It is not difficult to find that in almost all teachings on the use of Moka pots, we are required to fill up the powder tank first, then tighten it with the upper and lower pots, and then perform extraction. In other words, depending on the size of the Moka pot you buy, you need to brew the corresponding amount each time.
However, some friends said that occasionally they only want to drink "half" of the coffee. So, like other extraction methods, can the amount of powder used be halved/reduce according to demand? Will the reduced coffee still contain fat? Does it taste good? Today, Front Street is here to find the answers to these questions.
Fill the amount of powder VS only put in half
As the saying goes, true knowledge comes from experiments. If you want to know whether "reducing powder" is feasible, you can solve your doubts by doing some comparisons.
During the test, Front Street would first fill and smooth the ground trough of one pot of coffee, and then pour in the amount of water below the pressure relief valve, which is 150g; the ground trough of the other pot would only be filled with half of the coffee, and then the surface of the powder layer would be smoothed. In addition, considering that the amount of powder used is reduced, in order to prevent the concentration from being significantly reduced, the water filling amount of the second set of Front Street Moka Pots is reduced to 105g.
In order to make the experimental results clearer, this time the powder volume comparison of the Moka pot will use Front Street. Columbia Whelan, a coffee bean that uses medium-dark roasting. When brewed by hand, it often shows deep caramel flavors such as fried nuts, dark chocolate, and caramel. It also has beautiful dark brown oil in pressurized extraction. It is suitable for various extraction methods such as coffee machines, Moka pots, and drip filters.
If you are looking for a more mellow taste, buy Front Street. Front Street PWN Gold Mandheling has a very rich baking aroma, like cocoa, toast, and spices that linger in the mouth. It has low acidity, a mellow taste, and a clean aftertaste. It is suitable for friends who usually like strong coffee.
We heated the two pots of coffee separately, observed and recorded their extraction conditions, and finally tasted them in the Moka Pot Americano.
Coffee Beans: Front Street Colombian Washed Whelan
Powder amount: 16g & 8g
Grinding degree: fine salt (EK-43s#3 scale)
Water volume: 150g & 105g
The powder tank is filled: Shortly after the whine is emitted, you can see the dark brown foam being released first. The flow rate of the coffee liquid is relatively uniform and the color is rich. There is no splashing in the whole process. After the fire source was removed, the foam on the upper layer lasted longer, and the coffee liquid remained poured into the cup for nearly 5 minutes.
Only half of the powder is placed in the powder trough: Although there is no splashing in this group of Moka pots, the noise is much louder than the first group. In comparison, it can be seen that the foam is not only thin, but also flows very quickly, with signs of spewing in the middle, and the color also fades. When poured into a coffee cup, the upper foam had dissipated before Front Street had time to take a photo.
Taste comparison
The first set of American-style coffee made with a moka pot is slightly sweet and bitter but not astringent in the mouth. The taste is very strong, with a burnt aroma with the smell of fried hazelnuts, and almost no sourness. The coffee extracted by the second group of Moka pots does not have much aroma. It tastes like burnt wood and has obvious acidity, which makes people have no desire to continue drinking.
Will reducing the amount of powder affect the flavor of Moka pot coffee?
The principle of brewing coffee in a Moka pot is not complicated. It heats the lower pot to create steam pressure in the water inside. When it reaches a certain level, the hot water will be continuously pushed upward. On the way, the hot water will pass through the coffee powder tank. The coffee powder will form a certain resistance to it. When the resistance is broken, it can flow into the upper pot, thus forming fresh coffee liquid.
Therefore, when the amount of powder used is less, the resistance to hot water is smaller, and the easier it is for the coffee liquid to enter the upper pot. Firstly, the extraction time is shortened, so the coffee has a sour taste. Secondly, because of the continuous flushing of hot water, the powder layer at the bottom is over-extracted, making the coffee bitter and unbearable.
Front Street often mentioned in articles about espresso extraction that water is inert and will preferentially choose the "road" with less resistance to pass through, commonly known as the "channel effect". Therefore, in addition to the change in resistance, the reduction in the amount of powder will also leave a certain space inside the powder tank. When the hot water moves upward, it will preferentially pass through the loose powder layer and then go directly to the upper pot. This part of the coffee liquid will most likely be under-extracted.
Can I put only half of the powder in the moka pot? How should this be done?
Now that we know that the key reason for coffee liquid splashing is that the reduced amount of powder reduces the resistance to hot water, then if we want the Moka pot to maintain a moderate extraction state after the amount of powder is reduced, the powder cake needs to have greater resistance to hot water. Theoretically speaking, if you want to increase the pressure without changing the amount of powder, you must adjust the grinding degree to a finer degree, or use external force to narrow the gap between the powders. After several rounds of attempts, Front Street prefers the latter, and the operation is very simple.
Here is the demonstration given by Front Street Huilan. We pour 8g of ground coffee powder into the powder trough. First, tap it gently from left to right to let the fluffy coffee powder naturally fall down and make the particles closely connected. Then find a small spoon and use the back to gently "press" the powder layer until the powder layer is completely thin to half.
In order to avoid over-extraction due to long contact time between hot water and the thinned powder layer, we pour half the amount of high-temperature hot water into the lower pot before loading the powder trough, which can effectively shorten the heating time. When the liquid from the Moka pot fills the bottom, we immediately remove it from the fire source, and then use the remaining heat to release all the remaining coffee liquid.
There is indeed no sign of "spraying" after this adjustment, and because the lower pot heats up faster, the coffee liquid released still has a small amount of foam layer, and the concentration is much higher.
Front Street makes this "half moka pot coffee" into iced milk coffee at a ratio of 1:3. It has a mellow flavor of cocoa, cream and fried rice cakes in the mouth. It is balanced and thick, and it can be regarded as a good refreshing drink.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
