How to Use a Moka Pot
Nearly every bitter moka pot is bitter for the same two reasons: cold water in the boiler and too much heat under it. Fix those and the pot is excellent.
At a glance
- Coffee : water
- 1:8
- Active time
- 3 min
- Total time
- 8 min
- Makes
- 2 small cups
- Serve
- Hot, straight
- Kit
- Three-cup moka pot
Ingredients
Note: A three-cup pot holds about 140 ml to the valve and takes about 17 g in the basket. Fill both to their natural level rather than measuring, once you know your pot.
Method
-
Boil the water first
Fill the bottom chamber with water from the kettle, stopping just below the safety valve. Never cover the valve.
Use a towel or an oven glove: the pot gets hot immediately.
-
Fill the basket level, do not tamp
Spoon coffee into the funnel basket until it mounds, then sweep it level with a finger. Leave it loose.
A moka pot runs at around one and a half bar. Tamping it like espresso gives it a wall it cannot push through, and the pressure escapes through the safety valve instead.
-
Assemble and set on low heat
Drop the basket in, screw the top on firmly, and put it on the smallest burner at a low to medium flame. Leave the lid open so you can see what is happening.
Because the water is already hot, it should start flowing within a minute or two.
-
Watch the colour
Coffee should rise slowly and steadily, dark and syrupy. It will gradually lighten to a pale honey colour.
That colour change is your cue. The moment it goes blonde and starts to sputter, the brew is finished and everything after it is steam forcing its way through spent grounds.
-
Stop it at the sputter
Take the pot off the heat and run the base under a cold tap for a few seconds, or stand it on a wet cloth. This drops the pressure immediately and stops the extraction.
Stir the coffee in the upper chamber before pouring: the first and last of a moka brew are quite different strengths.
Why this works
The pot is a steam engine. Heat the sealed bottom chamber and the air above the water expands, which pushes water up the central column and through the coffee. It tops out around one and a half bar, nowhere near the nine bar of an espresso machine, so what comes out is a strong concentrated filter coffee and not espresso, whatever the box says.
Starting with hot water is the single change that transforms a moka pot. With cold water in the boiler, the pot sits on the flame for four or five minutes while it heats, and the coffee basket is sitting directly above it the whole time, slowly roasting. That is where the burnt, ashy flavour comes from, and no grind adjustment fixes it. Hot water cuts the time on the heat to a minute or two.
Low heat does the other half of the job. A fierce flame drives water through fast and violently, which channels through the bed and scorches the metal. A gentle flame gives a slow, even, syrupy stream.
The sputter is the end. Once the water in the boiler is spent, what rises is steam, and steam passing through already-exhausted coffee strips out the bitter, astringent compounds that were sensibly left behind. Cooling the base kills that instantly.
Variations
- Milk: brew as above and pour into 120 ml of steamed milk for something close to a cafe latte.
- Sweeter: Italians often whip the first few drops with sugar into a pale cream, then stir the rest in.
- Bigger pot: a six-cup takes about 300 g of water and 30 g of coffee. Same method, same ratio.
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Questions
Why is my moka pot coffee bitter?
Cold water in the boiler and too high a flame, in that order. Boil the water in a kettle first and turn the heat down. Also check you are not tamping the basket and that you pull it off at the sputter.
Is a moka pot the same as espresso?
No. A moka pot reaches about one and a half bar; espresso runs at nine. The result is a strong, concentrated coffee with a thin foam, not a true espresso with crema, and it will not behave like espresso in milk drinks.
Should I wash it with soap?
Rinse with hot water and dry it thoroughly. The traditional advice against soap is about aluminium reacting and about stripping the seasoning, and it holds up well enough. Do scrub the gasket area and do replace the rubber gasket every year or so, because an old one leaks and ruins the pressure.
What grind for a moka pot?
Medium-fine, like table salt, around 350 microns. Espresso grind clogs the basket and triggers the safety valve. Drip grind runs through too fast and tastes weak.
Aluminium or stainless steel?
Aluminium is the original and conducts heat faster, which suits a low flame. Steel works on induction hobs and is easier to clean. Both make the same coffee if the method is right.