The Moka pot uses the vapor pressure of boiling hot water to pass directly through the coffee powder to extract the inner essence of the coffee. The brewed coffee has a richer taste and aroma, with a thin layer of coffee oil on the surface. This is the charm of Italian coffee.
The structure of the Moka pot is not complicated
I believe those who have seen a Moka pot should have noticed that its design is very simple. The entire structure is only divided into three parts: the upper pot that holds coffee liquid, the powder trough in the middle, and the lower pot that is heated by water.
When we heat the Moka pot, the water in the lower pot is first heated and converted into steam, forming a certain pressure, causing the water vapor to push up from the bottom. When the hot water reacts with the coffee powder upwards, the increasing pressure will continue to push the extracted coffee liquid to the upper pot. At this time, we will get the rich coffee liquid we need.
The extraction method of the Moka pot is similar to our common supercharged espresso. After the water boils in the lower pot, it will generate steam. More and more steam condenses to create a certain pressure, forcing the hot water to penetrate the coffee powder, dissolving the flavor substances and flowing with the coffee liquid into the container above. The Moka pot brews coffee at about 1.2 to 3 atmospheres of pressure. The increase in pressure brings together the coffee flavor, so the coffee brewed by the Moka pot also has a mellow taste.
Common Moka pots on the market are divided into single-valve and double-valve devices. When using a double-valve Moka pot to make coffee, a pressure accumulation valve is added to the original one. The increase in pressure also increases the concentration of the coffee and brings out more coffee oil. Although the Moka pot cannot match the pressure of more than 9 atmospheres of a standard espresso machine, if we can just drink a cup of strong coffee during our leisure time at home, Front Street believes that the Moka pot is also a very good choice.
Although the operation steps of the Moka pot are very simple, there are still many details that need to be paid attention to. Many friends have encountered extraction problems when using the Moka pot and consulted Front Street. Here Front Street uses the Bialetti 3-person classic Moka pot in the store as an example. The coffee beans Front Street uses self-roasted "Sunflower Nuanyang Blend Coffee Beans" to demonstrate the brewing operation process.
How to make coffee with a Moka pot?
First remove the base of the Moka pot and add warm water to the lower pot. This can shorten the brewing time and avoid the burnt and bitter taste caused by excessive heating of the coffee powder. The water volume is controlled below the pressure relief valve line. The safety valve prevents the coffee pot from exploding due to grinding of coffee powder that causes the extraction channel to become clogged. If the safety valve is submerged by water and the extraction channel is blocked, the consequences of an explosion in the high-temperature coffee pot will be disastrous.
To extract rich black coffee, the grinding degree must be finer than ordinary hand brewing and coarser than espresso coffee. If the grinding degree is too coarse, it will cause problems such as insufficient extraction and splashing. If the grinding degree is too fine, it will cause over-extraction, and the coffee will be burnt and bitter, making it difficult to drink. The Front Street store uses an EK-43s grinder with a scale of 0.5.
Pour the ground coffee powder into the grinder trough, fill it evenly, smooth it with your fingers and put it into the base. There is no need to press hard, as an air layer that is too tight can easily block the flow of water upwards, thus affecting extraction. If there is not enough coffee powder, the water in the lower pot will not be fully extracted when it enters the middle powder layer under the action of steam pressure, which will cause the upper pot to splash significantly.
Then tighten the upper pot and lower pot and heat them on a gas stove or induction cooker. When using an open flame, be careful not to exceed the base of the Moka Pot. In fact, there is no precise time limit for brewing. Wait for the Moka pot to heat up. When you hear a hissing sound, turn to low heat and the coffee liquid and oil will slowly flow out. When you see that the upper pot of coffee liquid is half full, you can turn off the heat source, use a wet towel to move the pot to the table, and use the remaining temperature and pressure in the pot to continue extracting the remaining coffee liquid.
Finally, pour the extracted coffee liquid into the cup and taste it directly. In the mouth, there is a strong aroma of whiskey, vanilla, cream, sweet and sour berries, with the aroma of roasted nuts. Adding a certain proportion of hot water brings out the fresh and sour fruit, and when paired with milk, it has the sweetness of chocolate.
What should you pay attention to when using a Moka pot every day?
Our common Moka pots are generally metal in shape. Try not to touch the pot body when heating at high temperatures. You can use a wet towel to avoid burns. If we hear a whining sound, but the coffee liquid never overflows from the pot, it is likely that the liquid outlet is blocked. We should turn off the heat source first to avoid excessive internal pressure and causing a safety hazard.
If the grinding degree of the coffee powder is too coarse, it will cause problems such as insufficient extraction and splashing. If the grinding degree is too fine, it will cause over-extraction, and the coffee will be burnt and bitter, making it difficult to drink. The powder trough needs to be filled and leveled. If there is not enough coffee powder, the water in the lower pot will not be fully extracted when it enters the middle powder layer under the action of steam pressure, which will cause the upper pot to splash significantly and the taste of the coffee will be difficult to describe.
Front Street will clean the Moka pot in time after every use to avoid coffee grounds stains, which are easy to transfer odor and burn bitterness. If old coffee stains are left on the filter, gasket, and extraction channel, they may cause blockage and affect normal extraction.
Front Street recommends medium-dark roasted beans. Since the Moka pot is a pressurized extraction method, if you use light-roasted coffee, the texture of light-roasted beans is harder and a finer grinding is usually required to improve the extraction rate. However, fine grinding under high temperature and pressure can easily make the coffee sour and irritating, and it is also more difficult to extract the aroma of oil. Therefore, Front Street recommends darker roasted Italian blended coffee beans as raw materials. Not only is it easier to drink fragrant coffee with rich aroma and oil, but it also allows us to extract a more stable coffee flavor.
Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style)
For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex
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
