Come on saw, Espresso, the stuff that comes out of a caffettiera, and middle eastern/arab/turkish/greek coffee are all relatively low on caffeine, and high on flavor. Speaking as someone who has enjoyed a lot of coffee made according to these different traditions, I'll state they all have their merits.
Those stovetop jobs are great (mm... I've got a hankering for getting me one of those), but they're not as simple as all that.
Some rules (this is true for "real espresso" as well):
A) do not pack the grounds tightly. If you do, the vapor passes along the edges and not through the coffee.
B) Espresso does not mean "as fast as humanly possible". This is an error that you run into often in US "espresso bars". Morons pull a shot in a few seconds. In a caffettiera, bring the coffee to a low boil.
C) Use distilled water. Not only does it taste better hot (heating water emphasizes the flavors of the impurities), it leaves a lot less crap on the coffee equipment. Tons of crappy coffee places around here use tapwater, and their coffee tastes like crap.
--
and I'll suppress some leghorn jokes.
quality grappa is something that doesn't make its way out of the country very much. Again though, she has to know what she's looking for.
and tell your mom she has to get a Pizza Napolitana DOC, aka Pizza Bufalina. Accept no substitute, for there can be none.
