the original Moka Express. For that, I would recommend you try the Aeropress, it takes more grounds, but the taste is worth it.

Would I buy the Musa again? Yes, it's another weapon in my arsenal for java nirvana. Although it may not be the most tasteful I have, it works great for 2 people having 2 shots each. Also, if you've never had the express version, you won't know what you're missing and this is a very good substitute. One last thing, it's very well constructed, you can see and feel why it's more expensive than the aluminum version.

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I've had a couple moka pots and while this one seems to work fairly well, it's very evident that outsourcing the manufacturing on these from Italy (some Bialetti are still made there) to India has caused quality to suffer. The stamped logo is crappy, the lid hinges are crooked and the pin that holds the lid to the hinge is slightly bent and works it's way half way out each time it's used. The moka pot works fairly well but at this quality it should have been about half as much. This takes longer to heat up than an aluminum moka pot and I did notice that it doesn't like my gas stove tops nearly as much as electric and I think that because the base is so small the gas ring on the stove is almost bigger than the base so you need to keep it on a small burner with the flame on medium to low. The product works, it's just a shame that you can definitely tell the quality has suffered by being made in India rather than the usual quality manufacturing that Italy produces.

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I've had this Bialetti for about eight months now. Apparently I got somewhat lucky in that the first one I received didn't have any defects. I like it. There's essentially nothing to break, and it's rugged heavy gauge stainless. No problem taking it camping. A few things to keep in mind about these type of coffee makers:

A "cup" is like a "shot" at Starbucks. Think demitasse.

The strength of the coffee produced can be somewhat modulated by how much ground coffee is put in the basket, how much it's packed in the basket, and how finely ground the coffee is. If you pack/fill the basket, it will be slow to brew and come out very strong. If you partially fill the basket and don't pack it, the coffee will be weaker and come out quickly. Slight changes seem to make a fairly large difference in the results.

One minor gripe is that I don't like the handle that's on the flip top lid. The way mine is installed, it's not possible to flip the lid up with your thumb while your hand is on the main handle. Sometimes I like to flip the lid up to check the brewing process and there isn't an easy way to do so. Not a big deal..

I'll have this coffee maker forever.

Aerolatte Milk Frother, Satin

I just got the box from Amazon, pulled out my new Aerolatte, removed the protective cover from the battery compartment (yeah, it even comes pre-loaded with a pair of "aerolatte" double A's!), and put about 2 oz of NON-FAT (skim) milk in a glass.

I nuked the milk for about 20 seconds, pulled it from the microwave, stuck the aerolatte in the glass and pushed the switch.

DANG!!

Nearly INSTANT foam. GOBS of it. It formed PEAKS!! You could make small milk-animals out of it.

I really can't believe how well this thing works. The only thing that would ruin it for me is if it simply fell apart after a few uses, but frankly, with a little bit of care, it looks like it'll hold up. We'll see.

But in the meantime, call me Doctor Foam.

-Jonathan Sabin

UPDATE ***9 MONTHS LATER***

Notwithstanding the complaints of people who claim that their aerolatte lasted about 5 minutes, I just replaced the batteries for the first time since buying it back in January. (Yes, it still works, but I was disappointed that I was no longer able to make foam-animals!)

Well a couple of fresh Duracells later, and I sound like a deranged dentist with this thing in my hand. The "buzz" I had become accustomed to, is now a high-pitched whizzing sound, that actually made my molars uncomfortable.

But I'm back to making some seriously decent foam again!

I have owned this for about 5 years. I use a stover top espresso maker which works about as well as electric steam type. I have found that the electric pump type that are less than $250.00 don't work that well, and take up too much counter space in a small kitchen. This does work, but I found something that froths milk much better than this and much faster.

Use a small Bodum 4 cup French Press. Put your milk in the French Press (not the same one you are making your coffee in. Get a second smaller one) and rapidly work the plunger up and down for about 10 to 20 seconds. You have frothier milk in less than half the time and you won't need to change batteries every two weeks.

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I'm pleasantly surprised at the thick, firm, yet light, foam this product produces from homemade soy milk ... all that with my very first attempt! Now, I can experiment with some light flavors. Trust me ... this is a no brainer! My only regret is that I waited so long to give this little gadget a try. I'm at the bottom of my first large cup of coffee using this little frother, and the froth/foam had such staying power that I'm having to use a spoon to get the last it from the cup. Thank you Areolatte!!

UPDATE 12/22/06: Boy oh boy, how I love Aerolatte frothers!! I now own three of these little gadgets! I recently bought 2 more from the online Aerolatte distributor. The very newest top-of-the-line model is all stainless (even the handle), has a thicker stainless stem, and comes with a large stainless stand. Then, they have the black molded plastic one that comes with it's own sturdy grey, protective, plastic container with a cap on one end (not the one with the tin case) for on the road. I just can't seem to contain myself with how happy I am with this product! I hope this review is useful to some who might have doubt.

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This works amazingly well. We've used it for a poor-man's latte by microwaving milk, then frothing it to simulate steamed milk, then mixing it with various coffees. We've also used it to froth hot chocolate. Doesn't work that well for making whipped cream.

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Performs as described, makes loads of creamy frothy milk for your coffee. (I found that frothed half-and-half gets thicker and is foamier for longer than soy milk. The joys of extra fat.) We can make tons of cappuccinos and lattes at home with our own coffee. Starbucks who?

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BUNN My Cafe AP Auto Eject Pod Brewer

I've been a coffee pod advocate for years have had the Bunn MCP in my home for about five of those years. It's flawless, never broke, brews delicious coffee. My Bunn is also "hard lined" to the plumbing behind my fridge so I always get fresh cold water and never have to pour over the top. This was insanely simple to do and I'm not sure why more people don't do it. All you need to do is get the right adapters from your local plumbing or hardware store and create a "Y" in the 1/4" line that feeds water to your refrigerator. Then route the newly split line over to your coffee machine. Since most refrigerators are set inside a little cubby hole these days, I just drilled a 1/4" hole in the side of the cubby hole and put my coffee machine right next to the fridge (you can't see the hole any longer). Contact me if you have have questions about what type of adapter to buy in all you'll spend $5-$10 dollars completing this little task. Well worth it for never having to fill up a coffee machine tank ever again.

Back to the story....

My Bunn MCP is awesome but folks have a tendency to leave spent pods in the tray (yuck) and you need to clean the machine (decalcify as simple as 'brewing' a cup with vinegar instead of water) but the machine is analog in how it dispenses water so you don't really know you need to decalcify the machine until you notice that 7oz of coffee is starting to look like a lot less than that. So I went on the search for the next evolution in coffee pod brewing technology.

Let's just say you get what you pay for. The My Cafe AP is gorgeous and melts right in with all the other stainless appliances like the fridge, microwave, et al. In five years, Bunn has really stepped up their game. First off, the AP has an internal digital pour meter so it actually senses how much water has flowed into your cup, as opposed to the old analog style which was just leaving the solenoid open for some period of time, like 15 seconds or whatever. The AP actually shows this on its LCD display too so you can see how some pods that are packed more tightly than others might brew more slowly or absorb more of the initial water stream, but still end up brewing the same amount of joe. The AP also has a handy auto-eject feature so spent pods are simply discarded in the internal trash can you can put a tiny little trash can liner in here if you want, but I don't. Best of all, it's also plumbed like my original MCP, so I could literally reuse the exact same hook up as previous. This unit went from box to usable in under 5 minutes.

I also like all the features available in the LCD although it's not intuitive my looking at the LCD. You need the manual for this one. It's almost as if the CPU is full of Easter Eggs, like locking the display, changing the amount of water dispensed through "small" versus "large" cup, etc. But out-of-the-box none of this is necessary. If you like to fill your travel mugs every morning, you might however want to turn stock "small" into stock "large" and stock "large" into 10oz, instead of whatever the default is set at, I think it's 7 or 8oz.

Anyhow, it's by far the most expensive coffee machine I've ever bought, or that anyone's ever bought for their home that doesn't brew espresso. But if you're sick and tired of waiting for an entire pot to brew, just to waste half of it, or need another pot, or whatever, this is the coffee machine for you. Brew as much as you want, one pod at a time, and please for god sake live in the 21st century and plumb it into your fridge like a normal person.

PS When it comes to which coffee pods to buy, all I can say is that you need to do a taste test. Nearly all of the mass producers I've tried make the worst 'regular' coffee, but the best flavored coffee. Whereas the opposite is true from the non-coporate small-business vendors they make the best regular coffee and worst flavored coffee. So in my case, I get my Guatemala and Paris French Roast online from a small boutique coffee pod producer. But I get my Hazelnut online from Amazon from one of the bigger companies.

CHEERS!

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Bialetti Mukka Express 1-Cup Cow-Print Stovetop Cappuccino Maker

It took about 5 tries to get the right combination and flavor coffee and then!!! Morning bliss!

Stay within the marks and you wont have to clean frothy delight up!

Villaware 275-06 Moka Express 6-Cup Espresso Maker

I've been using my Bialetti 6-cup moka maker for a couple years now and it sure beats the mess of an actual espresso machine and if you make the coffee correctly you don't sacrifice any of the great flavor. I'm not sure why this product is listed as Villaware because it is a Bialetti maker from Italy. Anyway, it makes great coffee. How to use: 1. Fill the bottom half with water up to the release valve so the water level is right under the release. 2. Place the filter in the bottom half and fill with espresso coffee very carefully. You need to spread the coffee to the edge of the filter and then get a good mound of coffee in the middle. Do not tamp the coffee in the filter like you would an espresso handle filter. 3. Screw on the top tightly. 4. Put on burner under low heat so the water can seep through the coffee slowly. 5. Once you hear it percolating you are done with this portion. For a simple cup of espresso just add sugar. Once the coffee is done there are a variety of recipes which you will have to look elsewhere for. Cleaning this pot is also very important. After it has cooled down you can take it apart, dump the coffee (I use an old coffee can), and clean the pieces with cold water only. DO NOT use soap to clean this pot. I like to wipe dry my pot because scum can build up if you have hard water, but you can let it drip dry. Do not put the pot back together while it is wet. In fact you don't even need to put it together again until you are ready to make another pot of coffee. Buona Fortuna.

Over twenty years ago, one of my roomates had one of these and we enjoyed a little cup of espresso every morning to get the day going. I never forgot the great coffee his little pot made, but I hadn't gotten around to getting one of my own until recently. I had about given up on espresso at home after several disappointing "cheap" plug-in machines.

The way this works is so simple; you put the water in the bottom with the coffee in a funnel like device with a stem that almost touches the bottom of the pot. Screw the gasketed top on and put it on the fire. As the water heats and starts to boil, the accumulating steam pressure forces the boiling water up the stem, through the coffee and into the top pot through a vented post. When you see steam start to come out of the spout, shut it off and enjoy!

The only trouble with this pot is its small size. It will fill one coffee mug full, so if my wife is home we have to split the pot. That's not all bad if you pour your half over a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a touch of Kahlua to fill the mug (after work, of course). I know they make larger pots like this, and as soon as Amazon has one, it's mine!

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There is nothing wrong with the Bialetti. It is excellent.

BUT...you really don't want to go with an aluminum stove top coffee maker. You want to go with stainless steel.

Over time, there will be calcium buildup in the pot; unless you're smart and use distilled water (which results in better tasting coffee anyway). When you go to use one of the decalcifiers on the aluminum, an oxide will form that is impossible to clean.The inside will lose its shininess and possibly some of the metal, allowing aluminum to leach in to the coffee.

This problem is avoided with a stainless steel stove top unit.

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Ask my wife, I love coffee, and I love espresso even more. It is rare to find a good cup of espresso, even at a fine shop, but this little machine does it. Trust me, I am picky. It does a wonderful job of bringing out a rich, even flavor from any bean. My first cup with it (about 4 months ago) was an experience of it's own. Since then, I literally have brewed 2 or 3 pots of regular coffee. I shun coffe wherever I go, and I compare "professional" espresso to what the Moka Express can do. Buy it. I have nothing to gain, except to know I have ended your search for a great cup of espresso at home, without the dissapointing results of the under $100.00 steam espresso makers. PS. My son asks me to pack it whenever we travel.

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I have been drinking coffee from this machine for 5 years now, and let me tell you, it's a new level of coffee. My roommate and I swear this is the best coffee in the world (I've recently been to Paris and Italy and nothing compared!).

The capacity is somewhat small, but it's good for one or two people, and hopefully amazon will soon offer the 12 cup version.

I've found that flavor has more to do with the type of beans, a certain bean that tastes great in a drip coffee will not necessarily taste great in this machine. So do lot's of experiments. And don't grind the coffee too finely as the machine will clog and sputter out of the sides...

I drink regular size mugs of this every morning with half and half (regular milk has no effect). Note that 6 cups refers to the tiny espresso cups. this thing will fill about 1.5 normal size mugs with very strong coffee (with room for cream)... Definitely buy it!