RIP Mokka.

Some of you may remember this post:

How to make an Italian espresso at home

in which I described the way that Italians make their coffee at home. The mokka in that post is one of my most prized possessions. My Italian neighbor Marissa had bought it for me as a gift way back in 2000 or 2001 and it's been one of the best gifts I've ever gotten. As I mentioned in the post about mokkas, the secret to the mokka is to use it a lot and let it get a nice coffee stain build up as it makes the coffee taste better. Well, after 7 or 8 years of coffee flowing through my mokka, it had become a perfect coffee making machine. From my years in Italy right through my move to Germany a couple years ago, the one constant has been my mokka. No matter what, I knew I could always count on a good espresso.

This morning, as I was going through my morning ritual of preparing the mokka for my wake up call, the little black knob on the cover broke off.

I was horrified.

I tried to get it back on but it would not stay. My mokka, for all intents and purposes, is dead. In a strange coincidence, Virginia found a used one at a local fleamarket a few months back and bought it. After a brief mourning period, I must now begin the healing process and attempt to forge a new relationship with this replacement mokka. I will never forget my first mokka and the many years of great coffee that it gave me. But alas, it's time to move on.

RIP mokka. You will remain in my coffee stained heart forever.