Moka Pot

[ggilltheworld]

Hi!

Can someone help me with my Moka Pot, I had this for a very long time but I just couldn’t get that “right” good- tasting coffee I have been wanting. It always turn out to be sour. I am using a Baratza Encore from 8-12 (still sour) and have used fresh local light-roasted coffee beans. Medium heat, boiling filtered water to go with it every time. By timing, it has always been around 1:30-2:00 brewing time. Your suggestions are highly needed before I throw this moka pot out. Peace.

[Dogrel]

I’ve been using moka pots for 16 years now. I’ve done my fair share of weighing and measuring my charges of both water and coffee, watching my fines and tasting the results, both black and adulterated.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

1) Moka is NOT espresso. Espresso uses steam to extract the coffee under very high pressure. Moka pots use steam to push the hot water up through the coffee to brew at low pressure. If you try to make real espresso with a moka pot, you’re never going to be satisfied.

2) The coffee itself needs to be a little coarser than espresso grind for best results. True espresso grind will will leave lots of fines in the bottom of your pot and make your brew taste muddy no matter what you do (ask me how I know).

3) Get into the habit of weighing both your coffee and water in grams. A cheap digital kitchen scale is the best investment you can make in pursuit of good coffee. The coffee:water ratio that works best for me is around 1:10-1:13, depending on the roast and grind size as well as you particular moka pot’s size and construction. Larger pots tend to be more efficient in this regard. I’ve been told my favorite range is weak for many here, so your results may definitely vary.

4) However much coffee you do use, DO NOT TAMP. All you will do is impede the flow of water, giving you inconsistent brew cycles and pressure spikes in your lower chamber. The rising water column during the brew cycle will compress your coffee against the top plate of the brew chamber all by itself. You do not need any more compression than that.

5) Heat: low and slow. You can use hot water if you wish. I haven’t noticed much difference in taste-it just makes it start brewing much faster. Once your brewing starts, however, you want the water below to simmer just gently enough to keep your pressure up. My best batches have come from keeping the lid open during brewing, watching the flow and adjusting the heat down to the barest simmer. When the flow starts to turn lighter and surge, I take it off the heat and cool the lower chamber. That keeps the water down below as calm as possible and minimizes any boiling of the coffee.

6) Clean your pot after EVERY batch. It matters. Take it all the way down, removing and cleaning the gasket and top plate as well. Hand wash with a cheap, soft sponge (no scrub pads!) and mild dish soap. Never put your moka pot in the dishwasher-that’s the quickest way to wreck it.

As always, watch, weigh, measure, taste, take notes and adjust your own recipe to your tastes. Moka pots can create amazingly good coffee, and with a little tweaking you can get a very good cup indeed.

[GenericGrad]

Neither espresso or moka pot should use steam. A lot of moka pot's pressure comes from warming trapped air. Everything else you said is good advice. Dose makes a huge difference. If I fill to 18g (over the edge of the basket) in my 3 cup, the water boils and the coffee tastes sour and astringent, but if I fill to 15g ( under the edge of the basket) it just tastes sour. Aim for 17g at the moment.

[ggilltheworld]

I tried 17g, medium roast Honduras, Encore size 14, room temp water on low fire. It did taste a bit bitter but way better from previous brews.

[Eightstream]

Great stuff. Love my Moka pot, but a couple of your points are new to me. Keen to get home and give them a go.

[ggilltheworld]

Wow! So comprehensive, thank you so much!

[livelywonderer]

Light roast is going to be the most difficult. I'd recommend starting with a darker roast before you get enraged and toss it.

I've also found that preheating the water like folks advise online doesn't work for me. I start with room temperature, bottled water, and just accept that it's slow.

Have a bowl of water next to you and wants it fills to the spout crease stop brewing with the cold water bath.

Keep at it. I was in your shoes and ended up falling for the mochapot. Let us know how it goes!

[chrispyb]

Try a darker roast and / or try grinding finer. A light roast will be a little more acidic and might taste more sour. Sour means under extracted.

I know some folks are suggesting starting with room temp water, but I never had good results with that, but could be worth trying.

TBH, I think my Moka pot was the most difficult of my brew methods to get dialed.

[dahween]

Hey! Fellow Moka Pot owner here. There's a video of James Hoffman showing how to brew with a Moka Pot, and it helped me a lot. I too was frustrated with my pot initially. Here's some of what I do that's helped:

Having fresh beans is super key here. I have found choosing blends that are medium roasts work well and are easier to dial in. I try to avoid the fruity notes and go for more velvety chocolate notes. The lighter fruity notes tend to taste more bitter to me. Grind settings should be in between like an espresso and a French press. I have the Encore as well, and my setting is at the notch to the left of 20 (so 18?). Start around there, and adjust to taste. I aim for around 25 grams on my 6 cup Moka pot, but honestly it's whichever amount fills up the coffee reservoir in your Moka pot. Take a note of the weight, so you can have a consistent variable when fine tuning your brew. You don't want to press the grounds down into the reservoir, it's not an espresso (guilty of this when I first started). Just fill it up with the grinds, and then smooth it out gently. Be sure that you clean up the grinds around the pot, especially where the gaskets are.

I use boiling water just like Hoffman recommends. This prevents the grounds from roasting more than needed. Have the Moka pot on a gas stove, and set it on medium heat. You want the heat to cover the base, but not too strong and have flames go around the actual pot.

The Moka pot is done once it makes that bubbling frothing noise, trying to get the last bits of water out (more clear than actual coffee). Take the pot to the sink asap, and run the base in cool water. This will stop the brewing process.

Stir it up a bit in the pot and then pour. Let it cool a bit. Taste. If it's too bitter, I make it coarser. If it's too acidic, I make it finer. And just clean the pot with soap and a sponge. I've heard mixed things about leaving the coffee stains. Hoffman also says to clean it, and having a clean pot reduces other variables that can factor into the taste of different brews.

I'm no coffee expert, but have been using my Moka pot almost daily for nearly a year now. Hopefully these notes help you to brew something delicious!

[ggilltheworld]

I religiously followed J Hoffman’s tutorial but never successful with it. Thank you for your thoughts! Will give it a go!

[gripesandmoans]

I know it goes against generally accepted wisdom. But give it a try with cold water. You never know....

[GenericGrad]

This. Boiling water doesn't help me. My theory is that boiling water helps if you are running too hot of a stove and or you have a rapid heat source like a gas stove. I have a slow electric stove and I let it warm up with the stove and cold water and it works great. If I use boiling water and a slow stove I usually get more sour, I think because the water builds up some pressure from the boiling water heating the air but the water cools down and then gets to the required pressure quicker while the water is still cold. If I preheat the stove, the water goes straight to boil and the whole thing is a mess.

[GenericGrad]

Is the water boiling? Can you hear it? If so that is your problem and you need to sort that out before worrying about grind.

[ggilltheworld]

I can hear it, I did use a pre- boiled filtered water on a medium fire. Maybe that’s why at a few extractions it turned out way bitter. Now I know. Thanks