Recently, a fan of Front Street Coffee has fallen in love with brewing coffee using a moka pot, especially enjoying a strong cup of moka pot coffee in the morning. However, this fan is unsure if their method of using the moka pot is correct, so they approached Front Street Coffee to discuss this issue.
Front Street Coffee believes that as a standard household coffee equipment, the moka pot should not be bound by too many rigid standards. As long as a few key operating methods are followed, the rest can be freely adjusted according to personal taste.
First point: What coffee beans to use
The flavor of the coffee you make has a lot to do with the coffee beans you use. Front Street Coffee generally recommends using coffee beans with a medium roast or darker, because beans that are too lightly roasted will produce coffee that is very sour and not comfortable to drink. Here, Front Street Coffee recommends a few coffee beans that we have tried and found to be quite delicious for your reference.
The first type,Front Street Coffee Classic Italian Blend Coffee Beans, this is an Italian blend launched by Front Street Coffee itself, mainly composed of three coffees from Brazil, Mandheling, and Vietnam. The resulting coffee has rich flavors of dark chocolate, baked toast, roasted nuts, and caramel, and because of the abundant coffee crema, it is even more conducive for us to make latte art.
The second type,Front Street Coffee Brazil Queen's Estate Yellow Bourbon, this coffee bean uses a medium roast, highlighting its very sweet sugarcane-like taste. It performs well whether drunk straight or made into a milk coffee.
The third type,Front Street Coffee Indonesia PWN Golden Mandheling, Pawani Company's Golden Mandheling coffee beans are one of the highest-quality coffee beans in Indonesia. They possess the rich, full-bodied, and aromatic characteristics of Mandheling coffee, and are also very good in terms of cleanliness. Suitable for people who are used to drinking bitter coffee.
Second point:Moka pot coffee grind size
One important thing in making moka pot coffee is the coarseness of the grind. If the grind is too coarse, the coffee liquid will easily spurt out, and the lid on the moka pot also serves to prevent the coffee from spraying out and scalding you. If the grind is too fine, the coffee liquid will not easily penetrate the coffee bed and rise up, and the resulting coffee liquid will be very burnt and bitter.
The particle size is about 0.3-0.55mm. To the naked eye, the coffee powder coarseness looks similar to that for an espresso machine, but in reality it is slightly coarser than for an espresso machine.
Third point: Coffee-to-water ratio
Many friends ask Front Street Coffee how much water to put in a moka pot and how much coffee powder to add. Actually, this shouldn't be asked to Front Street Coffee, but rather depends on how much water your pot can hold and how much powder it can hold. When foreigners make moka pot coffee, they rarely measure precisely with a scale. Because the lower chamber of the moka pot that holds the water has a pressure relief valve, as long as the water does not exceed that valve, it's fine. Generally, water is poured directly to just below the pressure relief valve. The amount of powder is also determined by the capacity of your filter basket. Be sure to fill the filter basket full, with no gaps appearing when not tamped.
When making moka pot coffee, there is no need to tamp the coffee powder, which is quite different from an espresso machine.
Fourth point: When to turn off the heat
When brewing with a moka pot, the heat should be even, with medium heat being best. When you hear a "whooshing" sound, you can open the lid to observe. When the first drop is about to spurt out, you can turn off the heat. If you continue using high heat or wait until the coffee boils before turning off the heat, then this cup of coffee will most likely have a burnt taste.
Fifth point: Do you need to open the lid when brewing with a moka pot?
Some friends see in videos that people like to open the lid when brewing with a moka pot. Actually, this is to show the audience the state of the coffee liquid spurting out. Under normal circumstances, you don't need to open it. If you don't know when to turn off the heat, then you need to open the lid to observe the spurting state of the coffee liquid. Of course, if you keep the lid open the whole time, the coffee liquid may splash out and scald your skin.
The brewed coffee liquid can be made into an Americano by adding hot water at 80 degrees Celsius in a 1:4 ratio, or you can pour hot milk in the same ratio, stir, and drink.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
