Customer Reviews

Bialetti 6799 Moka Express 3-Cup Stovetop Espresso Maker

5 star:		(196)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I got my Bialetti 6-cup about a week and a half ago. It took me a while to learn all the tricks of the trade, so I thought I'd piece it together here.

1. Rinse out the pot, preferably with warm water and not with any abrasive cloth.

2. Fill the bottom of the pot with water to the line. If you go over it, the pot might explode. Seriously.

3. Fill the middle filter with ground espresso roast (dark) beans. Grind them a little bit finer then auto drip grind, to about the grain of fine sand. Level off the filter, and put it in the pot.

4. Screw on the top hard. Don't use the handle to screw it, because it could snap off.

5. My stove goes LO, 1, 2, ... 8, 9, HI; I usually set it between 3 and 5. It takes 5-ish minutes to finish. Take it off the stove when you hear it gurgling and sputtering.

Things I've learned:
*If it's going to be mainly you drinking the espresso, consider a 3-cup. I usually make a double cappuccino in the morning, and the rest of my family uses no more than 3 shots total. I stick the left-over in a Tupperware container and refrigerate it (a practice sure to make Italians shudder) to mix with milk and sugar when I come home from work.
*You can open the top to watch the espresso come out, because it is really cool. Just be sure to close it before it starts sputtering, because it goes all over.
*Read an article in a magazine or something while you wait--just don't wander off, because the time between when it first comes out and when it's finished is brief.

Moka pots make great 'espresso,' plus they're cheap and quick. From what I've gathered, Bialetti's the best maker. So I definitely recommend this.

Unless you are ready to be ruined for any other coffee, and the three cup size will not be big enough! Decades of my life wasted. I've discovered real coffee so late in life, my only lament about buying this espresso pot is the tears shed over all those mornings I *could* have had REAL coffee...

Easy to use, a little time consuming to clean, handsome enough to leave out as a decoration. Unscrew the bottom, fill the bottom half with cold water, fill the little filter cup with fine ground coffee (note that "espresso" is a grind, not a roast), screw it back together, and put it on the stove top. In five minutes or less, you have the most incredible coffee ever. With the internal parts, it is not hard to clean, but time consuming, especially given the time it takes to cool off enough to take apart (the other reason to get a bigger one, the little one is too slow to reload).

The styling is a little retro, but handsome enough to lend a kitchen a quirky flair. Oh, but that's trivia next to the coffee that comes out of it.

I've been using a couple of Tchibo coffees in it with super results, and look forward to trying other fine grinds in it.

Don't do it, don't get this monkey on your back, don't ruin yourself for all those lesser coffee makers, and don't touch my espresso pot (we need alone time).

Recently picked up a 3 cup Bialetti Moka Express while on holiday and couldn't wait to get it home and broken in. I've tried stove-top Italian coffee makers before, and this model has not disappointed.

Sturdy and well made, this unit only has about five parts, all of them metal or heavy-duty plastic so very little can go wrong. This should last ages if properly cared for.

Just remember to keep it simple; fresh, cold water in the lower chamber (stopping *before* you get to the brass outlet valve) and fill the grounds basket with an espresso grind coffee (good excuse to buy more coffee) without packing it too tightly. Place on your stovetop ring and don't go anywhere. Wait a few minutes, and you have an excellent espresso to start the day or to add to steamed milk after dinner. I can't wait to have some with a cigar this weekend. I've been trying some Cafe Bustello the last few mornings and it's been great. Yeah, I know it's canned, but so are most of the coffees in Italy and Latin America.

The only problem I can foresee is needing a larger one for company, but unless you need gallons of espresso each morning, this is great for two to share.

Just got a 6 cup Bialetti this week, love it.

First off, don't be deceived by the 6-cup description, this pot will only make enough to fill one larger cup as our land of supersizers knows of it. If you are looking for 6 true cups of coffee at a time, stick with your countertop brewer or go for a larger size. Also, you won't be able to make successive cups (for company or spouse) due to the pot being lava hot after brewing one cup. Someone said the smaller the pot, the better the brew, I can't confirm this, but I'll assume they know what they are talking about. I'm single, so this product is perfect for me.

Who this product is best suited for:

* Someone who can appreciate coffee for what it is by itself, including both taste and smell. I will cut a square of semi-sweet bakers chocolate and pair it with a small cup in the evening, it's become one of my guilty pleasures and the slightly bitter combination mixes oh so well. But I digress.

* Someone who likes strong coffee. Whether or not you join in the debate regarding whether it's true espresso or not really isn't important, it's a thick brew. With that said, it's not meant to be the equivalent of espresso that's steam piped through a machine.

* Someone who thinks of coffee as more than something to wash down their eggs and toast.

* Someone who doesn't need to drink it by the pot just to function in the morning.

* Someone who likes the simple things. There really is nothing that can break (other than the gasket ring that will need to be replaced periodically), no maintenance (in the Moka's case, less is better), no wondering if you should've bought the extended warranty. Reclaim your countertop.

What I wish I could change about it:

* I wish there was a method to pull the basket out without growing fingernails. Maybe a small post in the middle of the basket? That's the extent of my engineering suggestions.

* I wish it would cool down enough to clean it out by the time I needed to go to work. Beginning to end, you will need to have about 30 minutes to spare, or clean it when you get home from work. I don't wash mine, water boils in it everyday, so I don't see the need to sterilize it. If you are germaphobe, you might be better off without one of these, as washing it is discouraged. But I don't like warm, wet grounds being left in it at room temperature all day.

Important tips:

* Not sure if I'd purchase this if I had an electric stove. I suppose you could brew on an electric stove, though I can't picture it. Common sense says use the smallest burner with the flame no wider than the bottom of the pot. Negative reviewers have complained that the handle melted during brewing. Duh.

* Pull it off the heat before it gurgles, the foamy water is just that, let it draw up by itself for the last minute or so. I leave the cover open for the last five minutes, I only close it for the first couple minutes to warm the top of the pot. It doesn't come shooting out like an oil well unless you've done something wrong, it only dribbles out. I did neglect to screw it together tightly once and bubbles came out the sides, this might be dangerous given the physics of steam and pressure, but I was there to oversee what was going on and fixed it. Lesson learned.

* I'm not going to promote any specific type of coffee. I use whole beans that I grind myself, mine aren't specifically marketed for espresso. By the way, I think espresso is a grind, not a roast, but I'll leave that to the coffee officiandos out there to correct me, it's really not something I'm compelled to argue. I don't use ultra dark roasts, either, as a normal roast tends to produce strong enough coffee for me in this thing, and I'm a strong coffee drinker.

Whew. Thanks for reading, I can't think of anything else that hasn't already been pointed out by the moka veterans who've reviewed.

There are a few reviews here spreading the word that Aluminum, the element this coffee maker is made of, is harmful. Having just read about this (in a science book, not some random web page), I feel the need to step in...: Aluminum is considered safe in cookware. The Al does not bind to the food unless it's acid (like rhubarb). The stigma dates from an incident that happened in the 70ies with dialysis machines, where the aluminum did bind to the blood and cause harm to patients. Also, the dementia claim came about because Al was found in Alzheimer patients' brains, but it was later determined that it was likely put there by the imaging process, not the cookware. In fact, if you're afraid of Al in your food, you should probably avoid spinach and processed cheese (ie. all cheese sold in the US). Source: Nature's Building Blocks

I have to say this though: if you put this pot into the dishwasher, it comes out like you could donate it to the Museum of Natural History: not only several shades darker, but also with nasty streaks and spots. However, once I got over the original shock of suddenly owning an 'antique' coffee maker, I keep on putting it in the washer, because I've found the coffee to taste better that way. I still wish there was a steel (or copper, if thermal conductivity is so important?) knock- off, but at least I know it's not harmful, only ugly.

I would also like to point out that the produced drink is not espresso, which the Italians have named and perfected to be made under pressure. Consequently, the produced black liquid can't match my Gaggia coffee maker's real espresso, but it's "pretty good", above drip coffee in my opinion. Of course, this makes it the nonplusultra camping coffee "machine".

I bought this espresso maker while in Rome in 2004. It works great. Poe Boy is correct aluminum does not rust; it corrodes so he has E. McNair on a technicality. E. Mcnair is correct that the bottom of the coffee make will corrode and leave a white oxide inside. The solution is in proper care (I learned the hard way). Wash the coffee maker by hand, towel dry. Store unassembled. Water gets trapped in the filter and will drip into the base over time and start the corrosion. I have started doing this and the white oxide has not reappeared. So, take proper care of it.Bon Appetite

This makes an excellent cup of caffè. I call it "caffè" so as not to offend any purists that say this machine does not produce the requisite amount of pressure to be called espresso... but it's certainly closer to espresso than what most people would call coffee. In my opinion it produces a better tasting liquid than what you can pick up a the counter of a [insert large coffeehouse chain]. In addition, I frequently prefer it to the coffee I get at [insert local coffeehouse]; this is because I am able to have control over the cup. My local shop pulls an amazing cup of espresso, but they rotate their espresso beans and often times it is a roast that I find to be rubbish.

I would spend the money on a Bialetti model as I purchased a cheapo model at TJ Max and it took a lot of fiddling to get a good cup. Then I needed to replace the rubber gasket, when I did everything went fubar. I realized that the problem was in the build quality and that the pieces fit together so poorly that steam was passing around the filter rather than pushing water through the grinds. This machine is far more well built and I know I can buy replacement parts that will fit it perfectly. I took off the plastic parts and now my old machine is now dedicated to campfires.

I said it before and I'll say it again:
-Don't wash it, but it's not the end of the world if you do... like some people say. It will ruin the finish (but make it look rustic, if you are into that) and you will have to 're-season' it with few batches of caffe.
-It's not that you necessarily have to use it often for good coffee, it's just that the oils on the wall of the pot (that collect from not washing it) will start to not taste so good.
-If you've been around a bit you know of the differences in tap water. Most tap water in the US is perfectly fine. I'd avoid most well water but a filter would probably make it fine to use. The water may make some difference, but not nearly as much as the bean. Especially in this application where the coffee is boiling up and going through the grounds like passing through a filter.
-I have a 3-cup and it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes, so 10 might be a little long for a 6-cup but not by much. Nothing useful is going on while the water heats up so there is no reason to start at a low heat. It's all about how long it takes the water to pass through the grounds... that doesn't start happening till the water is almost boiling. Therefore I start mine on hot for a minute and then dial it back to medium. The final temperature all depends on your taste, your stovetop, and the size of your pot. If it takes too long, the caffe will be bitter (keep in mind strong and bitter are not the same). If you brew it too fast, you'll end up with something burnt tasting. The easiest way to find the perfect temperature is to watch it brew with the lid up. If the coffee is coming out nice and slow with maximum crema, you are in good shape. If it bursts out of there and shoots all over your kitchen, you might need to check your relief valve, your grind might be too fine, or your temperature might be too hot. Do take it off as soon as it starts to bubble out of the spout and the liquid coming out is lighter in color. Once you are able to hear it, it's almost too late, so hurry. Pour and enjoy.
-If you wanted to speed up the process you could boil water in a kettle, let it cool a bit, pour it in, assemble the pot with pot holders, and get it back on the heat to brew. This is way too much work and clean up for me.
-Keep in mind you can't screw the pot together too tight... unless you can't get it apart.
-I use locally roasted beans within a month after they have been roasted. That makes more of a difference than anything. Buy a cheap blade grinder (you don't need a burr grinder for this application) and grind it to somewhere between drip and espresso, possibly closer to espresso (again depending on taste, machine, and temperature). My cheap grinder doesn't produce a homogeneous grind, so some grinds are more like drip, others more like espresso, but as long as your median grind is about right it really doesn't matter (not like a true espresso machine that relies a lot more on an exact pressure being created against the grind). Grind the beans right before you put them in, not the day before, not at the store... along the same lines, use the beans soon after they are roasted, not next year. I don't recommend any commercial brands as they are difficult to get fresh and the darker roasts are frequently over-roasted. If you find a commercial brand that has a roasted on date, has been roasted in the last couple weeks, and sounds delicious, give it a shot. Buy beans that you like the taste of, not because they sound appropriate. The world will continue turning even if you use lighter roast in something people frequently refer to as espresso.
-I use a coarser than espresso grind, with very slight packing of the grinds, no 'cupola' just an even pack (as I find a cupola of grinds to sometimes get in the way of the seal as the grounds spread out when you screw the pot together) to make sure the 'puck' is uniformly dense, starting on high heat, then turn down to medium (low heat would never get close to boiling water on my stove), I watch it and move it on and off the heat as needed for optimum crema. If you change any of the variables, and you will (intentionally or not), you will get a different cup of coffee. Some days will always be better than others, but after a little practice it will always be better than what you can get at 95% of the retail coffee outlets.
-For those wondering if you can buy a large size pot for versatility, you can not unless you make a large pot and throw out everything you don't drink (wasting a lot of coffee). If you don't fill the filter basket all the way the water will not have enough resistance to pass through and it would come out weak and probably bitter. If you fill the filter basket all the way but put in less water, you would not get a full extraction and your coffee would not have time to release the flavors and caffeine (also, you would be wasting a lot of coffee).

The moka works all the times. The definition of number of cups can be confusing. It refer to serving cups of the size of 1-1/2 oz. The apparent corrosion is not due to the aluminun. Bialetti started to built his coffee machines with aluminum because it does not corrode. The aluminun can still form an oxide that is self passivating, very stable, and it is only a few hundred Angstoms thick. The stuff that you can find in the lower part of the moka is sediments from the water that you use. The harder the water the more the sediments. However, they can be easily removed by soaking the whole moka in a winegar solution. This cleaning procedure is important in presence of hard water because after years the sediments could clog the safety valve and drastically reduce the safety of the whole operation. The relation of aluminum to Alzheimer disease is hearsay. It has been proposed in the mid 90's but no definitive clinical evidence has been shown. It is also important to note that since the 1930's 9 out of 10 families in Italy have been using the aluminum moka by Bialetti and no higher incidence of Alzheimer has observed.

I have used this model of Bialetti coffee maker for years; this is the exact model my Dad used when he showed me how to make Cuban coffee. Both La Llave and Pilon are good brands of coffee to use with this machine. The manufacturer includes an instruction booklet but if you've never made coffee before it could be a little confusing at first. Buy yourself a stainless steel creamer and a set of espresso cups. Add four heaping teaspoons of sugar to the creamer. Follow the instructions in the booklet to make the coffee. When the coffee finishes brewing, add two teaspoons to the creamer. Stir the coffee and sugar together until it forms a consistency similar to mousse (it will be dark at first but will lighten as you mix it). Now add the rest of your coffee to the creamer and stir until all the sugar dissolves. Pour immediately into the cups and serve (you should have enough to fill at least three cups). The coffee will form a nice, thick head on it just like a pint of Guinness. Enjoy!

A previous reviewer complained that the 6 cup version only makes 1 1/4 cups. This is an espresso maker, as such, the cups are measured in "espresso cups", which happen to be 1oz or 30ml. So the 6 cup make 6oz, which is plenty of espresso to have anyone climbing the walls. I love mine, I have the 3 and 6 version (work and home).