I know, I know, the “Espresso Coffee” is one of the most famous product related to Italian culture.

And I also know that to find a good espresso here in the US, you should be in a big city in a fancy café, or in a popular coffee chain (where they will make you spend a fortune just for one shot!), unless you are among the few lucky people who owns a very expensive espresso machine.

But what if you would like to enjoy an espresso every day? Or what if you love tiramisu’, and for making it, each time you’ll need (give or take) 2 cups of espresso?

Well, from now onward, the only price you have to pay is the one to buy the “Espresso Maker” (in Italy we call it “Moca“) which is the most common tool you can find in every Italian’s kitchen cabinet, and it is used at least three times a day to make espresso.

I found the “Moca” easily in a kitchen shop at the mall, and its price was pretty fair.

So, go purchase one, and then come back to this page, and I’ll teach you how to make the best espresso in the world, directly from your kitchen!

And don’t forget to have with you some finely ground coffee!!!

 DIRECTIONS

First of all, your brand new coffee maker has to be unscrewed. At this point you should have an upper part, a base, and a filter. (I’m attaching the pictures of two coffee makers, different from each other only in size).

Fill up the base with water until you reach the screw (to get a very strong Espresso) or until the water reach the filter’s line (to get a lighter coffee).

Then position the filter inside the base and fill it up with the coffee grounds.

BE CAREFUL not to press the coffee ground too much. You have to fill up the filter without pressing the coffee ground and without going out from the edges.

At this point just screw on the upper part, and put the coffee maker on the stove for few minutes.  Be sure not to turn up the flame so high that you melt the handle!

As the water begins boiling inside the base, the coffee will start to come out into the top chamber. You will hear a weird sound, like a jabber or a whistle, and at that point, YOUR ESPRESSO IS DONE!!!!

Pour your espresso in a cup, add a little bit of sugar (or milk), or just leave it plain like espresso connoisseurs do.

LEARNT IT, MADE IT, LOVED IT!

Believe me, it is for sure harder to explain how to use the coffee maker than to make the coffee itself!!

TIPS:

– To obtain a good espresso, your coffee maker needs to absorb the coffee’s aroma.  So before you can enjoy a good espresso, you have to make coffee at least 4 or 5 times and throw it (and the used coffee grounds) away.  After that, each time you use the coffee maker, your espresso will be better than the time before!

– Remember! To clean up the coffee maker, you have to unscrew it, throw away the coffee ground in it, and rinse JUST WITH WATER.  The use of any detergent will ruin the coffee’s aroma.

BEAUTY TIP: You are right! This blog is supposed to be just about food! But let me tell you that instead of throwing away the used coffee grounds, you can mix a cup of it with 1/2 cup of sea salt and obtain a very effective body scrub!