I suspect I'm not the only one who, as a child and teenager, woke up at weekends to my parents starting the day with a burnt-smelling, very loud moka pot – preferably as early and as loudly as possible, because at least that way I got up sooner….
Because of this I didn't like coffee for a long time, because for many, many years burnt moka pot coffee was the only coffee I knew – so it's no wonder I wasn't much of a coffee drinker…
I'm sure you've all seen how a moka pot is made in a typical household. You hold the bottom chamber under the tap, fill it with cold water, put the coffee basket on top, then pack it full of ground coffee, pressing it down as much as three times to fit in as much as possible. Then it goes on the stove and is left there until the whistling only hurts the dogs' ears – but that, a lot.
Well, that's the problem with moka pot coffee – the way it's made, not the moka pot itself.
Now we'll share a few simple but brilliant tips so you can sip great moka pot coffee in the comfort of your home.
🚰 Use filtered water instead of tap water and bring it to the boil first: the less energy needed to heat it, the less we burn the coffee puck and the sealing ring, and the better the taste.
☕ The quality of the beans/ground coffee is of course very important. Buy the freshest possible 100% Arabica coffee that suits your taste from small roasters or speciality cafés. If you have a hand grinder at home, it's better to buy whole beans and grind your daily dose fresh rather than buying ground coffee.
⚖️ Try to find the right balance of coffee and water, and once you've found what suits your taste, stick to it. A starting point often recommended for a 2-cup Bialetti moka pot is 14 g coffee + 80 ml water
♨️ Don't tamp the coffee!!! Keep to the ratios above and don't try to cram in as much as possible. The more you pack the moka pot with coffee, the less room the grounds have to swell when they get wet, which clogs the space so the liquid can't flow through the coffee puck properly.
🔥. On a gas hob, make sure the flame only touches the bottom of the moka pot, not its sides. The metal conducts the heat up to the middle section where the coffee grounds are and can burn them, which again gives a bitter drink.
When the coffee starts to come through, turn off the heat underneath, so the pot really bubbles rather than whistles. That's how the coffee is made best.
And finally, a little extra tip! One of the accessories of the AeroPress is the AeroPress filter paper, which can also be very useful in a moka pot. It's just the right size to place on top of the coffee puck. After weighing out the ground coffee and putting it in the basket, place a dampened AeroPress filter paper on top, then screw on the top part. This also helps you get a nicer-tasting coffee.
Happy experimenting – I'd love to hear your feedback, so feel free to comment.