Bialetti Express

Drubbing

Drubbing

110% Smiley-Free
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Location
Perth, WA
My recent input on the coffee thread has lead me to pick up one of these and try it out. This seems as simple and low $$ and maintenance as you can get, opening up the choice of "real" beans to try out. I found a 6 cup for $35.

I do like the Nes and all its pros, but I have noticed our intake going up a lot - I'm up to 2-3 in the mornings, and so therefore the cost - and that's its biggest drawback. The mrs loves it and won't budge, but I thought I'd give one of these a go. If it's not too fiddly it'll defray Nes costs and have an emergency back up for when we run out of pods, which happens. We only have a plunger and ground coffee of indeterminate decade for such occasions, so it's a big climb down.

I took note of PJs poor experiences, and I know to use the proper grind for stovetops, and not overheat it. I read only good about these, so long as you don't expect 9 bar+ espresso. I also rarely drink short black, and would top up with a little milk from the Nes frother, not a full on cup of chino. So I'm thinking as long as I don't overheat it, I shouldn't get bitter coffee. That may be easier said than done.

I've picked up some stovetop ground Espresso from Brew Ha because it's handy, and I know it's been ground today. Will give it a go. Any tips appreciated.
 
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Photos mate....or a link if you're feeling lazy.
Hey I'm a visual person.
 
Too lazy to take pics...


417USxY5gYL.jpg
 
These devices are solid. The trick is to not burn the shit out of them but rather to heat them fairly gently. I prefer them to a French Press.
 
I thought so. Nice one @Drubbing . I still take one of mine for a run now and again - love the caffeinated soup it creates. I used to run mine too hot but now know better. Careful cleaning the gasket and I'd recommend buying spares as I've not found it that easy to source the right size....and they do deteriorate. I'm still looking for a seal/gasket for my little stainless steel jobby. Threw away a couple of aluminium ones as the whole link to Alzheimer's scared the shit out of me.
 
The Alzheimer's Association has it listed as a myth - number 4 and the Alzheimer's Society in the UK states

Although initial studies linked aluminium toxicity with Alzheimer's disease, the link has not been proven despite continuing investigation. Importantly, there is no evidence to suggest that aluminium exposure increases your risk of dementia.
Click to expand...

So you are probably safe using Aluminium cookware
 
Gave it a run through tonight. I can see why people give up on these early, but tips I've read are to brew and throw away the first few.

First brew looked ok, was muddy, but no grinds in it. Brewed it very low heat on my smallest burner, so it might have stewed. Didn't taste terrible with sugar, and some milk, but it's a lotta very strong thick coffee. I don't drink SB, but this seems pretty full on for an espresso.

The 6 cup takes 3 heaped tablespoons, and I don't believe you can't cut quantities with these stovetops, so it's a shedload of coffee to brew up.

Let it cool, did a second one. Turned the heat up a bit and it brewed quicker, about 3 minutes. Took it off shortly after it started pouring up, but before it could boil and steam. This was better, a little glossier in the pot, but still on the muddy side of what I'm used to. Still too much for me served black, but less coffee and a bit more warmed milk and this was pretty fucking alright. No bitterness, but very rich. I might have to drink extra beer tonight to get some sleep.

I let them choose a coffee for me, so they picked Espresso, which is their strong full-on stuff, so it might be too much bean for me. It's also possible they ground it foo fine - I expected it to be a little coarser for this sort of brewing. But I won't know til I see other grinds, but this coffee is quite powdery. On the fiscal side, two brews went through 50g of coffee, so that's 10 brews per 250g bag. Each pot will make 3 strong Capos, which is how I have it, so that's 30 cups for $10. Nes pods are around $8 a sleeve of 10. My maths struggles to get above year 10, but I think I'm getting around 2/3rd more coffee for my money.

So not a disaster, and there's some potential here.
 
Bialetti does it in Stainless as well - and so does IKEA...

Will be one of the first coffee utensils I will try to find and see how it will perform with freshly ground coffee.

Any tips, on what setting I should grind for this on my new Breville Smart?
 
alfredus said:
Bialetti does it in Stainless as well - and so does IKEA...

Will be one of the first coffee utensils I will try to find and see how it will perform with freshly ground coffee.

Any tips, on what setting I should grind for this on my new Breville Smart?
Click to expand...

IKEA one looks good - a 6 cup for the same as I paid for this one. That's the sort of thing I'd go for if I as going to use one of these regularly. The Bialetti SS look nice too, but seem harder to find and cost a lot more.
 
Never doing that again. Barely slept last night, only drank about one 6 cup brew (my second batch). Coffee usually doesn't affect me much. It's more a habit of podding it every morning to feel like I've got going.

This stuff is fuckn rocket fuel. So I needed another one this morning. Again, no hassles on a fairly low/med heat. Made a strong Capp and it was very good. I overmilked the second cup, and it was Dome-tastic poor. That's user error though. I can't fault the pot, and either I've lucked out with the grind I bought, or following the basic tips has really made it as simple as it sounds to be.

My maths is still poor, I seem to have gone through a bit more coffee than I thought, so might not get 10 pots out of my 250g, but hard to see it costing the equivalent of pods, which would kind of defeat the purpose of the fiscal justification.

The wife thinks I'm nuts, but she said that about shaving too.
 
I have the IKEA one, and it is good for the price - but the Bialetti Stainless looks of course way better and is also much much heavier. I don't know if this would make a difference in the coffee production?

A 4 cub Bialetti stainless costs 56$ at DJ...
 
alfredus said:
Bialetti does it in Stainless as well - and so does IKEA...

Will be one of the first coffee utensils I will try to find and see how it will perform with freshly ground coffee.

Any tips, on what setting I should grind for this on my new Breville Smart?
Click to expand...

I have mine set for 31. However, having just re-read the manual I should have it set for somewhere between 1 - 30 (setting for Stovepot Percolator). Oh well, back to the drawing board. We can share some coffee intelligence until we find the perfect grind.

On a positive note I just found a roaster 10 minutes from my house. Now we're talking!
 
alfredus said:
I have the IKEA one, and it is good for the price - but the Bialetti Stainless looks of course way better and is also much much heavier. I don't know if this would make a difference in the coffee production?

A 4 cub Bialetti stainless costs 56$ at DJ...
Click to expand...

Nah - get one of these ...

Has a three year warranty ;)

More seriously, maybe I'd better bet myself a Bialetti ...
 
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...and cost of course ~500$ :D
 
Glad I bought some fresh ground beans to try this out to get a benchmark. Just had a go with some Lavazza from the local Coles. What a pile of liquidy shyte this is. Tastes very ordinary and clings to your teeth.

Looks like I'll be buying hipster-cafe* grounds for this pot from now on (which cost less anyway). Perhaps I do have an inner coffee snob. But one that rates Nes above supermarket bricks.



* Being officially old, every cafe I've been into is staffed by bearded hipsters who look like they're dealing in some cool and alluring dark art. You make coffee, for fucks sake.
 
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@Drubbing - Check out Yahava KoffeeWorks. Margaret River isn't exactly in your neck of the woods but a lot closer to you than the rest of us. I don't recall seeing any bearded hispters when I visited in January. The guy who spent some time with me was a middle aged clean shaven Nerd.

Their Kahava (India) and Ghatemala beans are really good for the stove pots. I'd suggest the Kahava. I was just about to place another order but then discovered a local roaster in Melbourne than comes highly recommended.

http://www.yahava.com.au

Just a thought...
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Yahava is a franchise and there's one in the Swan Valley, about half an hour away. They also have 3 or 4 drive thrus. Probably easier to order online though. Brew Ha is nice enough, but I would like to try something a bit less full on than espresso/dark roasts
 
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Lifes a Peach said:
@Drubbing - Check out Yahava KoffeeWorks. Margaret River isn't exactly in your neck of the woods but a lot closer to you than the rest of us. I don't recall seeing any bearded hispters when I visited in January. The guy who spent some time with me was a middle aged clean shaven Nerd.

Their Kahava (India) and Ghatemala beans are really good for the stove pots. I'd suggest the Kahava. I was just about to place another order but then discovered a local roaster in Melbourne than comes highly recommended.

http://www.yahava.com.au

Just a thought...
Click to expand...

Ordered the Kahava. Pretty strong. I always try coffee black before milking it, but the Khava errs towards bitter, black or milked. I might try something else from there. But also got Colombian from Brew Ha. This is very good, at least with the way I have my coffee. I think I'll probably prefer medium roasts like this.

I find the pot pretty easy to use and while there's more methods than coffee snobs out there, this is what I find simple and reliable.

  1. Hot tap water to the line. Any less and you don't build enough pressure. You can't make half pots in these.
  2. Full but not packed or pressed coffee filter.
  3. Medium heat. Then the pot brews gently and coffee slowly pours out the spout, there's no sputtering like the YT vids from all the yanks I've seen do it who boil the shit out of it. ...Always the yanks... I guess when Starbucks is your benchmarks, any overboiled shit tastes better.
  4. When the pot is half full, I take it off the heat and residual pressure still brews the water that's left, for about a minute or so. Soft, frothy crema-like coffee continues to leak out.
 
Great information there, @Drubbing . I don't share your view of Kahava but personal taste is clearly a very subjective.

My process for using the pot follows a similar path to yours with the exception that I fill the chamber with cold water and leave it on until the bottom chamber is empty. Love your idea of removing the pot from the stove when its half full and will try that tomorrow morning. Cold water has always been the advice that I've received so I will stick with that.

Thanks for sharing your process. Another tweak that I will make to mine.
 
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