la Signora caffettiera

[Richard Kilgore]

I picked up one of these at a local sale. Italian made by Meazza & Masciadri. Perhaps others also use this clever design, but I have not seen it before. The pots will make two different quantities of mokka. Mine is a three or six cup model. They do this with an insert you can put in the 6 cup funnel to reduce it to the 3 cup capacity. Fill the base with half the usual amount of water and that's it. The aluminum pot has a curvelinear design with a "pearl" finish that is similar to the look of 1950s flecked wall paint. I'll take pics in a few days if anyone wants to see.

[Suzanne F]

Yes, please. Picture, please.

[Richard Kilgore]

Here are two photos of the pot. The small disk in the foreground of the dis-asembled pot is inserted into the coffee basket to reduce it from a six cup pot to a three cup pot.

[Richard Kilgore]

I guess I should mention that this moka pot has made increasingly better coffee the longer I have used it...about 10 days now, just as everyone on the Moka thread predicted when no soap is used to clean it out, just a simple rinsing. Maintaining a medium-low temp and not letting it boil or sit too long has also been key to getting it right. It only took about three trials to tweak it. I have been using it only in the 3 cup configuration and I am quite pleased.

This is not an easy to find brand, so I hope rubber seals and filters from other moka manucaturers will fit it.

[jimqpublic]

I just bought a la Signora caffettiera also, my first moka pot. Mine is the plain aluminum version purchased at Cost Plus World Market in Lakewood, California for $20.

So far my results have been a bit spotty. My first pot came out perfectly giving me some false hope. There's a fine line between not enough and too much coffee; off a little and it's either weak or leaks out at the join between the halves. Now that I have a couple dozen pots I'm getting pretty good. Of course grind is critical too. My best results are from a just-level filter basket with absolutely no tamping, tapping, or shaking down.

One reason I bought this model is of course the variable sized filter. So far though I've mostly been making full pots (12 ounces) which fills my mug nicely leaving room for about 3 ounces of whole milk. The full pot has a bit of caffeine in it, so I limit myself to one daily with Peets French Roast. I've tried Trader Joe's Decaf Italian Roast and it isn't nearly as good.

This is not an easy to find brand, so I hope rubber seals and filters from other moka manucaturers will fit it.

Agreed. I searched the web and didn't find anything, although I assume that most mfr's use "parts bin" components.