Moka Pot
Ultimate Moka Pot Technique
Recipe by James HoffmannSource
15g
Coffee
150g
Water
1:10
Ratio
100°C
Temperature
Fine, a little coarser than espresso
Grind Size
3:30
Total Time
Preparation
Boil the water first
Boil water in a kettle and pour it into the base up to the valve. The pot will be hot, so use a cloth.
Fill the basket
Fill the funnel with grounds and level it off without compacting.
Add a paper filter
Optionally sit a small paper filter on top of the grounds to clean the cup up.
Step-by-step recipe
Medium-high heat, lid open
Assemble and put it on a medium-high hob with the lid open so you can see the flow start.
Drop the heat
The moment coffee appears in the top chamber, turn the heat down to its minimum. The stream should stay slow and steady.
Cool the base at the gurgle
As soon as you hear a gurgle, lift it off, tilt it and run the base under a cold tap. That ends the extraction immediately.
Notes
Three departures from the classic method, all aimed at the same thing: keeping the coffee off the heat for as long as possible. Start with water that is already boiling, so the pot spends less time warming up with the grounds sitting on top of it. Drop the heat right down as soon as the flow starts. Then cool the base under the tap the instant it gurgles, which stops the extraction dead instead of letting the last bitter part through.