Why Does My Moka Pot Produce Less Coffee and No Crema? Techniques for Brewing Rich Crema with a Moka Pot! How to Avoid the "Double Tail"?

Because the moka pot uses the same extraction method as an espresso machine, which is pressurized extraction, it can produce rich coffee that is quite close to espresso. For this reason, with the spread of coffee culture, more and more people are getting moka pots. Not only because the coffee it makes is strong enough, but also because it's compact, convenient, and affordable.

Although operating it is not difficult, if you're a novice with no extraction experience, you might inevitably encounter some difficulties. So today, FrontStreet Coffee will break down the three most common problems encountered when using a moka pot, along with their solutions!

1. Coffee spraying out directly

Under normal operation, the coffee liquid from a moka pot seeps out gently and evenly, without any impact force. However, if you see the coffee liquid gushing out with strong force, forming a water column, then there must be some mistake in your operation or parameters.

This situation can be divided into two types: one where the coffee liquid sprays out directly from the beginning, and another where the coffee liquid suddenly speeds up halfway through extraction, with the water column even forming a "double ponytail" shape!

The first situation occurs because the resistance of the coffee puck is insufficient from the beginning! This causes the coffee liquid to spray out directly under the propulsion of strong steam. In this case, we need to increase the puck resistance by adding more coffee, grinding finer, or tamping the coffee grounds;

The other situation is because the heat remains abundant throughout the extraction process! When the coffee liquid breaks through the coffee puck, the puck's resistance to hot water gradually decreases. As extraction progresses, we need to remove the moka pot from the heat source, otherwise the puck will no longer be able to hinder the hot water's penetration speed due to insufficient resistance, and the coffee liquid will suddenly rush out, forming a water column. When it's too turbulent, it can easily scald people, so be careful.

2. Coffee liquid won't come out

Completely opposite to the previous situation, this is when the moka pot has been brewing for a long time but no liquid comes out. One thing to note here: if the moka pot hasn't produced any liquid for a long time, and when you added water, the water level exceeded the pressure relief valve, then we should stop extraction. This can easily cause the moka pot to risk exploding.

There are many reasons why a moka pot won't produce liquid: grinding too fine, using too much coffee, tamping too firmly, etc. These operations will significantly increase the resistance of the coffee puck, leaving very few and very small gaps for water to flow through, which is why the coffee liquid doesn't emerge even after brewing for a long time.

Even if it does come out, the coffee liquid is likely to be in a bitter, over-extracted state, because the extraction time is simply too long, so we should make timely adjustments after this happens.

3. No crema in the extracted coffee liquid

Because the moka pot also uses pressurized extraction, it can produce crema that is quite similar to that from an espresso machine. Rather than actual crema, it's actually bubbles filled with carbon dioxide. Since the pressure of a moka pot is not as high as that of an espresso machine, the crema it produces won't be as dense and long-lasting as from an espresso machine, and will dissipate quickly. But it shouldn't be completely absent!

If you extract from a moka pot and see almost no bubbles, the "culprit" is most likely one of these three: the grind is too coarse, the coffee beans are roasted too long ago, or you're using pre-ground coffee for extraction (the latter two are due to insufficient carbon dioxide, which can't create bubbles)! Of course, the core issue must be insufficient pressure. So when we see a situation where the coffee liquid extracted from the moka pot has no bubbles, it's best to first adjust the grind or increase the amount of coffee, and then determine if it's a freshness issue with the beans/coffee grounds by observing the seepage speed of the coffee liquid.

Important Notice :

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