Brikka experiments and request for comments

I got my Brikka 4-cup last week and I've been experimenting since.  I'm not done yet (i.e. the coffee's not perfect) but I've made progress -- and got some questions -- so thought I'd share.  I hope others who've done these types of experiments will comment as well, and hopefully answer some of my questions too.

The goal is to produce a cup of coffee that is:

Beans: I'm not a coffee afficianado so I decided to start with a known factor here.  I went to a good coffee shop, a little place called Uptown Espresso in Seattle.  They've won awards for their coffee and I find their espresso to be very smooth with little aftertaste.  I bought the beans they use, they're called Fonte.  I don't know if they're the best in the world, but I do know they make a good cup of espresso, so I'm starting with just trying to replicate that (or get close).

Grind: I've got a Capresso burr grinder, and I've tried a couple different settings.  There are four main settings (course, medium, fine, and extra-fine) and each has four sub-settings.  I started with setting 11/16 (counting up from course), and found that there was more sediment than I wanted after drinking the cup.  But here's question number 1: how much sediment should I expect?  Do you normally have sediment remaining from a moka cup of coffee?

I've found that 9/16 has little sediment, and 10/16 works pretty good as well.  Still experimenting.

Water: I'm using filtered water and have tried it both hot and cold (results below).

Heat and cook time:  I've found that the combination of these two contributes hugely to the taste of the coffee.  I've found that the quicker times (less than six minutes) produce a burnt flavor.  But I've also heard that I should be targeting a cook time of 4 to 5 minutes, so my experiments are designed around hitting that target as well as around not burning the coffee.  What cook time have you found produces the smoothest coffee?  Do you find that cook times less than 6 minutes tend to burn the coffee?  Do you find that longer cook times produce less crema?

I'm using an electric stove.  Here are my results regarding heat and cook times:

Pour process:  The instructions I've read say to wait 3 seconds after the burst before pouring.   Do you prefer to remove from heat during those three seconds or leave it on?  

Several of the videos I've seen actually leave it on for up to ten seconds before pouring.  How important is the three second rule?  Have you found better results with longer times?

I found that after this initial pour coffee still continues to bubble out into the top.  Is this expected?  Should this coffee be added to the cup or discarded?

I found that there is a considerable amount of coffee remaining in the base after brewing.  Is this expected?

Results:  If we consider the target to be the taste of the coffee from the coffee shop, then so far, I'm only at about a 7 of 10.  The burnt taste and smell is almost completely gone but it's not as smooth and there's still too much of a bitter aftertaste for me.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments!

Doug




Posted by hanhartd on Fri, Oct 24, 2008, 13:53 Permalink

Article category: Brewing tips

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Comments on this post:


: Illy red is pretty much standard. You are garuanteed a very high quality cofee as ridiculous amount of thought and blending is put in to ensure that every batch tastes the same. Other than that it is taste. I like mine meaty with a big punch, not too fussy about the associated sourness as it can easitly be countered by brown sugar. The thing with small cofee growers and many cofee companies is that you may find a fantastic blend but next time you try it it is different, due to quality control being lax. The grind is generally in the medium-fine area. Too fine and you have a worthless cup of cofee as the grains just get pushed through the holes. Ideally you should have a very minute amount of sediment afterwards. A finer grind will get you more flavour but there is nothing worse then forking out for 500g of quality cofee to find that its so finely ground its useless in your moka/brikka It doesnt matter whether the water is hot or cold going into the pot as it only acts upon the cofee when its at pressure. Putting in hot water just speeds up the time The bialetti coffee nerds found that the last 5% of the cofee is actually the worst, so dont use that last bit that comes out after the initial pour Whether to use filtered water or not depends on the quality of the local water. If you are in a hard water area then filter. Thankfully, where I am (ireland) water quality is pretty damn good even with the flouride in it. Filtered water is clean, but it is flat tasting. Having small amounts of impurities (the same impurities that make evian etc. good) raises the osmotic potential of the water and may contribute to more cofee alkaloids and other yummy stuff actually getting into your water. Traditionally, you use a very low heat on the moka but I am unsure about the brikka, perhaps low then high to finish.   Guy
Posted by a non-member on Mon, Oct 27, 2008, 15:24

how much coffee for the 4 cup brikka: Hi, can someone tell me the amount of coffee reccommended for the 4 cup pot?  I've been using 2-3 teaspoons, but it seems strong, and yet I've read people fill the filter up!  Thanks! Renee
Posted by a non-member on Sat, Nov 08, 2008, 12:54

which one : 2-cup or 4-cup ?: michael
Posted by a non-member on Thu, Nov 13, 2008, 12:32

which one: 2-cup or 4-cup:
I have a brikka and I am not sure if it is the 4-cup or
the 2-cup. How can I tell? is there any distinctive mark?
or can someone help out by measuring his 4-cup or 2-cup brikka and post it?
michael
Posted by a non-member on Thu, Nov 13, 2008, 12:36

response to doug: doug
i think you aren't grinding fine enough and you are definitely setting the heat too high
i use a rocky rancilio grinder and i set it at 12 (where i use 10 for espresso)
i use an electric burner which i preheat set on 6 ...when it gets hot i put the brikka on and the coffee will brew in about 6 minutes

as far as beans go - any high quality FRESH beans should work fine but i do stick to espresso blends (or roast my own when i'm not too lazy)

the amount of coffee is enough to fill the basket and then level it off with a knife ....though i often tap the basket to let it settle and then add a little more

i pour as soon as stops bubbling then put the brikka back on the stove and lift the hat for a couple seconds and then pour again

you don't want to leave the brikka on the stove after it has brewed, you definitely don't want to overheat the brikka or burn the coffee in any way

hope that helps
ian
Posted by a non-member on Fri, Nov 21, 2008, 22:27





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