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Comment by brainlessdev | Hacker News Reader

I brew coffee using what's IMO the ultimate moka pot: the Alessi 9090. It's designed by Richard Sapper who also designed the first ThinkPad.

I still think a proper espresso machine produces better... espressos, but in my tiny apartment the moka pot is a great alternative. There's certainly a fair bit of technique involved, so you probably won't produce your best coffee on the first go.

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And this is the ultimate HN answer.

Even in a thread about coffee, it must mention ThinkPads

But I also have the same moka. It’s good

It's not the ultimate thread, though, until someone mentions that ThinkPads are made by Lenovo who got caught including spyware in their laptops. That reply will get at least 2 replies that say, 'yah but never in the thinkpad lineup'

yah but never in the thinkpad lineup

yeah but never in the thinkpad lineup

I believe the 9090 doesn’t usually have a red flourish, but this[0] anniversary edition does, and if you look at other Sapper work[1] you’ll see how the red highlight, like the track point[2] seems to fit into a theme of his he works into various products.

[0] https://www.finnishdesignshop.com/design-stories/classic/ale...

[1] https://www.artemide.com/en/subfamily/18869/tizio

[2] https://money.cnn.com/gallery/technology/2015/01/08/thinkpad...

To be fair, it's like a combination of their two favorite things

If you go on the ThinkPad forums all they talk about is Moka Pots.

It's turtles all the way down!

To save anyone from googling this https://eu.alessi.com/products/9090-espresso-coffee-maker

I prefer Giannina's - they're steel as well and the lock mechanism is wonderfully solid. In my family we had exactly 3: one at my grandparents', one at my parents', and one at my house. The 3-6 cup filter is a nice touch for when people comes over for dinner.

I thought $200 for the Thinkpad Designer's was expensive. Then I saw the price of the Giannina.

I'm sure the locking mechanism and aesthetics are much better, and they're a pleasure to use. But something about a $10 thrift store moka pot works well. And no qualms about taking it on a camping trip, to use over a fire.

what? a giannina is about 60€. and I assure you they last a lifetime (my parents still use one of them daily from before I was born, 40 years ago)

May you share where? From a cursory glance, US retailers only sell them for 1.5x the price: ~120 USD

Just randomly found one at 99 here https://us.consiglioskitchenware.com/collections/giannina-es... (buyer beware I don't know the details) seems a fair price for the import costs.

The 60€ price I mentioned was from the Italian Amazon.

Thank you. I should've specified I was looking at larger 6/3 cup variant. Seems like Amazon.it has that for 75€ versus 120 USD, but I agree that it's a fair price given import costs, running a business, and theoretical customer support.

> 200$

idk here even on amazon it's like 60eur new.

anyway, I'd bring a Giannina over a campfire than any aluminium thrift moka. sure bottom will blacken a little externally, but ours lasted so long they all eventually blackened outside anyway.

The problem with traditional moka pots is that they can not be used on induction stoves. As people move from gaz to induction, they abandon Bialetti and Alessi gadgets.

Alessi 9090 is suitable for induction. Source: me. I used to use it on induction and you can also check on Alessi website (https://eu.alessi.com/products/9090-espresso-coffee-maker). I'm now using it on gas without any problem.

My induction doesn't recognize small diameters.

They sell Bialetti's that work with induction these days, example: https://www.johnlewis.com/bialetti-venus-induction-stove-top...

Meh, you simply need an "adapter", a disk of metal that is compatible with induction stoves and will warm the moka pot on top.

Bialetti (and others) manufactures also stainless steel ones, not sure why would one buy aluminium ones (when we phased out aluminium from basically all other cookware).

I am super happy with mine, close to a thousand coffees made with 0 maintenance, for 5% of the price of a good coffee machine. And the only waste is coffee grind itself.

We have an aluminium Bialetti, but I really hate the feel of the aluminium after a while; I touch it with my fingers but I feel it in my teeth, I honestly can't stand it, just thinking about it puts my teeth on edge.

Long story short, we bought a stainless steel version, and I love it so much. Probably made 3,000 coffees with it, and it's almost as good as the day we bought it. No a single part replaced or damaged.

Really happy to hear they are coming back from the brink.

Yes, just get a steel one. Aluminium ones feel unpleasant to the touch and they don't survive the dishwasher. Two of mine have been killed that way. (To be clear, it's not me who put them in the dishwasher).

Bialetti makes several stainless steel models. They all work on induction and are easier to clean than aluminum anyway.

You can just use the ones suitable for induction stoves, though? I love my Bialetti induction moka pot.

From what I've seen, stainless steel Bialettis (what you need for induction) are not the original "made in Italy". Not that it is necessarily a bad thing, but there is little point sticking with the Bialetti brand if you want an induction moka pot.

I've found that you have to use less heat on them so that the coffee extracts slower than the traditional bialetti and the "knockoff" that I bought was about as good. With similar heat I coudl tell just by the color it wasn't extracting the same

Generally you want to use as little heat as possible when brewing with a moka pot. The most common issue people have with them is bitter coffee caused by burning their ground. The usual advice is to boil the water before filling and chilling as soon as the pot starts bubbling.

From my point of view, if what you are looking for is a very finicky way of making coffee, you have two options: a cheap moka pot or an expensive coffee machine. Then again, I do have a Silvia. Finicky has a certain appeal.

Adapters also exist, which I use

From Alessi’s site:

https://us.alessi.com/products/moka-espresso-coffee-maker-in...

I have a Bialetti Venus as my first and only moka pot, and it's still fabulous.

> The problem with traditional moka pots is that they can not be used on induction stoves.

Wrong. Any kind of ferromagnetic sheet of metal (ie even your random iron pie pan) will pick up induction. I regularly use a standard moka pot on my induction stove.

Aren't a lot of them aluminum? Or are those not "traditional"?

The traditional ones are aluminum and therefore need an adapter to use on an induction stove which can be a simple ferrous sheet. The gp was quite obnoxious about saying that though.

Well then TIL that my moka is not a standard one... It was bought recently tho (like ~5 years ago), so perhaps it's gone standard to put some ferrous thing at the bottom, idk.

How’s long have you been using it? How do you like it as a daily driver? If the handle/latch stays tight, it certainly does improve on the twist/twist/twist/twist… of (eg) Bialetti pots.

Three months only, but without a doubt it's the best moka I've had. As a daily driver it's great:

- For some reason it succeeds at temperatures lower than other mokas I've had, which is good for the taste as well as for energy savings and the life expectancy of the rubber piece.

- It doesn't drip! All mokas I've had dripped at some point.

- It doesn't have a plastic handle that will melt if you forget to turn off the stove (yup I've done this).

I'm comparing it to an IKEA moka and several Bialetti mokas. Not fair in terms of price.

If you want actual espresso without using much more space, check out the wacaco picopresso. Super happy with it

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