Ever think about making your own espresso at home?  I’ll bet that if you knew how easy it was you would.  In fact, I’ll bet if you knew how easy AND how inexpensive it is to brew up your own shots of espresso in the comfort of your kitchen you would wonder why you have waited so long to start.

You can use a stovetop espresso maker to make espresso for lattes, mochas, cappuccinos and whatever else you are interested in – but for now, we’ll cover the most important part:  the espresso.

What you need to make espresso at home is a stainless steel Bialetti stovetop espresso maker.  They are not particularly expensive, I spent under $40 on mine and when you think about its use and inherent value it will pay for itself many times over.  It requires almost no clean up at all, and takes only a few minutes to produce espresso shots that are just as good as your local cafe with its commercial espresso equipment.

The first and second time that I used my Bialetti I accidentally let the espresso boil before I turned off the stove – it still came out quite well, but it is important to remember to turn the heat off as soon as the gurgling of the machine is finished.  Boiling the espresso takes some of the flavor out and could detract from the overall extraction.  So learn from my mistakes and be sure to turn off the heat as soon as the moka pot has finished extracting.

There are virtually endless tutorials on the internet, including videos, on how to use stovetop espresso makers like the Bialetti moka pot to make shots of espresso that you can use for literally any espresso based drink.

Want to drink lattes without spending four dollars or leaving the house?

How about iced, blended coffee drinks?

Anything that can be made with espresso can be made using the Bialetti stovetop espresso maker, yet instead of costing anywhere between $1000 and $10,000 you can be making your espresso for less than five percent of that.  That’s what we do in our coffee lab.  Why waste thousands of dollars that you can’t justify on a hobby?  We certainly couldn’t.  But a mere fifty dollar purchase that would last a lifetime would definitely pay for itself again and again.

We like things that pay for themselves again and again.

We also really like espresso.

Using the Bialetti doesn’t take much practice, and there are a variety of resources that have great instructions on how to get the most out of it.  The simplicity of the device only adds to its charm, considering cleanup, setup etc. are all just a few moments of effort.  You load the upper compartment with espresso, you fill the bottom compartment with cold water (it even has its own Fill Up to Here line), you put it on the stove, turn the heat on, wait for it to gurgle, and turn it off when it is down gurgling.

Can you remember that much?  Because it really is that easy.

So why haven’t you started making your own home stovetop espresso yet?