Side Questing - Moka Pot Coffee (Issue 190)
Spoiler: It's delicious!
A few months ago, I started researching Moka pots. I blame my mother.
As you may already know (and might be tired of hearing about), I’m a coffee nut. My quest to perfect how I brew coffee started in my early 20s and has continued to evolve for the past 35+ years.
I started where most Nebraskans did in that time period before good coffee was a thing in the U.S. I brewed my coffee using a typical Mr. Coffee maker and a big ol’ can of cheap Folgers. It wasn’t great, but it was hot, caffeinated, and helped me stay up late studying and working my night shift job.
I discovered the joy of real coffee houses during my later years in college, thanks to an English professor. When I moved to Houston for graduate school, I also discovered that quality coffee beans ground fresh make a big difference. One of my classmates introduced me to aged Sumatra coffee beans, and I was hooked.
However, my coffee-making skills improved little until I moved to California. I graduated to a higher-quality drip coffee maker and then to a French press. I also started sourcing my coffee beans from a local roaster (super fresh!).
I became obsessed with perfecting how I brewed coffee and started doing more research. That’s when I discovered the Chemex coffeemaker brewing system for making pour-over coffee, which I still use to this day. I occasionally use an AeroPress when I’m in a hurry, but the Chemex is my daily preference.
At home, I drink the black coffee I make every morning. When I’m out, I usually prefer a double espresso. But one day, my mother mentioned her Moka pot and how much she loved the coffee it made. So, down the rabbit hole I went.
The more I researched Moka pot coffee, the more intrigued I became. From all descriptions, it sounded like it landed right between pour-over coffee and espresso. It promised a unique flavor profile that I had never encountered. So, in the spirit of my new side-questing life, I took the plunge and purchased a Bialetti Venus. Bialetti is an Italian company founded in 1933, and Alfonso Bialetti invented the Moka pot.
“Alfonso Bialetti comes up with the brilliant idea of Moka Express: this would revolutionize the way of making coffee at home, staying with generations of Italians as they wake up, leading to the company becoming one of the main Italian producers, thanks also to the ambitious determination of his son Renato. The name? It comes from the city of Mokha in Yemen, one of the leading and most famous production areas of coffee worldwide.” (source)
It took some additional research and trial and error to brew a pot of coffee that delighted me. The flavor is rich, intense, and quite different from my Chemex coffee. Despite claims to the contrary, it is not a stovetop espresso maker. Moka coffee doesn’t have the same full body as espresso, and there is no thick crema (although you do get some golden froth on top at the end).
There is a bit of an art and science to the process, which the video below goes into with great detail. I actually find the brewing process to be quite fun!
Also, here is the video I used to learn how to brew with my Moka pot. He shares loads of useful advice for getting the extraction just right (e.g., type of coffee, grind size, water temperature, brewing temperature, timing, etc.).
If you’re a coffee lover and have never tried Moka coffee, I think you would really enjoy it. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any coffee houses or cafes that offer it. I’ve never encountered one in the past 30+ years.
So, if you want to experience the joy of brewing with a Moka pot, you’ll either have to find a friend who has one or buy one for yourself. Bialetti offers a wide range of Moka pots on their website. But you can also find Moka pots from other manufacturers on most ecommerce sites.
Good luck and enjoy!
Larry Cornett, Ph.D. | Empowerment coach, psychologist, nature lover, and fitness freak. I help you escape the “hustle trap” to create an empowered life that fits who you are and what you want most. From Silicon Valley exec to self-employed entrepreneur, I’ve also followed this path to freedom, so now I can help others find their way.
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