Recently, many people have taken a liking to brewing coffee with a moka pot, which has also attracted many friends who are thinking about buying one. But with so many moka pot brands and styles out there, how do you choose the right one? Front Street Coffee will tell you in this article!
Among moka pots, there is a brand that exists like a legend: Bialetti. Why call it legendary? Because the moka pot was invented by this brand's founder, Alfonso Bialetti himself.
Let's go back to a certain day in 1933. While Bialetti was watching his wife use the washing machine, he noticed something interesting: there was a metal tube in the middle of the machine that drew up the heated soapy water and sprayed it onto the clothes. He thought, if heated water can create pressure, then when the pressure is great enough, it can be drawn up through a small tube. So if he made coffee brewed by water pressure, wouldn't it be richer? And thus the world's first moka pot was born.
As the world's first household moka pot to extract coffee using steam pressure, this invention completely revolutionized Italians' original way of making coffee, making coffee preparation simpler and quicker. The cute cartoon character on Bialetti's classic moka pot—the little mustachioed man "Omino"—is the brand's founder, Alfonso Bialetti. From this small, adorable figure, we can feel how Italians have turned coffee culture into a culture of joy and enjoyment.
As a result, Bialetti moka pots are the most widely recognized. Its market share once reached 90%, and even now it still holds more than half the market. Besides Bialetti, there are also some rising stars, such as Bincoo, which is known for its exterior design and is also loved by many.
Besides releasing moka pots in different capacities and designs, what draws the most attention is the difference between the single-valve and dual-valve versions. Front Street Coffee will briefly explain here: the single-valve is the most traditional moka pot, with pressure generally around 2-3 bar, while the dual-valve is a new technology that provides higher pressure, extracting richer and finer crema. So when choosing, you can decide based on your needs. Those who like the classic design can choose the single-valve version, while those who want to experience performance can choose the dual-valve version.
So how do you use a moka pot? Front Street Coffee recommends a simple method here.
First, let's understand the structure of a moka pot, using the single-valve moka pot as the blueprint. A moka pot is divided into three parts: top, middle, and bottom. The bottom chamber is the water reservoir, the middle funnel basket holds the coffee grounds, and the top chamber holds the extracted coffee. Through steam pressure extraction, the water in the bottom chamber is heated on a stove, generating steam pressure that pushes it toward the outlet; the pressure generated by the steam pushes the water up through the tube into the funnel basket, allowing the coffee grounds to be fully heated and extracted; the extracted espresso is then pushed up through the tube into the top chamber and collects and flows out.
For the coffee beans, Front Street Coffee recommends using medium-dark roasted beans. If you're not sure how to choose, you can buy espresso beans, which are specifically intended for espresso machines and moka pots. For example, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Classic Espresso Blend, Front Street Coffee Specialty Blend, Front Street Coffee Commercial Blend, and Front Street Coffee Dark Cocoa Blend.
The practical steps
1. Pour hot water into the bottom chamber up to 0.5 cm below the pressure relief valve. Choosing hot water helps shorten the coffee brewing time.
2. Pour the ground coffee into the funnel basket and tap it left and right, letting the coffee grounds settle naturally downward; about 20 g of coffee beans is used. Then level the surface of the grounds. The purpose of this is to make the space distribution between the coffee particles even. Not tamping is to prevent the resistance of the coffee bed from becoming too great.
3. Place the funnel basket into the bottom chamber, and tighten the top chamber and bottom chamber together.
4. Place it on an electric ceramic stove, turn on the power, and begin heating.
5. When the moka pot rises to a certain temperature and makes a clear "whoosh whoosh" sound, set the electric ceramic stove to low heat and open the lid of the top chamber; the coffee and crema will begin to flow out.
6. When the coffee in the top chamber has come out about halfway, turn off the electric ceramic stove. And move the moka pot to the table. The residual heat and pressure of the moka pot will "push" the remaining coffee into the top chamber.
7. Finally, pour the coffee into a cup and it's done. The crema produced by a single-valve moka pot is relatively thin and rough, and it doesn't last long—it will dissipate completely after a while. This year, Bialetti also launched a new generation of pressurized moka pots, whose crema performance is a level stronger than that of the single-valve version.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
