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How to Make Rich and Long-lasting Crema Like Espresso with a Moka Pot?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, FrontStreet Coffee has many friends who are loyal enthusiasts of espresso. Compared to the light and fresh taste of pour-over single-origin coffee, they prefer coffee that is deep and rich, so they have long included coffee machines on their shopping lists! However, semi-automatic coffee machines are too expensive. After some research, they chose cost-effective alternatives.

Most of FrontStreet Coffee's friends are loyal enthusiasts of espresso coffee. Compared to the light and refreshing flavors of pour-over single-origin coffee, they prefer coffee that is deep and rich, so they had long included coffee machines on their shopping lists! However, semi-automatic coffee machines are prohibitively expensive. After some research, they chose the more cost-effective "alternative coffee machine" - the moka pot!

The moka pot is excellent in every way - whether it's the affordable price or the delicious coffee it produces, it makes you feel you're getting great value! However, early moka pots were single-valve, which has a significant disadvantage: the crema they produce tends to be thin and dissipates quickly. Crema is quite important for friends who value texture and make milk-based coffee! Coffee with crema will be much richer than coffee without it; moreover, crema allows for more beautiful latte art production and better texture in milk-based coffee! So, without changing the pot, is there any way to make it produce rich crema?

Why Moka Pot Crema is Thin

Espresso machines extract coffee using pressure of 9 bars or more to force coffee out, which includes carbon dioxide released by hot water. This carbon dioxide mixes with insoluble substances that are also forced out, forming the rich crema of espresso! However, even if you squeeze a single-valve moka pot to its limit, it cannot reach 9 bar pressure, let alone more than 9 bars! Therefore, under low pressure conditions, the crema produced by single-valve moka pots is relatively thin and dissipates quickly! But actually, we just need to pay attention to some details to extract rich crema!

(Image shows a coffee machine's pressure gauge)

How to Extract Rich Crema with a Single-Valve Moka Pot

1. Bean Selection

Fresh dark-roasted beans are naturally the best choice. Dark roasting makes the beans' texture more porous, allowing hot water to penetrate more easily and release the carbon dioxide trapped inside the beans along with the hot water!

However, note that "fresh" here doesn't mean beans that have just been roasted and come straight out of the oven, because at this time, the carbon dioxide content is too high, which will hinder the extraction of aromatic substances, and the resulting coffee won't taste as good! Therefore, "fresh beans" here refers to beans that have been properly degassed and are still within their optimal flavor period! Fresh beans contain the most carbon dioxide, and combined with the porous texture of dark roasts, we can more easily obtain abundant crema.

2. Grind Size

In addition to using relatively fresh beans, we also need to control the extraction pressure of the moka pot. Although it doesn't have the high pressure of 9 bars like an espresso machine, it doesn't mean it has no pressure - it's just lower. There are two methods for pressure control that need to be used together: one is the grind size! The moka pot's grind size is finer than pour-over coffee but slightly coarser than espresso grind!

(Image left: pour-over grind, middle: moka pot grind, right: espresso grind)

When you use the coarse grind of pour-over coffee, hot water will gush out directly because there's no resistance! If you use espresso grind, it will be too fine, causing the coffee liquid to not rise (because the moka pot doesn't have enough pressure to break through the resistance of the coffee puck), easily leading to explosion risks due to poor pressure release! When you see that the coffee liquid isn't rising for a long time, be sure to turn off the heat source immediately to ensure your safety! Therefore, whether using a manual or electric grinder, it's better to set the grind slightly coarser than espresso grind when using a moka pot!

(Moka pot coffee made using pour-over grind size)

Once you've selected your beans and ground them, the next step is filling the coffee! This is also another step in pressure control!

3. Coffee Filling

Generally, we choose the amount of coffee based on the size specification of the moka pot we're using. FrontStreet Coffee is using a three-cup moka pot here, which requires filling with about 19g of coffee grounds!

As you can see, the height of the coffee bed is higher than the groove. At this point, many friends might choose to press it down with their hands, but wait! First, level it out, then tap gently on the sides, and shake left and right to distribute the coffee grounds in the lower layer evenly! This reduces gaps and effectively prevents channeling!

Then, depending on your grind size, you can choose whether to press down. If the grind is slightly coarser, you can press down lightly with your fingers while leveling to increase resistance and help the crema form better! If the grind is slightly finer, you don't need to press down because the resistance is already sufficient. Simply prepare the upper pot and start brewing! After pressing (if needed), pour 110ml of hot water into the lower pot, then assemble the filter basket and upper pot in order to start brewing coffee!

Once the crema covers the silver surface at the bottom of the moka pot, you can remove it from the heat source.

The residual heat is enough to extract all the remaining liquid.

And there you have it - a cup of moka pot coffee with rich crema! If your moka pot is double-valve, the crema will be even more abundant. Don't wait - make any coffee you like and start enjoying it!