Is Your Moka Pot Coffee Bitter and Astringent? The Correct Way to Use a Moka Pot

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The moka pot is a device that extracts rich coffee through heating and pressurization. It was invented in 1933 by Italian Alfonso Bialetti and is mainly popular in European countries, especially its country of origin, Italy, where the vast majority of households have a moka pot at home.

Traditional moka pots are made of aluminum alloy and can only be heated by open flame when making coffee. Nowadays, most on the market are made of stainless steel and can be placed directly on induction stoves to heat and extract coffee. When purchasing, we can also choose different sizes of moka pots according to our needs, with the most common being small 2-3 serving sizes.

Structure and Working Principle

From the diagram, we can see that the moka pot is divided into upper and lower structures, mainly composed of three parts: the upper chamber that holds coffee liquid, the filter basket that holds coffee grounds, and the lower chamber that holds water. When using a moka pot to extract coffee, heat is used to heat the water in the lower chamber to generate steam pressure. When the pressure is sufficient, it pushes the hot water upward, penetrating the coffee grounds to extract soluble aromatic substances, and continues to break through upward, resulting in a rich, full-bodied coffee liquid.

Preparation and Equipment

Before extracting coffee, you need to prepare a package of coffee beans within their optimal tasting period, a gas stove or induction stove for heating, a grinder for grinding coffee beans, and water. FrontStreet Coffee uses FrontStreet Coffee's Sunflower Warm Blend (Honduras Sherry Coffee blended with Ethiopia Natural Red Cherry Coffee), an electric ceramic stove for heating, and an EK43s grinder used in their store.

Brewing Steps

1. Add hot water to the lower chamber, keeping the water level controlled to about 0.5cm below the pressure relief valve (safety valve). Using cold water will increase the soaking time of the coffee grounds, causing over-extraction and bitterness. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests using hot water, which also shortens the extraction time.

2. The coffee grind size needs to be finer than pour-over coffee but coarser than espresso. You can refer to the filter screen gap size of the filter basket to ensure coffee particles are filtered out properly. Pour the coffee grounds gently into the filter basket and use your fingers to tap and level them evenly.

3. Place the filter basket back into the lower chamber and tighten the upper chamber. Place it on the electric ceramic stove to start heating and wait for the moka pot to heat up.

4. When you hear a hissing sound from inside the moka pot, turn the stove to low heat and open the lid of the upper chamber. At this time, you can see coffee liquid and crema slowly flowing out.

5. When the upper chamber is half full of coffee liquid, you can turn off the heat source and move the pot to the table, using the residual heat and pressure inside to continue extracting the remaining coffee liquid. It should be noted that the moka pot uses metal components, so when heating at high temperatures, try not to touch the pot body to avoid burns.

6. The extracted coffee liquid can be tasted directly and will be very rich with strong flavors. You can mix it with milk or other ingredients according to your taste preferences. The moka pot coffee extracted by FrontStreet Coffee has rich whiskey aroma, vanilla cookie fragrance, and sweet and sour tropical fruits. When mixed with heated milk to make milk coffee, it presents a dense and sweet chocolate cream texture.

Tips and Troubleshooting

Although the moka pot has a simple structure and is easy to operate, there are still some issues to pay attention to when using it. The water base of the moka pot comes with a marked pressure relief valve. When adding water, the water level must not exceed the pressure relief valve, otherwise it will easily lose the pressure relief effect and increase the risk of explosion. The flow rate of the coffee liquid also provides us with feedback information. If the liquid sprays out directly, it means the water temperature is too high, while if the coffee liquid flows very slowly, it means the water temperature is too low, and you need to increase the heat while always paying attention to heat control.

If the coffee from the moka pot tastes bitter and astringent, it may indicate that the coffee grind is too fine, causing over-extraction. You need to adjust it coarser in time to allow flavor substances to contact more water, which can reduce the coffee's bitterness and weaken the astringency.

Bean Selection and Freshness

If you want the concentrated espresso from your moka pot to have a rich crema layer, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted medium-dark roast coffee beans. As the roast level deepens, coffee beans undergo caramelization reactions and produce large amounts of gas, which is released under pressure during the extraction process. As storage time extends, the gas in the beans largely dissipates, making it difficult to extract rich crema. The coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all freshly roasted within 5 days, so everyone can enjoy them during their optimal tasting period.

Important Notice :

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