"Extremely high concentration, with a thick, golden-brown layer of crema on the surface" — this is the main characteristic that distinguishes espresso from other coffees.Because its concentration is so high, espresso is often used as a base, with various ingredients added to create all kinds of specialty coffee drinks. Lattes, cappuccinos, flat whites, and other coffees are classic delicious drinks made with espresso as the base. But the only drawback is that the espresso machines used to make espresso are expensive, and for many people, this is not a necessary investment. So usually, those who want to get strong coffee turn their attention to the moka pot!Like espresso machines, the moka pot uses pressurized extraction, so it can also extract similar coffee with high concentration and a golden crema on the surface. And its price is only around a few hundred yuan. Compared with espresso machines that cost thousands or tens of thousands, the moka pot's price is obviously much more affordable. Because of this, the moka pot is often hailed as the "affordable alternative to the espresso machine."But then the question arises: with such a huge price difference, can coffee brewed with a moka pot really replace the espresso extracted by an espresso machine? This is a question Front Street has been receiving frequently lately.Let's start with the conclusion! If you just want the coffee brewed by the moka pot to serve as a base like espresso to make various specialty coffee drinks, then of course it can.But if what you want is to use moka pot coffee to completely replicate the performance of espresso, such as mouthfeel and taste, then it's not that it's impossible — at the very least, it would be very difficult. Why? Because the extraction pressure of the moka pot is not as high as that of an espresso machine!Although both the moka pot and the espresso machine use pressurized extraction, the pressure used by the moka pot during extraction is much lower than that of an espresso machine! Generally, the extraction pressure of an espresso machine is around 9 bar, while that of a double-valve moka pot is 3~4 bar. That's a difference of 2~3 times. The main reason for this difference is the different design principles behind them.The pressure of an espresso machine is provided by an independent pressure pump inside the machine. Once extraction begins, the pressure pump starts operating, applying high pressure to the water flow to extract coffee quickly and efficiently. The moka pot, on the other hand, relies on the steam pressure generated by heating water to push the water flow for extraction. But because the pressure is limited by the heat source and the structure of the pot, the extraction pressure of the moka pot is not that high.Since the pressure is not as high as that of an espresso machine, the moka pot cannot extract a cup of high-concentration coffee as quickly in a short time as an espresso machine can. Front Street often shares an example: using the same dose of grounds and the same grind, then separately using a moka pot and an espresso machine to extract the same liquid weight. When extracting with the moka pot, Front Street deliberately lowers the heat during output to extend the extraction time. But even so, the final coffee concentration is still much lower than that of espresso.The coffee beans used by Front Street are the Front Street Classic Blend from the bean list, with a dose of 20g, a grind setting of 1.0 on the Galileo Q18, and an output of 40ml. Through measurement, the concentration of moka pot coffee is much lower than that of espresso.In terms of taste, the two are largely similar. After all, they use the same Classic Blend — full-bodied with no acidity, featuring flavors of chocolate, caramel, nuts, cream, and cookies. But the difference in concentration still makes them very different when making specialty coffee drinks and in the specialty coffee drinks they produce.(Left is moka pot coffee, right is espresso)In"How to Make a Delicious 'Latte' with Moka Pot Coffee"this article, Front Street shared that when using espresso to make a latte, the ratio of coffee to milk goes to 1:5. Because the concentration of espresso is high enough, even if more milk is added, the coffee flavor will not be easily masked, and the mouthfeel will not be thin;whereas when Front Street uses coffee brewed from a moka pot to make a "latte," the ratio is adjusted to 1:4, because moka pot coffee is not as concentrated, so the amount of milk needs to be appropriately reduced, so that the coffee flavor will not be masked by the milk. But even so, the "latte" made with moka pot coffee is still somewhat inferior to the one made with espresso, whether in mouthfeel or taste.Not only that, when we make some coffees that require high concentration, like a Dirty, moka pot coffee simply cannot replace espresso. Because the concentration is not that high, when we use moka pot coffee to make a Dirty, the layering effect will quickly disappear.And it's not just concentration — from the comparison image above, we can also see that the "crema" of moka pot coffee is thinner than that of espresso. Similarly, this is also caused by insufficient pressure.Although we can see that the coffee has a very rich "crema" when the moka pot coffee is being output, in reality, most of that is foam produced by the valve squeezing. Their stability compared to the bubbles of espresso(crema)is much lower, so not long after the coffee is made, they will quickly dissipate.So we can know that moka pot coffee can serve as a base like espresso to make most specialty coffee drinks, but it cannot completely replace it — it cannot replace it.After all, the birth of the moka pot/moka pot coffee was never meant to replace the espresso machine/espresso(nor can it replace it), but rather to give everyone a more convenient coffee-making tool. With just simple steps — adding water, filling grounds, and heating — we can easily get a cup of high-concentration coffee.In addition, the extremely affordable price also lowers the barrier to entry for everyone. Without having to "break the bank," you can buy a quite convenient strong coffee-making tool. So if you just want a device to make coffee and satisfy your daily coffee cravings, as long as the amount is not too large, then a moka pot is completely enough to meet your needs~ The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
