Grind, dose and the basket

The right grind

Medium-fine: finer than for a filter or a cafetière, a little coarser than for an espresso machine. Rubbed between two fingers it should feel gritty, like fine sand, not powdery like flour.

Bags of ground coffee in Italy are usually marked for the moka, per moka, and that grind is a good reference.

How much coffee

The basket decides the dose: fill it to the top and level it. That is all the measuring a moka pot needs. The figures below are only to show how much a level basket holds.

Never press the coffee down. A tamped bed is the most common reason for bitter coffee, a hissing valve or a pot that will not brew at all.

Which roast

Medium to dark roasts are the traditional choice and forgive a lot. Lighter roasts can work, but they tend to taste sharp from a moka pot; if you like them, grind a touch finer and keep the heat very low.

Coffee for the moka at home is usually a blend rather than a single origin. Find one you like and get to know it before changing anything else.

Grinding at home

Freshly ground coffee tastes noticeably livelier. A burr grinder, by hand or electric, gives an even grind; a blade grinder makes a mix of dust and chunks, which runs unevenly. If a blade grinder is what you have, pulse it in short bursts and shake it between them.

Grind just before brewing. One level basket of a three-cup pot is a couple of minutes of turning a hand grinder.

Keeping coffee

Keep beans or ground coffee in an airtight tin, somewhere cool and dark, not in the fridge. Ground coffee is best within a week or two of opening; beans keep their flavour longer.