"It can be used as an alternative to an espresso machine", this is a reason that makes many friends decide to buy a Moka pot. Because the Moka pot, like an espresso machine, uses pressurized extraction, it can produce coffee with a higher concentration than normal pressure extraction. The reason why many friends need this high-concentration coffee is to add milk to make a cup of fragrant and rich latte.
but! yes! Here’s the problem: Many friends found that the “latte” they made by mixing moka pot coffee with milk was very different from what they expected. Not only is it not as fragrant as the latte you drink in a coffee shop, but it also tastes very watery. It tastes like coffee-flavored milk mixed with a lot of water. Front Street has certainly envisioned this outcome, for two reasons.
First of all, we need to know that although it is a pressurized extraction method, the pressure used by the Moka pot during extraction is far less than that of an espresso machine, so it cannot produce the same high-concentration coffee as espresso. It is just that it will be closer than other coffees;
Secondly, the parameters are not used correctly! Many friends use the parameters recommended by the official or other bloggers when making Moka pot coffee. These parameters are correct, but they are only suitable for making a cup of black coffee because the concentration is not high enough. If we want to use moka pot coffee as the base and add milk to make milk coffee, then as Front Street has always mentioned, we need to modify the parameters and increase the concentration of the coffee, so that the taste of the coffee will not be overshadowed by the milk, and the taste will not become thin due to the presence of a large amount of water.
The specific method is very simple! So next, Front Street will share how to use a Moka pot to make a cup of fragrant and rich latte coffee.
Super simple! Use a moka pot to make rich, rich milky coffee! Coffee beans determine the taste and tonality of the coffee itself, so in the first step, we need to select a coffee bean according to our preference to make Moka pot coffee. It's very simple. If you like mellow, fragrant, and acid-free milk coffee, then the choice of coffee beans can be the more traditional medium-dark or dark roasted Italian coffee beans/blended beans. For example, the Front Street classic blend in the Front Street bean menu will make espresso coffee with rich fat, mellow taste, and acid-free flavors such as chocolate, nuts, cream, and cookies;
And if you like milk coffee with a more prominent flavor, less heavy texture, and a relatively refreshing taste, you can choose medium roasted coffee beans that are slightly lighter in roasting degree. For example, the Front Street Italian blend Strawberry Espresso in the Front Street bean menu will have the aroma of strawberry, white flowers, and berries, with a balanced taste and a smooth and round taste.
After we select the coffee beans, we can start our extraction. Since what we need to make is a highly concentrated coffee that can make a delicious milk coffee, we need to increase the concentration as much as possible. The best way to increase concentration is to control the amount of water used during extraction. As long as the extraction rate remains unchanged, the less water we use when extracting, the higher the concentration of the extracted coffee will be. But reducing the amount of water used during extraction will reduce the extraction efficiency of the coffee, which will reduce the extraction rate. And if we want to maintain the extraction rate while reducing the amount of water to make high-concentration coffee, then "fine grinding" will be a very good choice.
By finer grinding, we can increase the resistance of the powder cake to extend the extraction time, and at the same time increase the water contact surface area of the coffee powder, so that the hot water can more easily dissolve the flavor substances in the coffee, so that the water volume is reduced while the extraction rate will not drop too much, and the concentration of the coffee will be greatly improved. To put it simply, reduce the amount of water, finer the grinding, and extend the extraction time, so that you can get a high-concentration moka pot coffee that can make fragrant milk coffee! Okay, without further ado, let Front Street give a practical demonstration of the specific parameters and production steps!
The coffee beans selected by Front Street this time are the classic Front Street blend mentioned before. The parameters are as follows: grinding degree: flour-like grinding for Italian style. If you ask a merchant to grind the coffee for you, you should receive such a grinding degree (at least Front Street uses this grinding, as shown in the picture above). Amount of powder used: 20g. If your friend’s Moka pot is smaller, you can adjust the amount appropriately. Powder to water ratio: 1:4, the amount of water used for 20g of powder is 80ml. Initial water temperature: 100°C. The initial water temperature refers to the temperature of the water poured into the lower pot of the Moka pot. It does not need to be 100°C. It is best to use hot water as much as possible~
When everything is ready, we can make Moka pot coffee in sequence: ①. Pour hot water into the lower pot; ②. Fill the coffee powder bowl into the powder bowl, simply press it and then put the powder bowl into the lower pot; ③. Assemble the Moka pot and place it on the heating source; ④. Turn on high heat until the liquid comes out; after the liquid comes out, turn down or turn off the heat and use the remaining heat to complete the extraction.
At this point, we have produced a high-concentration Moka pot coffee, totaling 45ml. Then the last thing you need to do is to mix it with an appropriate amount of milk to make milk coffee.
Since the concentration of moka pot coffee is not as high as espresso, we cannot copy the ratio of espresso and need to reduce the milk appropriately to avoid the taste of coffee being masked by milk. Take Front Street as an example. The classic blend used here in Front Street is because it is a medium-dark roasted coffee bean. The coffee produced has enough burnt aroma to compete with the taste of milk, so it can be made with a ratio of 1:4, that is, 180ml of milk can be added to 45ml of Moka pot coffee. .
If you are making a "hot latte" with moka pot coffee, you can first whip the milk to 65°C to activate the sweetness of lactose and then fuse it with the coffee. The milk coffee made in this way will be sweeter; if you are making an "iced latte" and want to add ice cubes, you can reduce a certain amount of milk and replace it with ice cubes, so that the coffee will not become watery due to the melting of the ice cubes. If you are using a type like Front Street Italian Blend·Strawberry Candy Espresso, which has a relatively light and refreshing taste, then the ratio can be enlarged a bit and made using a ratio of 1:3.5, so that the flavor of milk can be put in to cover up the flavor of coffee.
That's roughly how it works, it's that simple. The same idea can actually be used in other extraction methods, such as hanging ears, French press, etc. They can also use the same routine to extract a high-concentration coffee, and then add milk to make a fragrant and rich milk coffee~ Try it yourself~
For more knowledge about specialty coffee, please pay attention to: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee）
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
