Moka Pot Coffee

I used to make my morning coffees in a little French press; it was just big enough to make coffee for one person.  A few months ago however, I was careless and it broke into a million pieces.  Undaunted, I opened my cupboard, took out my moka pot and carried on.  That is until 2 weeks ago.  I've had my moka pot for a while and the insides were starting to look toxic so I decided to clean it out with vinegar solution.  All the instructions I read online said to simply run the vinegar solution through as if you were making a regular pot of coffee.  Simple enough.  Except when I make coffee, eventually I'll hear a little sputtering noise and also smell the coffee.  That's usually how I know it's done.  This was not the case with the vinegar and by the time I remembered anything about it, the handle had melted off.  It seemed incredible to me that I managed to live 5 years in Philly without breaking so much as a glass (although I did fling a 1/4 cup measure into the dark irretrievable recess between my oven and wall) and now less than 6 months in Portland I managed to wreck my two main coffee makers.

However, I'm back in business again.  Above is Tony inspecting the new moka pot.  Here is my typical morning routine:

Moka Pot Cafe Au Lait

Fill lower chamber with Brita filtered water (up to the line).  Place the funnel into the chamber.  Grind 2 tbs of whole coffee beans using finest grind setting.  Shake coffee grinds into the funnel.  Screw top chamber on and place on stove over very low heat (flames should remain under the pot).  Turn off when you hear sputtering sound.  Take out favorite mug and fill a little less than halfway with whole milk.  Heat in microwave for 30-40 seconds.  Using a little hand held foamer (left by your ex-boyfriend a million years ago), create a little foam in your cup.  Pour moka pot coffee into mug.  Enjoy!