How to use the Italian Moka Pot.

For sure we all have one of these coffee makers at home. If you do not see one in your kitchen, look around in any cupboard and we are sure you will find one or two. The Moka Pot is without doubt very peculiar. As this brewer can reach very high temperatures, it can often lead to the coffee tasting bitter. However, following these few simple steps you can brew great results, while still maintaining that nostalgic taste that we all know and love.

What you need:

- Your Italian Moka Pot

- Enough coffee ground coarser than you would for espresso (For more info, click here)

- Freshly boiled water to fill the bottom of the coffee maker

Step 1:

Put some water to boil. When it is ready, fill the base of the coffee maker with the fresh hot water. We do this because we want the coffee to be exposed to heat for as little time as possible in order to avoid the taste to become bitter or burnt. Be sure to always fill the water to just below the valve, as this is a security valve to expulse any accumulated pressure inside the brewer. Now sit the filter inside this part.

Step 2:

Fill up the filter with your freshly ground coffee. Here we cannot depend upon typical ratios known for coffee making (mainly because moka pots vary so much in size), so simply use just enough to fill the filter you have. You don’t need to push down or compact the coffee here, simply distribute it level and evenly. If your coffee is ground too finely, you will likely find it bring to a characteristically bitter and somewhat unpleasant taste to the cup. We tend to use a more coarse grind - we find this to yield the best results with a much cleaner taste. 

Step 3:

Take a look on the underside of the top half of the Moka pot. The rubber seal here needs to always be clean. Now screw the top part to the base and put the Moka pot on a medium to low heat, with the lid open. When you see the coffee starting to emerge from the spout, close the lid to avoid the hot liquid to be expelled from the Moka pot. At the point when you can hear the sound of steam bubbling, this means your coffee is ready!

Step 4:

If you can, pour the coffee into a mug straight away, or if you plan to enjoy your coffee over some time, run cold water over the base of the Moka pot to quickly cool it down. The temperature that the brewer reaches is very high, and we want to stabilize the temperature by bringing it down as soon as possible, preventing the coffee to continue brewing at this point. 

Enjoy your coffee!