Brews a big-bodied and sweet, viscous cup. Found in every cucina in Italy, the moka pot is a true blue classic invented in the 1930s.

Step 1

Preheat the water. Bring kettle water to a boil and remove from heat.

We do this to keep the temperature of the moka pot from getting too hot and cooking the coffee, imparting a metallic taste.

Step 2

Grind your coffee on a drip coffee setting, about as fine as table salt. You need enough coffee to fill the filter basket, which is about 15 to 17 grams (or about 2.5 Tablespoons) for a 4-cup Bialetti moka pot.

Step 3

Add the heated water and fill to the line in the bottom of the brewer.

Step 4 

Insert the filter basket into the brewer bottom.

Step 5

Fill the basket with coffee, slightly mounded, and level the surface off with your finger. Brush away loose grounds on the top edge of the filter basket.

Step 6

Screw the top and bottom together. Use hot pads and don’t over tighten.

Step 7

Put the brewer on the stove, use moderate heat and make sure that the handle is not subjected to heat. Leave the top lid open.

Step 8

The coffee will begin to come out and you will hear a puffing sound and see a rich-brown stream that will get progressively lighter in color. Once the stream is the color of yellow honey, remove from heat source with hot pads and close the lid.

Step 9

Wrap the bottom of the pot in a chilled bar towel or run under cold tap water to stop extraction.

We do this to prevent the coffee from developing a metallic taste. The idea here is to get a relatively small amount of coffee which is very concentrated and rich.

Step 10

As soon as the coffee stops bubbling out, pour it into cups or a carafe. You may wish to dilute with hot water depending on preference.

Good luck!