Espresso is the essence of the coffee universe. Strong and bold. A full compact taste from each bean extraction. Making it the most straightforward coffee you ever taste. As the result, it becomes the foundation of almost every coffee variant nowadays. The only downside of this coffee is its gear. You will need to dig pretty deep into your wallet if you want to make your own espresso with an espresso machine. But sometimes the modern problem doesn’t always need a modern solution. You can use to traditional one to solve this problem: Moka Pot.
What is Moka Pot?
Moka Pot is the traditional coffee brewer invented in 1933 by Italian engineer Alfonso Bialetti. It works by heating the lower chamber (filled with water) to send a pressured steam to the upper chamber (filled with the coffee ground). A pretty similar process to the espresso machine. Resulting in a similar taste to an espresso coffee. Strong and bold coffee. It might be not exactly the same as your daily espresso at your favorite coffee shop. But it would still be tastefully right if you want to make your own homemade cappuccino, americano, café latte, or even the pure Moka pot espresso coffee itself.
How to Use Moka Pot
The coffee
Your first step of course you will need to prepare your favorite coffee. It can be any type of coffee whether it is arabica or robusta. We personally love using a house-blend one. Which is a mixture of robusta and arabica with a ratio of 70:30 for robusta to arabica.
The grind size
For the ground level you will need fine or superfine grind size. Too coarse coffee results in a less optimal coffee extraction process. Making the taste from coffee beans not fully extracted. For initial experiments, we might suggest a fine grind first.
The preparation
Put your ground coffee into the upper basket and the boiled water into the lower chamber. The amount of water and your coffee depends on the size of the Moka pot you have. You will need boiled water to minimize the chance of getting a burnt taste from your coffee.
TIPS :
You can tamp your ground coffee after you put it into the basket. This will make the coffee in the basket extracted better so it will produce coffee with a stronger taste and thicker body. This step is also to avoid the under-extraction process.
The arrangement
But remember, the lower part is filled with hot water. So you might have to be careful. Also, make sure your Moka pot is tightly closed to prevent any water leaks during the brewing process.
The brewing process
Heat the Moka pot on the stove over low to medium heat, and leave the lid opened. Wait until you see the coffee flowing from the hole and filling up the upper chamber. If you hear a hissing or gurgling noise from the hole, you can remove your Moka pot from your stove to avoid a burnt taste. Let the coffee finish filling up the upper chamber and your coffee is ready to be served.
Tips:
You can check our video to have a clear process of how to make an espresso using moka pot.
The last step
The last step, enjoy your coffee the way you like it. Either directly enjoyed when it’s hot, or with ice. Or combine it with ice, milk, and palm sugar? It might be interesting if we discuss more the composition of this Palm Sugar Milk Coffee next time, what do you think?
Besides moka pot there are still many alternative ways to make your own espresso. Especially if you want to make your own homemade coffee, there are many option you can choose. Keep exploring, don’t stop here because every element in this world will be boring if only understood from one side.
Have a great coffee and keep wandering!
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