Stove Top Moka Express

At the bottom of a comment on another post, a reader asks if one can make decent coffee in one of those stove top Moka deals (in which one puts water in the bottom, ground coffee in a basket and the heat sends the water from the bottom, through the grounds and up a column into a collector).

The answer is yes, if one is careful. Here are the rules:

1. Low heat. The lower the flame you brew over the richer and better the coffee will be, at times almost resembling a true espresso. You want it so that the coffee is just barely oozing over the top.

2. Brew with the lid up. The biggest enemy to Moka Express coffee is allowing the brewed coffee to boil. Ick. Also, with the lid up you can carefully watch the oozing coffee.

3. Correct blend, correct roast, correct grind, correct dose, correct tamp. Moka Express can tolerate a higher percentage of East African beans, which is certainly good news for those of us who like Kenyan and Ethiopian beans. However, not all of the beans can be East African. Use some Columbian, some Javanese, and see that the roast is pretty close to a true espresso roast (not a dark French coffee cinder roast). Grind slightly coarser than for true espresso, fill the basket until it can't be filled no mo', and tamp like your life depends on how tight you can get it all in there.

4. Check the gasket. Those things are made of rubber and they will dry out and crack. You can buy replacements at the same place you bought the pot (or a good coffee bean supplier).

5. Clean water. No funny tastes. They only get magnified in the brewing. If your water is not good tasting, use bottled.

6. Lower your expectations. You will never pull a God Shotfrom a Moka Express. However, you are not going to take the Gaggia with you backpacking, and the Moka Express can make fine coffee, especially for breakfast. I keep mine at my parents' house, along with a grinder. It beats lugging the whole setup with me, and if I really want a great espresso, there is a fantastic coffee house in Sacramento. But for cold Saturday afternoons when we don't have time to go to the coffee house and back because we are going to do something with my parents, it is perfect. Other than that, it is primarily for camping.