Add the coffee to the bottom of the empty french press. Steadily pour hot water over grounds, making sure to throughly saturate all of the coffee.Cover with lid, but do not depress. Allow the coffee to steep for four minutes.

Continue soaking the grounds with a steady pour, careful to keep the water level well below the top of the coffeemaker. Once desired measure of water has been poured and coffee brewed, discard filter.

Attach the top of the coffee maker and place it on your gas or electric stovetop, ideally on a small burner with a medium-high flame. The burner should just encompass the bottom of the Bialetti machine---too large a flame boils the water too quickly (and inconvienently heats the plastic handle) and too small a flame muddles the clarity of the espresso. Remove the Bialetti from the burner as soon as you hear gurgling, much like the hissing of a tea kettle this is an indication that brewing is complete.

Insert in espresso machine and pull 2 oz for doppio and 1 oz for ristretto. If the ammount of coffee, grind and tamp are ideal, the first part of the brew will be dark, then turn into a golden brown/foamy mixture (the crema) that flows into the cup in a thin, curly stream that is just strong enough to hold together. The target brewing time is somewhere between 20 - 30 seconds, so if you're running too long or too short, check your grind, ammount, and tamp, then adjust accordingly. If your shots are pouring unevenly from both spouts, your tamp needs to be more even. You want to create a fine golden crema atop a rich dark brew that tastes sweet and smooth.