Making a hot cup of Italian Espresso

One of the many pleasures I enjoyed while visiting Palermo (the capital of Sicily) was a hot cup of espresso at a bar. Thankfully, if you own an espresso maker, or if you live near an Italian bar, you don't have to travel to Italy to enjoy a fresh cup of espresso :) Here we go:

Preparation: 
Pour bottled water in the bottom chamber of the espresso maker, up to the fill line
Attach the strainer. Make sure that the water level isn't too high otherwise the water will seep through (this happens to me a lot). 
Fill the strainer with Italian coffee (in my house one of the brands we use is Cafè Bustelo) and press down lightly. Try not to pack the coffee too hard because it might create too much pressure. Screw the top of the espresso maker into the strainer.
Place the coffee maker on the stove over low heat
When the coffee is ready you'll hear a bubbling sound. Remove off heat to avoid burning the coffee (burnt coffee is never pleasant!) Enjoy!

An example of an espresso stove top coffee maker