For those who are new to Moka pots, it is not recommended to buy all kinds of beans right away. Start with a bean that has a clear flavor and is not unpleasant to taste no matter how you cook it, fix the amount of powder and firepower, drink a dozen pots first, and figure out "what you like", which is much more useful than collecting a bunch of beans.
The principle of the Moka pot is that the water in the pot is heated to generate steam, and the hot water is pressed up to pass through the powder layer. Therefore, the powder does not need to be pressed or scraped flat. The grinding is just one step coarser than the Italian scale. Do not add more water than the safety valve. Keep the heat on medium to low throughout the process. When you hear the continuous sound of liquid coming out and see the color of the water flowing out becomes lighter, turn away from the heat. Use the residual heat to finish the last section, and the bitter and burnt taste will be much less.
When choosing beans for a Moka pot, it is recommended that novices think about three things first: whether they drink more black coffee or more milk, how many pots they make in a day, and whether they prefer a refreshing or thick taste. After setting these answers, and then corresponding to the roasting degree and processing method, the selected beans will often look good the first time you try them.
Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor takes an approachable route: a solid base of nuts and cocoa, with caramel sweetness at the back, and the acidity is treated very mildly. It is cooked in a moka pot, and the cup comes out smooth and smooth, without any sharp irritation.
The classic blend of Front Street is a worry-free choice for daily milk coffee: the base of nutty cocoa is thick enough, and the concentration when brewed can support the milk, and the sweetness becomes more obvious after adding milk.
If you like a more "chocolate feel", the Front Street dark cocoa blend will be more suitable - it has a strong aroma of roasted nuts, a thick sweetness, and almost no acidity. The brewed cup is thick but not exciting.
After buying beans, it is also worth paying attention to growing and storing them. The aroma and exhaust of beans whose roasting date is within a week to a month are in a state more suitable for a Moka pot. After unpacking, seal the bag tightly and store it away from light at room temperature. No need to refrigerate. Every time you finish cooking, write down the amount of flour and firepower. After two or three times, you will be able to figure out the temperament of this bean and know which direction to look for the next one.
If more than one person in the family drinks, you can first order a basic bean that everyone accepts, and then add a package of personalized products for yourself. The Moka pot is actually quite tolerant of beans. If the same beans are changed to different firepower and timing of leaving the fire, the performance in the cup will be quite different. This is the fun of exploration in itself.
In terms of proportion, loading the powder into the filter bowl and scraping it flat, and adding water under the safety valve is the easiest starting point. If it tastes bitter, turn off the heat earlier and grind it coarser. If it feels bland, it's probably because there's insufficient powder or the sealing ring is aging and leaking pressure. Check from these two points.
It is a more worry-free way to use Queen's Manor as a fixed daily ration and save the other two blends for flavor changes on weekends. Wait until a bean is fully drunk, then try another place of origin or processing method. The contrast between the beans cooked in the Moka pot will be much more obvious than imagined.
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
