Italian Coffee

I’ve fallen in love.

I’ve always been a big coffee drinker. I remember drinking Taster’s Choice with my grandmother in Canada when I was only six or seven years old. After that it only progressed. Last year I was routinely drinking 8-12 cups of coffee per day, with little adverse affect from the enormous amounts of caffeine I was ingesting – aside from the monstrous caffeine withdrawal headaches, that is. My husband is a huge coffee drinker as well and we really enjoy finding new beans, new roasts, and new ways to brew coffee. I even managed to get some coffee cherries home from Hawaii and got them growing in our backyard in North Carolina – until some stupid deer ate the shoots.

Then, around Thanksgiving last year I got really, really sick. For some reason the smell of coffee really bothered me so I stopped drinking it entirely, cold turkey. Since then I’ll only drink a cup every once in a while, and usually don’t finish the whole thing. I figured coffee was a phase that I was pretty much over.

Here in Italy, not many people are a fan of “American style” coffee. They prefer their own, Italian style, that’s kind of a cross between espresso and French press. They brew it using a “Moka,” or stovetop maker. It’s a pretty simple construction that forces boiling water to percolate through moderately fine grounds – and produces an intensely flavored, slightly viscous brew that encapsulates all one could ever love about coffee.

The name of the game is simplicity. A good Moka is of solid construction and requires care very similar to a cast iron skillet. It only gets better with use as it becomes seasoned, and you never, ever, ever wash it with soap. Indeed, the coffee Maria Carla showed me how to make in her well-used and well-loved Moka is divine.

I know I want to get a Moka for my own home, but I’m not yet sure if I’ll buy one here or at home. I popped on Amazon to see what is available for purchase in the US – and of course stumbled upon discussions by Americans parsing the process, construction, and value of a Moka. I swear, we Americans have to make everything so difficult! We’re so pretentious about what we perceive as “refined” living. That’s one thing I’m noticing more and more about the Italian way of life. Although there is a great deal of complexity involved in the finer workings of producing their amazing wine, food, and coffee, on the surface it really comes down to: if it’s good, it’s good – if it’s bad, it’s bad.

There’s not a lot of tinkering involved, as there is in America. Things just are the way they are. I don’t really prefer one philosophy or the other, but it’s interesting to observe the differences and extrapolate the cultural differences from idiosyncrasies.

All that being said, I’m going to go make some coffee in the Moka and pair it with an albicocca (apricot) filled croissant.

Ciao!

Comments

[Mom]

I am pretty sure we have something similar in Chico's collection of Coffee pots, can't say we've tried it, now I'm thinking I should see if I can figure it out for him.

[Your sister]

funnily enough, IKEA sells these