Early Bird. Catch. Worm.
Moka pot (1 cup) - Total brew time 2-3 minutes
The Italian moka pot (aka. stovetop) was invented by Bialetti and packs a punch to create a pseudo-espresso experience at home. In reality, it’s more like a strong Americano so you won’t get the crema or raw strength of espresso, but following these instructions you will get awesome results, and most importantly — it won’t taste burnt. This recipe is using the common 4-cup device, but you can adjust coffee to a 5.25g per cup ratio. (Always use the correct ratio for the device size – they are designed to be brewed at capacity.)
Requirements:
Moka pot (4-cup)
Scale
Kettle
Grinder
1 cup (21g of beans)
Step 1
Boil water using a kettle. Doing this is vital since bringing cold water to the boil inside the device over the stove will cause the coffee to overheat.
Whilst waiting, weigh and grind your coffee to a consistency similar to fine salt – slightly coarser than a normal espresso grind.
Step 2
Remove filter basket.
Once boiled fill water to the line just beneath the valve in the bottom compartment.
Step 3
Add the ground coffee to the filter basket.
Level off using your finger and don’t press down on the coffee.
Step 4
Place the basket in the lower compartment and screw on the top compartment of the Moka pot.
CAREFUL: the bottom chamber will be hot so use a tea towel to hold.
Step 5
Place the Moka pot on a medium hot stove, keep the lid open for a moment and watch in amazement as it brews.
As soon as you see coffee appear through the pointy section of the top compartment, close the lid and get ready.
Step 6
Shortly after (~5-10 seconds) you will hear a bubbling noise – as soon as you hear this, IMMEDIATELY remove the device from the stove and hold the bottom compartment under a cold running tap to cool the device down.
The point above is super important to manage the brew and avoid overheating.
Ta-da! You have yourself some epic coffee with a fun, traditional device, that doesn’t taste burnt.