How to Prepare Your CoffeeCaffè alla Napoletana (Cuccumella)
What you need
Ingredients run from the top of the cup to the bottom; the last item is the bottom layer. Values are normalized to a true 100% stack.
- Grind
- Medium-coarse — a little coarser than for the moka pot (roughly 500–700 microns); fine espresso grind stalls the drip
- Water temperature
- Water heated to the boil in the pot, then left to drip through the grounds off the heat
- Total time
- 15 min
Caffè alla napoletana is the coffee Naples brewed before the moka: water boiled in the cuccumella, a two-chambered stovetop pot, which is then flipped over so the hot water drips through the grounds by gravity alone. The device was invented by a Parisian tinsmith, Morize, in 1819, but it was Naples that adopted it, named it after the cuccuma, a copper or terracotta jug, and kept it on the stove for more than a century. While it drips, a small paper cone, the cuppetiello, covers the spout to hold in the aroma, a detail Eduardo De Filippo made famous on stage. There is no pressure involved, so the cup is longer and gentler than a moka or espresso, and it rewards patience. Bialetti's moka largely replaced it after 1933, but Neapolitan homes and a few cafés still flip the pot.
Steps
Fill the boiler to just below the vent hole
The small hole near the top of the water chamber lets steam out and signals when the water is ready. Overfill it and the water can escape through the hole instead of passing through the coffee.
Fill the basket level with medium-coarse coffee and screw on the filter
The water passes through the bed by gravity alone, so a coarse, loosely filled bed lets it flow evenly. Fine or pressed coffee blocks the flow, and a heaped basket stops the filter cap closing.
Assemble the pot with the spout pointing down and heat it gently
At this stage the serving pot sits upside down on top of the boiler, so nothing reaches it yet. Low to medium heat brings the water up evenly without scorching the base.
When steam or water puffs from the vent hole, take it off the heat and flip it
The puff from the vent means the water has reached the boil. Flipping puts the hot water on top, where it drips through the coffee into the serving pot below. Flip it quickly and firmly, and keep a cloth on the handles: the metal is hot.
Cover the spout with a paper cone and wait for the drip to finish
The drip takes about four to ten minutes, depending on the grind and the size of the pot. The cuppetiello keeps the aroma from escaping through the spout while it runs. Remove the water chamber and the filter once it has stopped, then pour.
Cup ready
Time to enjoy your Caffè alla Napoletana (Cuccumella)
Brewed the way they do it in Italy. What next?
Tips
- Make the cuppetiello from a small square of paper rolled into a cone and slipped over the spout. It is the traditional way to keep the aroma in while the coffee drips.
- Rinse the pot only with hot water and a brush, never soap. Neapolitan cooks keep the pot free of detergent residue so it never taints the coffee.
- If the drip runs much longer than ten minutes, grind coarser next time. If it is over in a minute or two, grind finer.
Common mistakes
- Using espresso-fine coffee — it clogs the filter, and the water stalls on top instead of dripping through.
- Flipping before the water boils — cooler water extracts less from the coffee, and the cup tastes thin.
- Leaving the pot on the flame after flipping — the heat now hits the serving chamber and starts to cook the finished coffee.
Variations
Within the Neapolitan tradition, the preparation above takes these familiar shapes:
Peruvian Café Pasado
Peru's gota a gota pot descends from the same Neapolitan drip design, but there the coffee is brewed as a strong concentrate and diluted with hot water or milk in each cup.
FAQ
How is it different from a moka pot?
A moka pot uses steam pressure to push water up through the coffee. The cuccumella uses no pressure at all: the water is boiled, the pot is turned over, and the water falls through the grounds under gravity. That is why it uses a coarser grind, takes longer, and gives a longer, gentler cup.
Is it really from Naples?
Not originally. The flip pot was invented in Paris in 1819 by a tinsmith named Morize. Naples adopted it so thoroughly that it became known as the Neapolitan coffee maker, and the Neapolitan name cuccumella comes from cuccuma, a copper or terracotta jug.
What is the paper cone on the spout for?
It is the cuppetiello. Neapolitans put it over the spout while the coffee drips to keep the aroma in. Eduardo De Filippo's play Questi fantasmi! includes a famous monologue on making coffee this way.
The Atlas
Help keep this preparation honest
The Atlas is only as trustworthy as the sources behind it. If a step on this page is off — or you know a preparation that belongs here — tell us. Two references is all we ask.