When making coffee with a Moka pot, many friends don’t know how coarse the coffee powder should be. Also, I don’t know how to fill it with powder. Is it necessary to press powder? If you also have such questions, you will find the answers below.
First of all, how fine does the coffee powder for the Moka pot need to be ground?
The diameter of the coffee powder required by the Moka pot is about 0.3-0.55mm, which means that it will not feel rough like sand, but it will not be as delicate as flour like the coffee powder used in espresso machines. You have two ways to measure it. The first is to buy a powder diameter ruler or Mocha special powder for reference; the second is to keep debugging, usually not many times, and you can basically feel it out after 3-5 tests. If the powder is thick, the coffee liquid will spurt out quickly, and it may be like a fountain. If the powder is fine, you will hear the whine of water boiling. If the coffee liquid has not come up, it means it is fine. It is recommended that you turn off the heat as soon as possible. Remember to take safety measures when doing such debugging.
Does Moka Pot need pressed powder?
After many experiments, Front Street believes that this is not necessary, because if the strength of the pressed powder cannot be mastered, the coffee powder may be pressed too hard, causing water to be unable to penetrate the coffee powder cake, which is very dangerous. Of course, some friends worry that not pressing the powder may cause a "channel effect" and the coffee liquid will gush out.
The following introduction to this powder filling method can effectively avoid this phenomenon, and the extracted coffee oil is very rich.
Wrap the powder bowl with your right hand, and then fill the powder bowl with powder without squeezing. Let it be in a fluffy state and pile it up into a small hill with a convex middle. It does not need to be flattened because the filter cover of the upper pot is also raised upward. Then press the upper pot vertically and tighten it. Be sure to remove the residual coffee powder on the threads. (Note that the coffee powder must fill the surrounding gaps) In this way, the extracted coffee grounds will be strong and will not fall apart. And the extracted coffee oil is very thick.
After brewing for a long time, the coffee liquid has not come out.
There are two reasons for the lack of fluid discharge. One is that the coffee powder is packed too tightly, and the other is that the coffee powder is ground too finely and there is no space between the particles for water to pass through. Both of these situations will cause the internal pressure of the water-filled part to rise rapidly, thereby damaging the Moka pot. Therefore, if you have been boiling for a long time and the water has boiled but the coffee liquid has not overflowed, you need to turn off the heat immediately and remove the pot. You can only replace the powder and start again. (You can usually smell a burnt smell)
Coffee liquid spurts out
Coffee liquid splashing is the most common extraction problem that many people encounter when using a Moka pot, and it is also a situation with a high risk factor. If you have encountered such a splashing phenomenon, it means that a certain link in the pot is blocked, or the fire is too high, causing the liquid to be discharged too quickly. The amount of water added to the lower pot needs to be careful not to exceed the standard scale line and be controlled at 0.5cm below the pressure relief valve line. This valve is to prevent explosion accidents caused by excessive pressure caused by certain factors (such as too fine coffee powder). If water covers this valve, the pressure relief effect may be lost and there is a risk of explosion.
The grind size of a moka pot is generally a little coarser than that of espresso coffee, and much finer than that of hand brewing. If the ground is too coarse, the contact area between the water and the coffee powder will be small, which will not only lead to insufficient extraction and a dull taste, but also cause the liquid to spurt out due to too little resistance to the upward flow, posing the risk of splashing and scalding. The recommended thickness of Front Street isEK-43s#3-3.5The scale is more delicate to the touch than fine granulated sugar.
Coffee has no fat
The amount of oil produced by coffee is directly related to the degree of roasting and freshness of the coffee beans. The darker the roast, the fresher the date, and the richer the fat layer will be produced under high temperature and pressurized conditions.
Since the Moka pot is a pressurized extraction method, if light-roasted coffee is used, the texture of light-roasted beans is harder, and a finer grinding degree 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 difficult to present the aroma of oil. Therefore, Front Street recommends using coffee beans that are roasted medium or above to ensure the taste and make it easier to extract oil.
Why does coffee taste so burnt and bitter?
Unlike professional espresso machines, the Moka pot does not have a uniform water distribution network (powder bowl), it only has a small hollow column to discharge liquid. Whenever the powder is too fine or the amount of powder is too much, it will be difficult to pour out the liquid. The coffee can only find a loose position around the powder bowl to flow out. In this case, the center of the coffee grounds in the powder bowl is usually dry, while the surrounding circle continues to be "baptized" by high-temperature hot water and is constantly being extracted. When the coffee is over-extracted, it is also under-extracted, making it taste burnt and unpalatable.
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
