The Moka Pot is a stove-top espresso maker that was invented by Luigi di Ponti in 1933. It works by using steam power and pressure to produce a dark strong coffee, similar in style to an espresso. If you want to make an espresso style drink at home but don’t fancy spending a lot of money on a traditional espresso machine, then this style is for you. The one main difference from espresso is that due to the higher temperature used to brew the coffee; it can often produce a rather bitter cup. Some people love this taste and others are not so keen on it, but I will let you decide for yourself.
You will need
- Good quality coffee beans
- Grinder
- Kettle
- Scales
- Moka pot
- Stove
- Stopwatch/ timer
Brew Ratio
It is hard to control the brew ratio for this method as normally you just have to fill the basket provided with coffee. However, if you do have control I would recommend a ratio of 200g coffee to 1 Liter of water. That’s 1g coffee to every 5g’s of water.
Brewing Stages
- Make sure all equipment is clean. Decide what size pot you are going to use and measure out the correct amount of coffee.
- Start heating your water. You want to use water just off the boil when brewing.
- While the water is heating grind your coffee. You want to grind almost as fine as you would for espresso. The grind should resemble ground salt.
- Remove the coffee basket and fill the bottom section with water just off the boil.
- Place the coffee basket back into the pot and fill it with the ground coffee until full.
- Use your finger or a tool to level the coffee grounds in the basket to ensure a more even extraction.
- Carefully assemble the Moka pot by screwing the spouted top onto the bottom chamber.
- Place the pot onto the stove at a medium heat/flame
- When you hear a gurgling sound you should turn off the heat source and finish brewing.
- Remove the pot from the stove and run the base under a cold tap. This will remove any pressure or steam that is left in the pot.
- Serve and Enjoy