Has anyone seen, tried, tested, reviewed the Bodum Mocca "espresso"
maker, an electric appliance that makes Italian-style coffee, or the
Presso espresso maker, sold in Britain and Canada? It relies on the
operator pouring boiling water into it to brew. No one seems to have
commented about these on alt.coffee yet, although the Presso has
consumer reviews on coffeegeek.com.

Let me try to link:

Bodum Mocca at Crate & Barrel, $79.95:
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/itemgroups/5066_0.asp


Golda's Kitchen (Canada) sells the Presso for C$150:
http://www.goldaskitchen.com/merchan...id=8958&step=4

Which is the best electric machine in the Bodum Mocca class (e.g., the
Velox)?

And is anyone familiar with the Chemex-like Eva Solo coffeemaker at
Target(!)at $49.95:
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...K PW0G#images

Thanks for your thoughts.

| Has anyone seen, tried, tested, reviewed the Bodum Mocca "espresso"
| maker, an electric appliance that makes Italian-style coffee,

This is a moka pot, and will certainly make coffee comparable to that from
any other moka pot. Bialetti and DeLonghi also make moka pots with
hotplates in thei base like this one; of the 3, I would favor the Bialetti,
if only because you'd be sure of being able to find replacement gaskets.

| Presso espresso maker, sold in Britain and Canada? It relies on the
| operator pouring boiling water into it to brew. No one seems to have
| commented about these on alt.coffee yet,

We have certainly had a thread or two on this machine here. Amazon.co.uk
sell it for around 40UKP. The design is a copy of the old Gaggia Gilda,
without the benefits of active heating, and is unlikely to make decent
coffee because of temperature limitations.

| And is anyone familiar with the Chemex-like Eva Solo coffeemaker at
| Target(!)at $49.95:
| http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...K PW0G#images

I wouldn't call the Eva "Chemex-like". the Chemex is a drip maker, the Eva
an infusor, more comparable to a press pot. It is certainly attractive from
a design point of view.

- David R.
--
Less information than you ever thought possible:
http://www.demitasse.net

| Has anyone seen, tried, tested, reviewed the Bodum Mocca "espresso"
| maker, an electric appliance that makes Italian-style coffee,

This is a moka pot, and will certainly make coffee comparable to that from
any other moka pot. Bialetti and DeLonghi also make moka pots with
hotplates in thei base like this one; of the 3, I would favor the Bialetti,
if only because you'd be sure of being able to find replacement gaskets.

| Presso espresso maker, sold in Britain and Canada? It relies on the
| operator pouring boiling water into it to brew. No one seems to have
| commented about these on alt.coffee yet,

We have certainly had a thread or two on this machine here. Amazon.co.uk
sell it for around 40UKP. The design is a copy of the old Gaggia Gilda,
without the benefits of active heating, and is unlikely to make decent
coffee because of temperature limitations.

| And is anyone familiar with the Chemex-like Eva Solo coffeemaker at
| Target(!)at $49.95:
| http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...K PW0G#images

I wouldn't call the Eva "Chemex-like". the Chemex is a drip maker, the Eva
an infusor, more comparable to a press pot. It is certainly attractive from
a design point of view.

- David R.
--
Less information than you ever thought possible:
http://www.demitasse.net

Attractive design - this sounds like damning with faint praise.

I can't imagine this works well. This device is "unique" because no one
else is dumb enough to take this approach. Has anyone seen what the "filter
funnel" looks like? You start out with a "soup" of coffee grinds and water,
just as in a press pot and the filter has to separate the two by gravity
alone (unlike a press pot where you have a pressure assist from the
plunger). My guess is either the mesh is coarse enough to allow you to pour
out the brew quickly enough, in which case too much mud gets thru,
especially if your grinder is less than perfect, or the mesh is too fine and
it takes forever for the coffee to come out.

Also they have carefully designed the flask so that it's not possible to get
your hand in there, insuring that the flask will turn rancid unless you use
a bottle brush.


"D. Ross" > wrote in message
news:4156a543.50242895@localhost...
>
> | And is anyone familiar with the Chemex-like Eva Solo coffeemaker at
> | Target(!)at $49.95:
> |
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...K PW0G#images
>
> I wouldn't call the Eva "Chemex-like". the Chemex is a drip maker, the
Eva
> an infusor, more comparable to a press pot. It is certainly attractive
from
> a design point of view.
>
> - David R.
> --
> Less information than you ever thought possible:
> http://www.demitasse.net

"Jack Denver" > wrote:

| Attractive design - this sounds like damning with faint praise.

It wasn't really meant as such; I'm a sucker for good design, though
normally in the broad sense which includes the functional aspect.

In this case I have no 1st-hand experience of making coffee with the thing,
and while the objections you raise seem plausible, one also assumes that
they actually tried the Solo before marketing it, and that it worked OK.
(They do say in the brochure not to pour out all the coffee, so as to avoid
dregs.)

- David R.




| I can't imagine this works well. This device is "unique" because no one
| else is dumb enough to take this approach. Has anyone seen what the "filter
| funnel" looks like? You start out with a "soup" of coffee grinds and water,
| just as in a press pot and the filter has to separate the two by gravity
| alone (unlike a press pot where you have a pressure assist from the
| plunger). My guess is either the mesh is coarse enough to allow you to pour
| out the brew quickly enough, in which case too much mud gets thru,
| especially if your grinder is less than perfect, or the mesh is too fine and
| it takes forever for the coffee to come out.
|
| Also they have carefully designed the flask so that it's not possible to get
| your hand in there, insuring that the flask will turn rancid unless you use
| a bottle brush.
|
|
| "D. Ross" > wrote in message
| news:4156a543.50242895@localhost...
| >
| > | And is anyone familiar with the Chemex-like Eva Solo coffeemaker at
| > | Target(!)at $49.95:
| > |
| http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...K PW0G#images
| >
| > I wouldn't call the Eva "Chemex-like". the Chemex is a drip maker, the
| Eva
| > an infusor, more comparable to a press pot. It is certainly attractive
| from
| > a design point of view.
| >
| > - David R.
| > --
| > Less information than you ever thought possible:
| > http://www.demitasse.net
|
|

--
Less information than you ever thought possible:
http://www.demitasse.net

"Jack Denver" > wrote:

| Attractive design - this sounds like damning with faint praise.

It wasn't really meant as such; I'm a sucker for good design, though
normally in the broad sense which includes the functional aspect.

In this case I have no 1st-hand experience of making coffee with the thing,
and while the objections you raise seem plausible, one also assumes that
they actually tried the Solo before marketing it, and that it worked OK.
(They do say in the brochure not to pour out all the coffee, so as to avoid
dregs.)

- David R.




| I can't imagine this works well. This device is "unique" because no one
| else is dumb enough to take this approach. Has anyone seen what the "filter
| funnel" looks like? You start out with a "soup" of coffee grinds and water,
| just as in a press pot and the filter has to separate the two by gravity
| alone (unlike a press pot where you have a pressure assist from the
| plunger). My guess is either the mesh is coarse enough to allow you to pour
| out the brew quickly enough, in which case too much mud gets thru,
| especially if your grinder is less than perfect, or the mesh is too fine and
| it takes forever for the coffee to come out.
|
| Also they have carefully designed the flask so that it's not possible to get
| your hand in there, insuring that the flask will turn rancid unless you use
| a bottle brush.
|
|
| "D. Ross" > wrote in message
| news:4156a543.50242895@localhost...
| >
| > | And is anyone familiar with the Chemex-like Eva Solo coffeemaker at
| > | Target(!)at $49.95:
| > |
| http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...K PW0G#images
| >
| > I wouldn't call the Eva "Chemex-like". the Chemex is a drip maker, the
| Eva
| > an infusor, more comparable to a press pot. It is certainly attractive
| from
| > a design point of view.
| >
| > - David R.
| > --
| > Less information than you ever thought possible:
| > http://www.demitasse.net
|
|

--
Less information than you ever thought possible:
http://www.demitasse.net

(D. Ross) wrote in message news:<4156a543.50242895@localhost>...

>
> | Presso espresso maker, sold in Britain and Canada? It relies on the
> | operator pouring boiling water into it to brew. No one seems to have
> | commented about these on alt.coffee yet,
>
> We have certainly had a thread or two on this machine here. Amazon.co.uk
> sell it for around 40UKP. The design is a copy of the old Gaggia Gilda,
> without the benefits of active heating, and is unlikely to make decent
> coffee because of temperature limitations.
>

The "pourover" espresso machine isn't Presso's invention; an exemplar
of the original Faema version has finally turned up on Ebay, Item
number: 2279485057, (thanks Roger).

It may be a bad idea; but it isn't a new one.

--
Jim Schulman

(D. Ross) wrote in message news:<4156a543.50242895@localhost>...

>
> | Presso espresso maker, sold in Britain and Canada? It relies on the
> | operator pouring boiling water into it to brew. No one seems to have
> | commented about these on alt.coffee yet,
>
> We have certainly had a thread or two on this machine here. Amazon.co.uk
> sell it for around 40UKP. The design is a copy of the old Gaggia Gilda,
> without the benefits of active heating, and is unlikely to make decent
> coffee because of temperature limitations.
>

The "pourover" espresso machine isn't Presso's invention; an exemplar
of the original Faema version has finally turned up on Ebay, Item
number: 2279485057, (thanks Roger).

It may be a bad idea; but it isn't a new one.

--
Jim Schulman