Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Borrowed myself a moka pot from a friend. It holds 250ml in the bottom.

Followed this James Hoffman method but it came out super strong. Understand a moka generally is stronger than an Aeropress but it didn't seem right to me.

For 250ml what amount of beans should I be using? Most people tend to say it takes care of itself, meaning you fill the hopper as it's sized to how big the moka pot is. But I must have put well over 20g+ which seems excessive.

Any ideas? :)

EDIT: Or should I just be diluting afterwards like I do for my AP? I only drink white americanos.
 
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Moka pots make drinks on a similar level to espresso but with a different profile. So yeah, crazy strong! There's more dark/bitter flavours and less balance IMO but lots of people like that (me included).

It's pretty normal to add some or lots of water (or milk). I'd say not many drink it as it is :)
 
Scam said:
Borrowed myself a moka pot from a friend. It holds 250ml in the bottom.

Followed this James Hoffman method but it came out super strong. Understand a moka generally is stronger than an Aeropress but it didn't seem right to me.

For 250ml what amount of beans should I be using? Most people tend to say it takes care of itself, meaning you fill the hopper as it's sized to how big the moka pot is. But I must have put well over 20g+ which seems excessive.

Any ideas? :)

EDIT: Or should I just be diluting afterwards like I do for my AP? I only drink white americanos.
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Yes, you should be diluting. It's not quite espresso, but it is very strong because it's extracting at (likely) two bars (compared to nine for an espresso machine). Because you have to fill the coffee part to full to make it work, even the small ones (like six inches tall) are supposed to serve six "espressos", and there isn't really a way to change the amount of coffee or water you put in (short of using a different size moka). You fill the coffee and water to the lines, and that's what you get.

I've put the full contents of one of moka in a cup, added milk and foam, and it makes a decent cappuccino drink. I've also taken the same contents, divided it up between three or four cups, added hot water to top up, then milk and foam and had good results.

When you use an aeropress, you're running hot water though the grounds using mavity. With a Moka, you're forcing hot water under a couple bars pressure through a loose coffee puck, hence the stronger extraction. It's still far off a proper espresso machine's nine bars, but it makes a much stronger coffee.
 
LuckyBenski said:
I'd say not many drink it as it is :)
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The friend I borrowed it from likes crazy strong coffee. When they were last round I made a fairly strong french press (can't do AP for multiple people!) and he was like "hmn this is quite weak for me". lol. He had multiple mokas and was asking how big my mug was and trying to match the moka size to my mug size. But that's wrong isn't it? Duh. I should get myself a single serve moka right? What do they hold? Then that would be my 'shot' and I dilute fittingly?

EDIT:
Steampunk said:
(snip) It's still far off a proper espresso machine's nine bars, but it makes a much stronger coffee.
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Yes as above. I think my friend threw me a curveball. I guess I could try reducing the water and coffee in this one to get a better taste for it. Some seem to suggest mokas brew at roughly a 1:7 ratio of coffee to water.
 
Scam said:
EDIT: Yes as above. I think my friend threw me a curveball. I guess I could try reducing the water and coffee in this one to get a better taste for it. Some seem to suggest mokas brew at roughly a 1:7 ratio of coffee to water.
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If you reduce the water, you get less extraction, but from less liquid. Reduce it too far, and you just won't get enough liquid, as you need a certain amount in the water chamber for it to heat, increase in pressure and force its way through the coffee basket. If you don't fill the coffee up to the top of the basket, you just get a lot of channelling and a fair amount of your coffee stays dry and wasted. Mokas basically make a set amount of espresso-like drinks from a set amount of coffee and water. You either dilute the results, drink it strong, or use a different size of moka pot. There's very little you can play with apart from how you heat the water, or what strength coffee you use. It's just what they are and how they work. I suppose you can mess with the grind a little, but you can't change anything like pressure, draw times, water temperature, etc.
 
Steampunk said:
It's just what they are and how they work
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Yeah you're right. Maybe I can half the water and beans and see what happens. Looks like a single cup moka is the way forward.

LuckyBenski said:
Not sure what they hold but yes, you can get the tiniest little Moka pots for single drinks and they are so bloody cute. Definitely support you trying one :D
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Yep I think I need one in my life. I absolutely adore my AP but sometimes I've wanted a way to make a quick 'sort-of' espresso shot. Pre-cycle ride or something for example. I reckon a single serve moka might edge the AP in that respect.
 
With the Moka pot it's worth putting boiling water into the base rather than heating from cold on the stove, as this prevents you trying to start the coffee brewing process off using the cold water.

Also when you get the end of the brewing process it will start to sputter. Remove from the heat at this point and kill the process by running under a cold tap.
 
Scam said:
sometimes I've wanted a way to make a quick 'sort-of' espresso shot. Pre-cycle ride or something for example. I reckon a single serve moka might edge the AP in that respect.
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Purely anecdotal and possibly just some sort of placebo effect, but I felt more of a caffeine kick from the moka pot compared to the aeropress, which made for a better pre-exercise brew.

Alibaba99 said:
With the Moka pot it's worth putting boiling water into the base rather than heating from cold on the stove, as this prevents you trying to start the coffee brewing process off using the cold water.

Also when you get the end of the brewing process it will start to sputter. Remove from the heat at this point and kill the process by running under a cold tap.
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I found this to be good advice. I kept the lid up until I saw the coffee trickling out (which makes no sound), then lowered the heat when the sputtering started.
 
Turns out my cheap scales and free timer I got when I had my eyes lasered ( :p ) are both on their way out. What scales should I buy? Worth getting anything branded as 'coffee scales' or are you just paying more for the privilege? Understand I'd want 0.1g ability, and a timer built-in would be nice but not if it makes it £35+ !! Any suggestions?
 
Scam said:
Turns out my cheap scales and free timer I got when I had my eyes lasered ( :p ) are both on their way out. What scales should I buy? Worth getting anything branded as 'coffee scales' or are you just paying more for the privilege? Understand I'd want 0.1g ability, and a timer built-in would be nice but not if it makes it £35+ !! Any suggestions?
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I got some cheap ones, I think about £15. I had my suspicion at first compared to some specialised coffee ones at £150, which I almost went for, but this £15 ones works just fine. The only downside is it takes half second for it to load after pressing the on button and the battery indicator constantly showing at the lowest setting...for the past 12 months! so clearly the indicator doesn't work but the timer does and it's very accurate. It gets rebranded elsewhere too.

https://thecoffeeshop.co.uk/yagua-s...9t9Dv7gCCc9GP6dJ912ZKxooTmIZv8r4aAufkEALw_wcB
 
Siliconslave said:
not sure i follow you (or too hopped up on caffeine to spot what i've missed)
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I've been buying from both Dark Arts & Lost sheep over the last few years and....

https://shop.lostsheepcoffee.com/collections/coffee/products/gtth-test

BTW the best name Dark Arts had for a coffee was 'Epstein didn't kill himself' I'm (patiently) waiting for them to name a coffee 'Andrew isn't guilty'

https://twitter.com/x/status/1192523048924143623

& This one: :D ;)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1280096302152536064
 
Scam said:
Turns out my cheap scales and free timer I got when I had my eyes lasered ( :p ) are both on their way out.
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You got cheap scales and a timer with your eye lasering...? Like some sort of bundle...? :confused:

Raymond Lin said:
I got some cheap ones, I think about £15. I had my suspicion at first compared to some specialised coffee ones at £150, which I almost went for, but this £15 ones works just fine. The only downside is it takes half second for it to load after pressing the on button and the battery indicator constantly showing at the lowest setting...for the past 12 months! so clearly the indicator doesn't work but the timer does and it's very accurate. It gets rebranded elsewhere too.

https://thecoffeeshop.co.uk/yagua-s...9t9Dv7gCCc9GP6dJ912ZKxooTmIZv8r4aAufkEALw_wcB
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I just got these from Black Cat (the price + shipping was a touch cheaper from there at the time) and they have been great so far. Very pleased I didn't go with a more premium model.
 
Raymond Lin said:
https://thecoffeeshop.co.uk/yagua-s...9t9Dv7gCCc9GP6dJ912ZKxooTmIZv8r4aAufkEALw_wcB
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Thanks. But those say they are 75x65mm? :confused: That's absolutely tiny! Was hoping for a set that I could use for general cooking as well. I could barely fit my grounds 'bucket' from my Encore grinder on that? :confused:

Wavywavylonggrass said:
You got cheap scales and a timer with your eye lasering...? Like some sort of bundle...? :confused:
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Ha, not the scales. But the timer. When you come out you have to put drops in your eyes every 5mins or something for the first 1hr or so. It was hell :( (But so worth it) I did get a massage before whilst they drugged me up, that was nice.
 
i had a acaia pearl s, which i got when they were only silly money, not crazy silly money, which i send back after a week. it came with no power brick which ****** me offf for the money it costed, didn't use usb c, so i have to keep a cable just for it, it software was crap (it a smart scale lol) it looked like it was written by some want-a-be Apple developer but is really at fisher price standard. ended up using it as a simple scale hence why i sent it back as something a lot cheaper does the job (got out of a local shop) it was cheap fast and accurate . it doesn't have a timer but i got round that by buying a digital clock with a hour/minute/second countdown. and a quick look at it as i start pouring does the job
 
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