How to brew with a moka pot

The method

Everything else on this site is detail around these eight steps.

1. Water to the valveFill the boiler with fresh cold water up to just below the safety valve, never over it. If you like, use water just off the boil instead; it shortens the time on the flame. Then hold the hot boiler with a cloth.
2. Fill the basketDrop the funnel in and fill it with ground coffee until it heaps a little, then level it with the back of a knife. Do not press it down. A pressed bed fights the water, the pressure climbs, and the coffee comes out bitter, if it comes at all.
3. Clean the rimBrush loose grounds from the edge of the funnel and from the thread of the boiler. A few grains on the gasket are enough to make the seam leak.
4. Screw it tightHold the boiler, not the handle, and screw the top on firmly and evenly. The handle is the weakest part of the pot.
5. Low to medium heatSet the pot on a low to medium flame that stays under the base. Leave the lid up if you want to watch the column.
6. Watch the flowThe coffee should rise slowly, dark and thick, like warm honey. If it spurts or hisses, turn the heat down.
7. Off at the gurgleWhen the stream turns pale and blond and starts to bubble and gurgle, take the pot off. That last part is mostly steam and thin, bitter water.
8. Stop, stir, pourCool the base under a cold tap for a few seconds or stand it on a damp cloth, so it stops. Stir the coffee in the top, because the first and last of it are very different, and pour into warm cups.

A timer for the stove

Press start when the pot goes on the flame, mark the first coffee, and the timer tells you what to look and listen for. It is meant for the first weeks with a new pot or a new hob, until you know its rhythm.

How it works

As the water heats, steam builds up in the closed boiler and pushes the water up the tube of the funnel, through the coffee, through the filter plate and out of the central column into the top.

The pressure stays low, well under two bar, which is why the coffee takes its time and why the grind matters so much. Near the end the water level drops below the tube, steam and the last water rush through together, and you hear the gurgle.

Hot water or cold?

Both work. Cold water is simpler and safer: nothing to burn your fingers on, and the pot comes up to heat slowly. Hot water shortens the time the coffee sits over the flame, and some people find the cup a little less bitter for it.

I use cold water with the small pots and hot water with the big ones, and with any pot on a slow hob. If you use hot water, fill the basket first so the coffee does not sit on a hot boiler while you fiddle with it.

A small pot on a big burner

A one- or two-cup pot can tip on a wide grate, and a big flame curls up its sides and scorches the handle. Use the smallest burner, or a small ring or a flat heat diffuser under the pot. The heat page has more.