Simple is better...

I am so quickly coming to the conclusion that simple is better.

As a case in point this is my trusty and much used stovetop expresso maker. It’s small, was very cheap (under a tenner), simply made - so there’s very little to break, it’s easy-peasy to use, and, oh yes, it brews a better cup of coffee than the huge electric device that broke after less than a year and cost – well I won’t tell you what it cost.

Yes, simpler is better. When I want a coffee all I do is unscrew the aluminium base, fill it with water, spoon some ground coffee into the colanderised coffee chamber, re-screw the pouring coffee pot chamber back onto the base, and stand it on a lighted stove.

Five minutes or so later and voilà! Perfect coffee.

The Moca Expresso (that’s what it’s called) was invented in 1933 by an Italian named Bialetti. The water is heated by the stove flame and as the water molecules gain momentum (kinetic energy) they collide with each other. As the temperature builds so does the kinetic energy, and there are more and faster collisions which increases the pressure in the pot, forcing the water upwards, through the colander coffee chamber, and up into the pouring chamber. The thick cast aluminium pot is made to withstand the additional pressure - that’s why it has that distinctive (and structurally stronger) ten sided shape and isn’t simply round.

Simplicity itself – well as long as you ignore the science.

As you can see I’ve had mine years, I had to make a wire mesh thing to get it to stand on the stove easily, but it works well and my Moca Express washes clean in a minute.

Simple is better.

I’m really going to hang on to that thought and see where it can take me.