The Neapolitan Flip Coffee Maker, and Why It Is Not a Moka Pot
The cuccumella brews by gravity, not pressure. You boil the water, flip the whole thing over, and wait.
The cuccumella is the coffee maker Naples used before the moka pot existed, and the two get confused constantly because both are stovetop metal pots in two halves. They brew by opposite principles and produce very different coffee.
How it works
Three parts: a boiler chamber with a spout, a filter basket that screws into it, and a serving chamber with a handle that fits over the top.
- Fill the boiler with water, up to the small hole in its side.
- Fill the basket with medium-ground coffee and screw it in.
- Fit the serving chamber on top, upside down, so the spout points up.
- Heat until steam puffs from the hole.
- Flip the entire thing over, using a cloth, so the boiler is now on top.
- Wait. Gravity pulls the hot water down through the coffee into the serving chamber, which now has its spout the right way up.
That flip is the whole design and the reason it is a conversation piece.
Why it is not a moka pot
A moka pot builds steam pressure in a sealed lower chamber and forces water upward through the coffee bed. Pressure brewing extracts fast and hard, which gives moka its body and its bite.
A cuccumella has no seal and no pressure. The water simply falls through the bed at whatever rate gravity and the grind allow, which is the same thing that happens in a pour over. The difference is that you are not pouring; the pot is.
So a cuccumella cup is closer to filter coffee than to espresso: cleaner, lighter in body, with more clarity and less intensity. People who dislike moka because it tastes harsh usually like this a great deal.
Getting it right
- Medium grind. Finer than coarse but not moka-fine. It is a gravity method, so too fine simply stalls the flow.
- Fill the basket level, do not tamp. There is no pressure to push through a compressed bed.
- Flip decisively, with a cloth, and do not hesitate. Everything in it is boiling.
- Let it finish. The drawdown takes a few minutes and the last of it is the weakest, so some people stop early. That is a preference rather than an error.
Is it worth owning
As a daily brewer, a pour over does the same job faster and with more control. As an object, it is one of the few pieces of coffee equipment with genuine character, it is nearly indestructible, and the coffee is good.
Buy it because you like it. That is a better reason than most.
Common questions
What is a Neapolitan flip coffee maker?
A two-chamber stovetop pot, called a cuccumella, with a coffee basket between the halves. You boil water in the bottom, then invert the whole thing so the water filters down through the coffee under gravity.
Is it the same as a moka pot?
No. A moka pot forces water up through the coffee using steam pressure. A cuccumella lets water fall through it with no pressure at all, which makes it much closer to a pour over in the cup.
What does Neapolitan flip coffee taste like?
Cleaner and lighter than moka, with less body and none of the sharp edge pressure brewing can produce. It is closer to a strong filter coffee than to espresso.
How do you know when to flip it?
Steam from the small hole in the side of the boiler chamber. That hole is a fill indicator and a readiness signal at once, and when it puffs steadily the water is ready.
