Espresso Makers for Less

someone gave me a very old ekrups expresso maker. in the water tank which appears to be stainless or metal, there is all this white residue. comes out through the maker like flakes. what is it? is it dangerous? how can i remove it?

No it’s not dangerous but get rid of it by soaking the reservoir in very HOT water and White Vinegar and dumping it out. Then using a 1/2 white vinegar & 1/2 cold water solution, run it through the machine until it clears then put clear water through a few times. Those are probably just old water deposits from hard water that can turn to lime.

I want to buy a cappuccino/espresso machine but I am not familiar with how to make it. I wanted to know if there are a certain type and/or consistency of beans to get? If you live in Maryland, let me know where I can buy these coffee beans. Any help would be appreciated.

You need a dark roasted bean usually from Africa or Columbia but the African beans flavor better. A French Press is the best manner to get the coffee’s full flavor.
You want coffee beans that are named Espresso roast.
It is best to get whole bean and ground yourself.
Usually Starbucks has a nice variety or any specialty coffee shop. You can buy from them or get it from their supplier on line.

Stay away from National Brand coffee and espresso offerings, they are the cheaper white bean from Poorer parts of the world and not the best quality.

This is a stove-top coffee maker, and I’m just looking for the correct coffee-to-water ratio. Any manufacturer will do, I suppose.

I table spoon per cup, nice and strong. yum yum

I have an espresso/cappuccino coffee maker.. and I was wondering.. is there a way to make black coffee using cappuccino maker? like not strong espresso shots but just coffee like the one you get from filter coffee makers? and any other ideas? it just takes to long to forth the milk and tap the coffee in the coffee holder..

well you can make whats called an americana- basicly coffee, but might have a stronger taste to it. i dunno.

what you do is make your espresso- and pour it in a cup, and add water to it… youll have to play around and see how much water youll have to add to make it taste the way you want it too,

but what i do with mine, is this: i buy flavored coffees, and i make esspresso with it, (i never tap mine down and dont have any probs with it) then i get a big cup, usually a 32 oz. and fill it with ice, i sweeten my espresso, (i smell it to see if its sweet enough) and i slowly pour it over my ice till its cold, then i add regular milk to it, (mines about 1/3 espresso and 2/3 milk…) more or less to taste, and drink up… its like an iced latte… super good!!!

you can also make it with regular flavored coffee, i just add creamer and sugar to the espresso (and a lil vanilla extract) before i cool it so it mixes in easily….!

I have several pounds of some bold Starbuck’s coffee – not espresso. Am getting a Moka stovetop espresso maker, and just wondered if the regular coffee would be any good to use.

Sure you can. Any coffee will do. But when you have gone through your huge supply of Starbuck, try some Italian brand, Lavazza or Illy – you’ll never go back
The Moka Express is a really good stovetop maker.