Moka Pot Madness
Jan. 27th, 2022 08:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plonqI think that I've mentioned this Moka Pot in here before. I picked it up on a whim several years ago because they had always intrigued me, and they had them marked down at a home centre that we were visiting.
And I have never managed to coax agood great cup of coffee out of it.
I dug it out of storage again yesterday after seeing the latest video from James Hoffman (he's an online-famous coffee guy from the UK) where he delved into the science and numbers behind this finicky brewer. He confirmed that I am not the only person who struggles to get drinkable coffee from it. Moka Pots are notorious for making coffee that is okay, but with a signature funk to them.
I tried making a coffee in it yesterday while employing a few changes to my technique based on his comments. The first thing I did was lower the temperature under it considerably. One of the burners on our stove has very low BTUs - it's meant for simmering - and I discovered that its lowest setting puts out just enough heat to maintain the brew process once I get the Moka Pot going.
I started the pot with freshly-boiled water in its chamber, and I set it on medium heat to get the brew started, then cut the flame to its lowest level. Finally, I quenched it in a bowl of cold water to stop the process as soon as it started to sputter. The resulting coffee was actually pretty good - with qualifications. It brought out every flavour nuance in the coffee in a way that my Aeropress doesn't, but it had an unpleasant, almost burning after-taste.
While I was not that impressed with my first few sips of the coffee from that brew, when I let it cool a bit in my mug, it got a lot better - except for the after-taste. It wasn't bitter, but acrid. It was the kind of taste that would sear one's tonsils (if I still had mine), and the subtle back-of-the-throat burn persisted long after the cup was empty.
Other than changing the coffee, there were not a lot of things for me to adjust in the process, so this morning I tried it with a coarser grind and a slightly shorter grind time to compensate. It filled the basket to the same level as it did yesterday, but it was definitely an inferior cup. The acrid after-taste was gone, but the overall flavour was not as good.
I am going to try it with a slightly finer grind one more time this morning (finding a happy medium) before I finish off with a coffee from my Aeropress (which consistently produces an excellent cup).
And I have never managed to coax a
I dug it out of storage again yesterday after seeing the latest video from James Hoffman (he's an online-famous coffee guy from the UK) where he delved into the science and numbers behind this finicky brewer. He confirmed that I am not the only person who struggles to get drinkable coffee from it. Moka Pots are notorious for making coffee that is okay, but with a signature funk to them.
I tried making a coffee in it yesterday while employing a few changes to my technique based on his comments. The first thing I did was lower the temperature under it considerably. One of the burners on our stove has very low BTUs - it's meant for simmering - and I discovered that its lowest setting puts out just enough heat to maintain the brew process once I get the Moka Pot going.
I started the pot with freshly-boiled water in its chamber, and I set it on medium heat to get the brew started, then cut the flame to its lowest level. Finally, I quenched it in a bowl of cold water to stop the process as soon as it started to sputter. The resulting coffee was actually pretty good - with qualifications. It brought out every flavour nuance in the coffee in a way that my Aeropress doesn't, but it had an unpleasant, almost burning after-taste.
While I was not that impressed with my first few sips of the coffee from that brew, when I let it cool a bit in my mug, it got a lot better - except for the after-taste. It wasn't bitter, but acrid. It was the kind of taste that would sear one's tonsils (if I still had mine), and the subtle back-of-the-throat burn persisted long after the cup was empty.
Other than changing the coffee, there were not a lot of things for me to adjust in the process, so this morning I tried it with a coarser grind and a slightly shorter grind time to compensate. It filled the basket to the same level as it did yesterday, but it was definitely an inferior cup. The acrid after-taste was gone, but the overall flavour was not as good.
I am going to try it with a slightly finer grind one more time this morning (finding a happy medium) before I finish off with a coffee from my Aeropress (which consistently produces an excellent cup).
