I’ve had this coffee maker for a few years now. I didn’t have much success when I first tried it and I gave up. What a mistake that was. I gave it another go this past week, and I’ve been enjoying the change of pace with this deliciously strong cup of coffee.

This is my three cup Moka Express. You can see the coffee just starting to come out, very dark and rich.

1. Start with hot water. Based on some reading, this seems to be a key. So get some water boiling. Or better yet, get a Zojirushi water boiler. While the water’s boiling, get things set up…
2. Grind the coffee coarser than you would for espresso, but I don’t go that much coarser. I use basically the same grind that I’d use for a drip filter or aeropress. I grind up about 25g of coffee for my 3-cup brewer. Enough coffee so it piles a bit above the edges of the basket so it can be smoothed down flat and patted down flat.
3. Fill the base with hot water, up to the line. Insert the basket.
4. Put the coffee in the basket and tamp it down with your finger. You’ll want the coffee to be packed, but not too firm. Not tamped like an espresso machine, just gently with your finger so it’s flush with the top.
5. Hold the base with a towel. It’ll be hot — the aluminum conducts heat very quickly. Screw on the top part, and tighten it firmly.
6. Put the brewer on a hot burner on your stove with the lid open.
7. It will take just a few minutes for the water to boil and some dark rich coffee to start pouring out slowly. Keep an eye on the color of the coffee. As it turns lighter in color, it’s almost finished.
8. As soon as you see the coffee look a light brown color, it’ll then start to come out very quickly. Take it off the burner and close the lid. See the video below.
9. Put the base under cold water to stop the brewing. I usually just take a bowl that’s already in the sink and fill it with cold water and submerge it. Or you can just pour cold water from the faucet on the base, being careful not to tip and spill. If you don’t quickly stop the brewing, you get extra weaker coffee in the pot, like in the video below.
10. Pour and serve.

This makes very strong coffee, comparable to espresso. I usually put the whole thing in a big cup and add hot water for an Americano.

It’s normal to get a bit of sediment in the bottom of your cup, so if that’s not your thing, watch that last sip.

Here’s the one I use. Very inexpensive for a coffee maker.

Bialetti 6799 Moka Express 3-Cup Stovetop Espresso MakerAluminum, stovetop espresso maker produces 3 demitasse cups of rich, authentic Italian espresso in just 4-5 minutes.Price: $23.65