Stove Top & Moka Pot Brewing Guide

Stove-top coffee makers and moka pots push hot water through the coffee grounds under steam pressure - they have the ability to create a brew extremely similar to espresso.

About

The moka pot is a stove-top or electric coffee maker that brews coffee by passing boiling water pressurized by steam through ground coffee. Named after the Yemenite city of Mocha, it was invented by an Italian engineer named Alfonso Bialetti in 1933.

What You Need

a Stove Top/Moka Pot Coffee Maker, around 20-24g fine grind coffee, a gas or electric stove top.

Top Tip: Before using your stove top espresso maker or moka pot for the first time, fill the bottom with fresh water (up to the level of the pressure relief valve), put any unwanted coffee grounds in the filterbasket, attach the top, and allow it to brew. This will clean it through and make sure the pressure relief valve works fine.

Method

  1. Fill the bottom of the coffee maker with good fresh water up to the level of the valve or a little over it.
  2. Fill the filterbasket with around 20-24g of coffee in a fine grind. Do not pack the coffee or tamp it down. As the coffee becomes wet, it will expand so it effectively tamps itself.
  3. Drop the filterbasket into the bottom, assemble the top, put the coffee maker on a low to medium heat
  4. Brewing should take around 5 minutes. If it takes longer, try raising the heat a bit next time. Brewing has completed when all the water has been percolated into the top. You can tell because the sound of the brewer changes from a sort of bubbling/spraying sound to a drier sound.
Using a Moka pot or stove top coffee maker comes close to espresso type coffee without the need for expensive equipment!

 

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