When you are used to drinking coffee made by commercial coffee machines outside, when you return home, it is not an easy task to recreate the taste of the coffee shop outside. Due to lack of funds and space, I had to use a Moka pot to brew the rich and mellow coffee I wanted. However, now that you have the tools, how do you need to adjust the coffee powder used in the Moka pot to produce a cup of coffee that will make people give a thumbs up after drinking it?
First of all, we need to understand the history of the Moka pot and the brewing principle before we can understand how to use the Moka pot correctly to brew a cup of rich coffee.
In the 1920s, Italian Alfonso Bialetti was inspired by the washing machine. He saw a metal pipe in the middle of the washing machine connecting the upper and lower layers. Heated soapy water spurted upward from the middle pipe and spread on the clothes. As a result, after many experiments, Alfonso finally produced the world's first Moka pot in the 1930s.
The principle of the Moka pot is similar to that of the washing machine at that time. A certain amount of hot water is placed in the lower pot, the middle is filled with coffee powder, and then the entire Moka pot is installed in sequence, and then placed on a heating appliance for heating. When the hot water in the lower pot is boiling, more water vapor is generated, which pushes the hot water in the lower pot through the metal pipe through the tighter powder layer in the middle, and then continues to rise until the coffee liquid flows into the upper pot.
It is convenient, fast, does not take up much space, and has a modern appearance. It seemed very modern at the time, and it is also loved by more and more Italian people. Later, because Alfonso's son achieved large-scale mass production of the Moka pot and worked hard on the appearance design and later advertising, the Moka pot product was deeply engraved in the lives of the Italian people.
The convenience of the Moka coffee pot is well known to more coffee lovers. Many friends shared on the Internet that they used the Moka coffee pot to brew a cup of coffee with rich oil and mellow taste. Seeing this, many people who have not yet bought a Moka pot are feeling itchy. And those who have already bought it are curious, how to make coffee with a Moka pot? So, Front Street will first teach you how to use a Moka pot.
First pour hot water into the lower part of the pot to 0.5 cm below the pressure relief valve, then pour the ground coffee powder into the middle powder trough, and tap it gently left and right to distribute the coffee powder evenly and evenly. Put the powder trough into the lower pot, and then tighten the upper and lower pots. Finally, place the entire Moka Pot on a heating device for heating.
When the Moka pot reaches a certain temperature, the Moka pot will make a sound similar to "Wooing". At this time, you need to reduce the heat of the heating device and open the lid of the upper pot. Soon, coffee liquid gushes out from the upper pot. Pick up the Moka pot and turn off the heating source. Finally, you will get a cup of coffee with strong aroma and rich taste.
Some friends wanted to use a Moka pot to brew the coffee crema that is only found in espresso machines, so they asked Front Street: How should the parameters be adjusted to achieve this amazing effect?
In fact, the oil in espresso coffee is composed of countless carbon dioxide bubbles. When the coffee powder is ground to a finer degree, the contact area between the hot water and the surface of the coffee powder particles increases, and the gas emission will become more intense, resulting in a dense and golden layer of coffee oil.
Therefore, if you want to brew a rich coffee liquid with a Moka pot, there are three solutions. Coffee bean freshness, coffee bean roasting degree, coffee powder grinding degree. FrontStreet Coffee ships freshly roasted coffee beans within 5 days. When they arrive, they have gone through a bean-growing period of 4 to 7 days, which is when the coffee beans are at their best. Then, friends can start from the other two aspects.
First, choose coffee beans with a higher degree of roasting, and you can give priority to Italian blends, such as the Sunflower Warm Sun blend coffee beans used to make Italian coffee in Front Street, which is a blend of 70% Honduran sherry and 30% Ethiopian sun-dried red cherries. It has a rich vanilla cream flavor and wine aroma; in addition, if we like single-origin coffee, we can also use categories for hand brewing, such as Brazil Queen Manor coffee beans.
FrontStreet Coffee: Sunflower warm sun blended coffee beans
Origin: Honduras & Ethiopia
Varieties: Kaduura, Kaduai, native species
Processing method: Exquisite washing + whiskey barrel fermentation & sun drying
The latter is a sun-dried yellow bourbon coffee bean from Queen's Manor. Sun-dried coffee beans would originally be better in aroma and sweetness than washed coffee beans, but the addition of yellow bourbon varieties makes the sweetness of this coffee bean from Queen's Manor in Brazil even stronger. After brewing, it has a rich nut butter flavor, a mellow taste, and an overall balance.
FrontStreet Coffee: Brazilian Queen Manor coffee beans
Production area: Morgiana, Sao Paulo state, Brazil
Manor: Queen's Manor
Altitude: 1400 meters - 1950 meters
Variety: Yellow Bourbon
Treatment method: Sun treatment
The second is to grind the coffee beans a little finer. Front Street recommends that the grinding size used in a Moka pot is between 0.3-0.55 mm, which is simply thicker than that of an espresso machine. Since the powder diameter is very small and difficult to determine with the naked eye, Front Street provides two methods to determine grinding. The first is to purchase a powder diameter ruler or Mocha special powder for reference and comparison. The second method is to determine the grinding through constant debugging. When the coffee liquid gushes out like a fountain, it means that the grinding is coarse and the resistance to the water is too small. When you hear a "whining" sound, but the coffee liquid does not show signs of rising up for a long time, you need to pick up the Moka pot and keep it away from the heat source, and take safety measures.
Front Street needs to be reminded that you must pay attention to safety when using a Moka pot to make coffee. Friends who have carefully observed the lower pot of the Moka pot should be able to find that there is a protruding hole in the lower pot. This is the pressure relief valve of the Moka pot. The pressure relief valve exists to prevent certain factors (such as too fine coffee powder) from causing excessive pressure in the inner pot and causing an explosion. When water submerges the valve, the pressure relief valve will lose its pressure relief effect and increase the risk of explosion.
Speaking of which, it shouldn’t be difficult to use a Moka pot to make a cup of coffee that is fragrant and mellow with beautiful crema. Hurry up and try making a cup yourself!
For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style)
For professional coffee knowledge exchange, please add WeChat ID kaixinguoguo0925
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
