First, a little background. I am somewhat of a coffee appreciator. That is to say I’m truly grateful for a good quality cup of coffee, not the 6 cups of sludge a day kinda guy — more of a love of coffee than a caffeine addiction.

Until recently, I brewed my own coffee, using a standard auto-drip brewer. It produced decent coffee, but only if I brewed 4-5 cups at a time…and like I said I’m not a 6 cups a day kind of guy.

Moving to Little Italy has been great for my little coffee hobby…these guys know what they’re doing. Now, my daily routine generally includes a walk around the corner to this little Italian bakery for a pastry and an espresso. So, the espresso, or americano at the bakery was a welcome change.

This weekend I decided that I wanted more control over my coffee. I wanted to take the next step, and I wanted to experiment, and learn the art of a truly good cup of coffee.

First, I needed the right tools. At some point I’ve had coffee from pretty much every different kind of contraption, but the one that I felt produced the best results, and intrigued me the most is the Italian Moka device.

So, I went around the other corner (it’s nice being around the corner from everything) to the restaurant supply store that supplies the neighbourhoods cafés and restaurants and purchased a Bialetti Moka Express.

Tomorrow, my first brew.