My perfect coffee:
- fill bottle of the same volume as my press with water.
- pour ~10% of it in the electric kettle, and start it.
- put two (or three) full teaspoons of light roasted fine ground coffee in the press
- the water boiled. pour it into the press.
- put remaining cold water in kettle, start it again.
- shake the press a bit so coffee hydrates and foams. Cover the press.
- grab a coffee paper filter (circle) fold it in “pizza-like” shape 4 times and cut the outer skirt, so the new radius is about 1cm larger than the press filter.
- rest of the water is boiling now, pre-water+coffee mix has no foam. Fill press with water.
- put the paper filter on top, and insert the plunger so that along all the inner circumference, the paper filter is between the press inner wall and the plunger.
- press the coffee very slowly, don’t rush it at all. It will take you a solid minute or a bit more.
Now you have crystal, non acidic, and flavorful golden coffee. I usually pour a cup immediately, and put the rest in an all-metal insulated little bottle.
I divide the water in two parts to quickly get rid of the foam under the paper filter. Foam makes the pressing way slower. If you have time, you can immediately boil the whole water volume, but leave the coffee mix covered for 5-10 mins and the foam will be gone by then.
You just need a decent ground coffee and this thing will make a perfect coffee. Of course, you’ll get an espresso size coffee, but I prefer it that way.
They have a super sized one too
Yeah. But you don’t want to drink a 500ml cup of the kind of coffee these make. At least if you want to survive the day.
Americanos are the answer.
Yeah, but an americano is just an espresso with an offensive amount of water. It’s not a 500ml espresso, so the big moka is still pointless.
Idk, I often use my moka pots (for several days in a row usually) with varying amounts of water & coffee, even adjust the grind depending on what I want at that moment.
Energized for the rest of your life!
Hey, just wanted to say after our conversation I ended up picking one up last night after finding the 3 cup size on sale as my local shop. I made some this morning and loved it! Definitely the best coffee I’ve made at home. I made some for my wife too and she also really enjoyed it. Clean up was also super easy. Thanks for the info, it was way better than I expected it to be.
Awesome! Glad you like it! What model did you get in the end? The traditional moka or a venus? Was it an original Bialetti or a different brand? What coffee did you get? And did you use preheated water? Was the stove top an issue?
I went for the 3 cup Bialetti Moka Express. The coffee was Three Sisters by Kicking Horse. I think they’re Canada exclusive but I could be wrong. They’re probably not enthusiast specialty beans or anything but they’re available everywhere here, they’re not crazy expensive, and I like the taste. The one I had was very chocolatey, which I like in a coffee. Which is funny because I hate it in a beer.
For the stovetop issue, I followed a guide. Preheat your stovetop on medium heat, and while it’s heating boil the kettle. Then use the freshly boiled water in the moka, screw it together, and put on the centre of the burner. When the coffee first starts coming out, move it to the edge of the burner, so half (or more than half) of the base of the pot is off the heat, and as soon as it starts to sputter remove from heat immediately. The guide also did mention to run cold water over the base of the pot once it starts to sputter if it doesn’t immediately stop after removing it from heat, but I didn’t have that issue so I didn’t bother with cold water. It sounds unnecessarily complicated but it really wasn’t a big deal at all. The whole process was only a couple minutes.
<3
What type of stove top do you have? I was curious and looked up that coffee maker and everything shows it with gas but I have ceramic. I looked it up and got very mixed results on how well it fares. Some people recommended the Venus instead if you aren’t running gas, but that’s double the price. Do you know anything about that?
Venus are made in steel instead of alluminium so they work in induction stove tops. But the working principle of them is the same as the moka so in a ceramic both of them would have the same issue.
I think the problem with the valve may be related to using a bigger stove top than the moka; normally, you put the moka in a fire that’s smaller than it’s base and just wait until water boils. Reading the instructions of the moka it says that when using something that’s not gas fire, you should use a medium intensity but they say specifically to use a source of heat that’s smaller than the heater part of the pot. However, if you are having issues with that because of the ceramic, I’d recommend to preheat the water near boiling point and use that water for the moka; that way you’ll have the coffee made sooner and your stove top won’t have the time to turn off and on before the coffee is made.
Also, since we are talking about them: always clean your moka with water and nothing else. Do not use soaps or anything for the inner parts of it, just clean water!
Good point about preheating the water. I might try that if I pick one up.
How annoying are they to clean?
Annoyingly easy. As in you just rinse it in water and use your hand without any soap to clean the rests of the coffee. Just remember to change the rubber ring every year or so.
Those things were made to last a lifetime, if you take basic care of it , like, again, cleaning it with just water, and using low-calcium water to prevent deposits that might end blocking the moka (I use filtered water from a brita jar), it will probably outlast you.
Thanks for all the info, I appreciate it. I’ll probably pick one up soon then. Do you use espresso beans for it? Or regular coffee beans? And how finely do you ground your beans, or do you get pre-ground?
I buy pre-ground. Usually kimbo and lavazza have products for moka pots; espresso coffee is not suited for these. If you want to ground yourself, keep in mind the grain shouldn’t be as finely ground as for an espresso machine. Think a middle point between espresso and dripping machines.
I’ll look into those. Thanks again for the info.
They make Induction friendly pots; I have one.
My stove isn’t induction, it’s just a regular electric ceramic/glass stove top, but I’ve heard since it cuts in and out to regulate heat, it can cause issues with the pressure valve. Not sure if this is a case of trying to dial in flavours so finely it’s all likely bullshit or if it’s an actual noticeable difference. The problem for me with coffee (and same goes for audio equipment in my experience) is all the snobs swearing up and down they can tell the difference between the most minute things and claiming one completely ruins the experience where an average person likely couldn’t tell the difference if they tried both back to back and new which was which.
Sorry, mini rant aside. Which model do you have? Do you remember? Or do you have a picture of it?
Maybe you could just get a small portable gas stove. You’d look cool making your morning coffee.
I might actually consider this. I could do it on the balcony on my days off, might be fun.
It’s Bialetti. It shouldn’t matter that you don’t have induction; it’s made to be cross compatible. I use it on a gas stove.
Yes and no. Alluminium mokas are not induction compatible, but they do make some mokas whith the heater made of steel so they can be used in an induction kitchen. Venus are full steel so they are compatible. But it’s important to keep this in mind so you don’t buy an incompatible moka!
That’s what I mean, the moka pot I got is an induction version, so it is made to be cross compatible.