Moka Pot Usage Guide: Six Steps, History, and Coffee Brewing Methods

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As the audience for moka pots continues to grow, FrontStreet Coffee has been receiving more and more questions about moka pots. Among these numerous questions, FrontStreet Coffee found that most people are still troubled by the issue of crema. To this day, the question "Why can't I extract crema with my moka pot?" remains the most frequently received moka pot-related question.

Similar to espresso, many friends find that when using a moka pot to make coffee, they get a coffee without crema or with very thin crema, which is quite different from the results advertised by online merchants. Don't worry! Today, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to extract rich moka pot coffee crema. First, we need to understand what the golden-colored crema actually is!

What is Crema?

The reason many friends cannot extract rich coffee crema is largely because they haven't correctly understood the essence of crema. What we call "coffee crema" in most cases refers to the cream-like, viscous liquid floating on the surface of espresso. Although it's called crema, it's actually a group of bubbles filled with carbon dioxide. It's just that each bubble is so tiny that people can hardly notice that this golden layer is composed of countless bubbles.

Similarly, the "crema" extracted from moka pot coffee follows the same principle, except that its "crema" is not as dense (relatively coarse) or as rich (relatively thin) as that of espresso. The reason for this is that the pressure provided by the moka pot during extraction is not as high as that of an espresso machine. Coffee crema (Crema) is a special product that can only be generated under high-temperature and high-pressure extraction conditions, because the pressure will force the carbon dioxide trying to escape from the coffee into the emulsified coffee lipids, and then the lipids will quickly wrap around the carbon dioxide, forming bubbles.

Espresso machines can provide very high pressure, generally averaging around 9 bar, so the crema extracted with them can be so dense and rich. In contrast, moka pots only provide about 3 bar of pressure, which is three times or more less than espresso machines, so the crema extracted with them is relatively coarser and thinner. Because of this, many people will directly call it foam to distinguish it from the rich crema of espresso.

However, whether it's crema extracted from an espresso machine or from a moka pot, they are essentially foam groups filled with carbon dioxide. Their presence or absence won't have too much impact on the taste of the coffee (there will be some impact, but more on the texture), which is something everyone needs to understand.

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to extract rich moka pot coffee crema.

1. Choose the Right Coffee Beans

Since crema is filled with carbon dioxide, the amount of carbon dioxide in coffee beans naturally affects the richness of the crema. The main factors that determine the carbon dioxide content in coffee beans are the roast level and freshness of the beans! When coffee beans are roasted darker and are fresher, the carbon dioxide content is higher, and the coffee crema extracted from them will therefore be richer.

So if we want the extracted moka pot coffee to have rich crema, we first need to choose darker roasted, relatively fresh coffee beans for preparation. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate, or coffee beans from FrontStreet Coffee's Classic Italian Blend series are all excellent choices.

Because not only can they extract very rich crema, but the coffee made with them will have relatively strong chocolate, caramel, and other flavors that are not easily masked by milk due to dark roasting, making it easy to create a rich milk coffee.

But for friends who don't particularly like bitterness, FrontStreet Coffee recommends choosing coffee beans with a slightly lighter roast, that is, medium-dark roast level for preparation.

2. Increase Extraction Pressure

After we have chosen suitable coffee beans, the next step is to enter the preparation stage. As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned earlier, the amount of coffee crema is also affected by pressure. Only when there is sufficient pressure assistance during extraction can coffee obtain rich crema. There are several ways to increase extraction pressure, which everyone can refer to.

① Use Finer Grind

Similar to espresso machines, the amount of pressure depends on the resistance of the coffee puck. When the resistance of the coffee puck is higher, hot water needs higher pressure to break through the puck to complete extraction. The resistance of the coffee puck comes from the coarseness of the coffee grounds. When the coffee grind is finer, the gaps between coffee particles are smaller, thus increasing the puck resistance.

So if we want to increase the pressure during moka pot extraction, adjusting to a finer grind would be a very good choice! FrontStreet Coffee typically directly uses espresso-equivalent grind size to grind coffee beans, that is, flour-like grinding. This allows the puck to gain considerable resistance, and with proper extraction, moka pot coffee will achieve very rich crema! Additionally, increasing the amount of coffee used can also increase the puck resistance, because hot water needs to pass through a thicker coffee layer, naturally requiring more pressure.

② Reduce Heating Time

When making moka pot coffee, we try to use hot water for preparation. This is because moka pot coffee extraction requires heating the water in the lower chamber to continuously generate steam, which then accumulates in the pot to form steam pressure that pushes hot water upward, ultimately contacting the coffee to achieve extraction.

But steam is not only produced when water is boiling; during our heating process, steam has already formed and is pushing hot water into contact with the coffee grounds, it's just that the steam at that time hasn't accumulated enough to push hot water to the point of extraction. The initial water temperature determines the extraction time. If the contact time between water and coffee grounds is too long, this will change the state of the puck and reduce its resistance. Moreover, the coffee will also develop bitterness due to some grounds being in contact with water for too long.

Therefore, when making moka pot coffee, the higher the temperature of the water we pour into the lower chamber, the better. This can effectively shorten heating time, allowing the puck to maintain higher resistance, thereby extracting richer crema. Of course, most importantly, it can reduce variables during extraction.

And when the moka pot starts to extract, we should reduce the heat or directly move the moka pot away from the heat source after the coffee liquid submerges the bottom. Doing so can extend the extraction time, allowing the coffee liquid to be extracted more stably, and the crema will be relatively richer and finer.

③ Use a Moka Pot with Pressure Valve

In addition to parameter adjustments, we can also use moka pots equipped with pressure valves for preparation. For example, dual-valve moka pots add an additional pressure valve that requires more pressure for coffee to be extracted, so they can extract more crema than single-valve moka pots.

It's worth mentioning that if the moka pot you're using is a single-valve model, you don't necessarily need to purchase a new dual-valve moka pot. Because currently many merchants have launched special pressure-increasing valves for single-valve models. As long as the model matches, you only need to purchase a pressure valve to upgrade a single-valve moka pot to a dual-valve one. However, this has certain requirements for the moka pot model and the user's DIY ability, so everyone should weigh this themselves.

The above are small tips for extracting rich crema when using a moka pot. Everyone can refer to them to make their desired moka pot coffee. FrontStreet Coffee has previously shared related articles about other moka pot issues, and you can find corresponding articles through search to learn more.

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