Choosing the Right Size Stove-top Espresso Maker
Stove-top espresso makers are measured by cup size e.g. Bialetti Moka Express 3 Cup. However, this does not mean that this stove-top espresso maker will brew three full cups of espresso. Instead the '3 Cup' measurement refers to an Italian size portion of espresso: typicall between 1-1.5oz/28-43ml, approximately equivalent to half an espresso cup. So a '3 Cup' size stove-top espresso maker will make enough espresso to fill one and a half espresso cups.
| Size |
Approx.
capacity |
No. of full
espresso cups |
No. of persons
ideal to use for* |
| 2 Cup |
3oz/90ml |
1 |
1 |
| 3 Cup |
4.5oz/135ml |
1.5 |
1-2 |
| 4 Cup |
6oz/180ml |
2 |
2-3 |
| 6 Cup |
9oz/270ml |
3 |
3-4 |
| 9 Cup |
13.5oz/405ml |
4.5 |
4-6 |
| 10 Cup |
15oz/450ml |
5 |
5-8 |
*This is only a guide - If you love espresso then you may want a 6 Cup model all to yourself.
