Nowadays, people's love for coffee is not limited to hand-made coffee, but more of them are pursuing making Italian coffee at home. You will find that many friends now go to coffee shops and directly order a cup of latte or cappuccino and other espresso. However, friends who know more about coffee may order a cup of single-origin specialty coffee. Today Front Street is going to tell you about a simple-to-operate espresso coffee. Although the taste is not as rich as espresso, and it is not as fresh and bright as Pour over(V60) coffee, it is the most popular espresso appliance.
Let’s first take a look at whatMoka pot?
moka potIt is a steam brewing coffee pot and is a must-have coffee brewing appliance in many Italian homes. The Moka Pot was invented in 1933 by Alfonso Bialetti. Alfonso worked as an aluminum product craftsman in France for many years, and later returned to Italy to open his own aluminum product workshop.
SinceThe Moka pot can produce such delicious coffee, so let’s first understand how the Moka pot works.
moka potIt is divided into upper and lower parts. The water is boiled in the lower part of the pot. When the water boils, the pressure of the steam causes the boiling water to rise through the filter filled with coffee powder and reach the upper part of the pot. When the coffee starts to flow to the upper part of the pot, turn down the heat, because too high a temperature will cause the coffee to burn and destroy its original flavor. The common Japanese style cooking method also uses the same principle.
moka potThere are also single-valve and double-valve Moka pots. A double-valve Moka pot brews more coffee crema than a single-valve one. The single valve means that the coffee liquid flows out directly from the two small holes at the top of the hollow conduit of the Moka pot. Double valve refers to adding a pressure accumulating valve on the basis of a hollow conduit. This pressure accumulating valve usually blocks the small hole of the hollow conduit for the coffee liquid to exit. A certain steam pressure is required to flush it upward and allow the coffee liquid to spray out. The coffee flavor brewed by single valve and double valve is also different. The single valve Moka pot has a lower concentration of coffee and lower oil; while the concentration of double valve coffee will be higher and the oil will be higher.
Is Moka pot suitable for brewing with coffee beans or coffee powder?
Are all coffee beans suitable for Moka pots? Answer: No. The coffee brewed by the Moka pot is rich in oil, and the oil is actually composed of countless small bubbles of carbon dioxide. Medium-dark roasted coffee beans contain enough carbon dioxide gas. Therefore, if you want to get an ideal cup of oil-rich Moka pot espresso, it is difficult to achieve this with lightly roasted coffee beans. Therefore, Front Street recommends that if you use a Moka pot to brew coffee, it is better to choose medium-dark roasted coffee beans, which will definitely taste more mellow!
If you like Moka Pot coffee with a rich taste, it is recommended to buy the Front Street Classic Italian Blend coffee beans. This is a recipe composed of three origins: Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It uses medium-dark roasting to maximize the mellow aroma of coffee, and also allows everyone to easily extract rich and dense coffee oil;
If you like a balanced taste, we recommend the Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor coffee beans. It has no obvious sourness and has the aroma of roasted nuts, cream, and creamy chocolate. There is a clear aftertaste after drinking;
And if you like floral and fruity coffee, we recommend the Front Street Strawberry Candy Italian Coffee Beans, which are prepared for those who don’t accept bitter coffee. The coffee extracted with a Moka pot will have the flavors of roses, soft and hard strawberries, grapes, dried apricots, and nuts, with moderate sweetness and sourness, and almost no bitterness.
Moka pot coffee powder thicknessDegree: Medium to Fine.
Moka pot grinding degreeHow much should be appropriate? Front Street suggests that the size of the coffee powder used in the Moka pot is between 0.3 mm and 0.55 mm, which is thicker than the coffee powder used in the espresso machine and finer than the Pour over(V60) coffee powder.
When brewing, you observe that the coffee liquid in the upper pot gushes out like a fountain, which means that the coffee powder is ground too coarsely, the resistance to the water is too small, and the coffee oil is too thin; when you hear a low "Woo" sound and the coffee liquid does not flow up for a long time, you need to immediately lift the Moka pot away from the heat source and take safety measures. This phenomenon means that the coffee powder is ground too finely and the resistance to the hot water is too great, making it difficult for the hot water to flow upward.
moka potWhat is the appropriate water temperature?
someoneWill be usingmoka potdirectUse cold water, and some people will use warm water. Should you use cold water or warm water, or what degree of water is suitable?
Front Street believes that it is more appropriate to use water that is about to boil. Because if normal temperature water or cold water is used for heating, as the water temperature rises, the water vapor increases, and the water that has not yet reached the temperature comes into contact with the coffee powder and is extracted, which affects the flavor of the coffee.
Now that you know how the Moka pot works, let’s take a look at how FrontStreet Coffee uses it.Steps to brew coffee with a Moka pot:
1. Fill the lower pot with an appropriate amount of hot water that is about to boil.
2. Pour the ground coffee powder into the powder trough
3. Install the powder trough on the lower pot, and then tighten the upper pot
4. Put the lid on the pot and heat it up
5. When coffee liquid pours out of the pot, pick up the Moka pot and move it away from the heat source
Why does the coffee brewed like this have grease? Front Street tells you: that is because when the lower pot is heated, the hot water is boiling and forms a large amount of water vapor in the limited space of the lower pot, creating a certain steam pressure. Therefore, the hot water is squeezed upward through the metal pipe in the middle, thereby extracting the oil component in the coffee.
Of course, brewing coffee with a Moka pot sounds simple. At least there are not as many preparations and precautions as Pour over(V60) coffee. However, Front Street still wants to tell you that brewing delicious coffee with a Moka pot still requires certain skills. The following are the little tips and details Front Street wants to tell you:
1. The amount of coffee powder can vary according to personal preference. Because each Moka pot has a different capacity and the coffee container is too small, you need toIt takes a few tries to find the amount of coffee powder that suits your taste. If you like it thicker, you can use a pressure reducing plate to lightly press it when filling the powder, fill the flattened space, and then press it lightly again.
2. The size of the filter cloth cannot be larger than the surface of the coffee powder, otherwise it will cause too much pressure and steam will escape.
3. The main function of the pressure reducing plate is to place it on the filter cloth when brewing a small amount of coffee with a larger Moka pot. It can easily control the number of cups and the amount of coffee powder. It is used here as a pressing rod. Because the steam pressure generated by a Moka pot is small, generally speaking, it does not require a special press like an Italian coffee machine.
4. You can use the length of time the coffee stays in the pot to adjust the taste of the coffee. For example, when using lighter roasted coffee beans (closer to light brown in color and without shiny oil on the surface), you can let the coffee stay in the Moka pot for one minute to one more minute after the extraction is completed. Minutes and a half; on the contrary, if you use dark roasted beans (dark brown, sometimes with shiny oil on the surface, most of the Italian Zongtai coffee beans we buy on the market fall into this category), you don’t need to stay in the pot longer, and you can pour it directly into the already warm cup.
5. When making hot cappuccino and latte, you can heat the milk to about 70°C, and for iced milk froth, you can directly use a milk frother. It takes more than 10 strokes to froth iced milk. It is more difficult to froth hot milk, and it may take 50 strokes to succeed. The milk used is best whole milk, so that the butterfat can turn into thick milk foam.
Also, don’t fill more water just because you want more coffee. Why? Front Street reminds everyone that the design of the lower pot has a pressure relief valve, which is the protruding hole in the picture. The existence of the pressure relief valve is to prevent certain factors from causing excessive pressure inside the lower pot of the Moka pot, leading to explosion accidents. Among these factors is grinding the coffee grounds too finely. Therefore, when filling water, be sure not to let the water cover the valve. When water submerges the pressure relief valve, the pressure relief effect will be lost, creating a huge safety hazard.
As long as you follow the above steps and techniques and practice more, Front Street believes that everyone will be able to brew delicious Italian coffee!
Finally, here’s how to clean a mocha coffee pot:
1. After the coffee has cooled, unscrew the upper pot, remove the funnel, and pour out the coffee residue; gently clean the filter funnels of the upper and lower pots, which must be wiped dry!!! Do not use sandy material and soda water to clean, as this will damage the bright surface. Over time, the bottom will inevitably discolor, which is due to hard water. You can remove it by mixing water with vinegar.
2. All parts of the aluminum alloy coffee pot should be disassembled to keep them dry in the air; the coffee pot cannot be washed in the dishwasher.
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
