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That's not espresso though. It makes good coffee, sure, but so does an Aeropress, they're not really comparable when one wants a true espresso.

by deaux19 hours ago|

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Interesting, IME it's all beans. At my go-to place, the baristas are pretty bad but the two owners are super dedicated to roasting their own beans, you can always see them putting a lot of time and effort into it. Result is much better than places where the baristas are skilled but they use cheap pre-roasted bulk beans.

To take it to an extreme, I doubt the best barista in the world is going to get a good shot out of the default Starbucks beans. But maybe I'm wrong!

by httpsterio19 hours ago|

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You're not wrong, bad beans are bad beans. But on the other hand, no matter how fancy single origin perfectly roasted beans you have, a crappy barista will most likely pull a terrible shot.

Beans can't compensate for the lack of skill.

by httpsterio19 hours ago|

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That can't really be called a shot anymore tho, you're not even in a lungo territory if you're pulling a 200ml shot.

Or do you mean an Americano? Are you adding water afterwards?

by laserlight9 hours ago|

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> 200ml shot

It's not an espresso.

by realo19 hours ago|

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Americano? I would not touch that with a ten-foot pole.

No... no water. The Brikka has a pressure valve and the 200 ml of water yield about 125-150 ml of coffee.

You might call it a double lungo, but with a bit of crema (yep) and no acidity or sour taste. Just sweet coffee with nice chocolate notes.

I use coffee beans from Papua New Guinea, roasted locally at the coffee shop.

by darkteflon19 hours ago|

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I’ve used cafetière off-and-on in the past but felt that I could never get the pressure high enough and the amount short enough. You’re saying that the Brikka produces enough pressure for an espresso? Is this something specific to the Brikka or will any Bialetti stovetop do? Can I use half or 1/3 as much water as you? Cafetière seem to have a minimum lower bound but I like it short short.

by realo19 hours ago|

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It is specific to the Brikka. They put a pressure valve in the column. The coffee must reach a certain pressure before it starts to flow.

You may try whatever amount of water you want... just don't let it burn in place!

There is a subtle balancing act between the quantity of coffee in the basket (how much headspace you keep) and the amount of water ( a ratio of 10:1 with the coffee -- before making the coffee -- yields good results for me).

So ... if you put less water, that means less coffee... which means more empty space in the basket, which modifies the dynamics.

Pro tip: use as little heat as possible to get the water to a gentle boil. Otherwise you might burn the coffee in the basket. Bad.

In short, you will have to experiment...

by darkteflon18 hours ago|

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Okay very interesting. Thanks for the detailed answer. I looked into it a bit more[1], it sounds like the valve is producing 1.5 bar. A very nice stovetop for a moka, but probably not a good fit for me.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/15zabe/does_the_bia...

by boulos19 hours ago|

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How do you like the brikka vs the classic?

by realo19 hours ago|

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Two different machines, they make very different coffee.

The brikka is exceptional, if you like espresso.

I have a Brikka "Induction" with a stainless steel machined bottom part. Today I looked and apparently they decided to skimp and only offer the aluminum (non induction compatible) version. Pity.