I just received my espresso maker in the mail but not yet have received my ground espresso. The ground coffee I have in mind to use in my espresso maker is 'Chock full of nuts,' and I have a friend who thinks that you can still get the same energy using coffee grounds in the espresso machine. I'm not concerned about the quality of it -- I just want it to be strong. I'm a complete novice when it comes to affairs of coffee, so any advice?

I have a stovetop espresso maker, but I want to use it to brew one to two cups of coffee with my "regular" coffee beans. I don't want to use my big electric coffee maker to make a cup of coffee.

I made some coffee the same way i've been making it for years and it normally comes out fine but this time it was like drinking water. I figured i'd try it on my stove top perc. The coffee tasted better but it was still weak as hell. This is a fairly new container of coffee. I used it a few times with no problem but now all of the sudden it brews like water. I use a scoop. I normally brew 8 cups and use 4 scoops. I also use an extra strength setting. The coffee maker has been cleaned about 5 times. It has a self cleaning mechanism. It also has a water filter. I don't know if that means anything.
I Keep my coffee in the fridge. I also do everything the same and i am getting different results.

I have several pounds of some bold Starbuck's coffee - not espresso. Am getting a Moka stovetop espresso maker, and just wondered if the regular coffee would be any good to use.