If you love bold, aromatic coffee but don’t have an espresso machine at home, the moka pot (or Bialetti) is your perfect companion. This classic Italian brewer turns your stovetop into a mini espresso bar — if you treat it right. This is how 90%+ of italians make coffee at home!

At Amsterdam Coffee Lab in Weesp, I regularly show guests during our Tasting experience and Workshops how to get café-level flavour from a simple moka pot. Below you’ll find my full guide: grind, water, ratios, and a few tricks that make all the difference.

☕ What is a Moka Pot?

Invented in Italy in 1933, the moka pot brews coffee using steam pressure — around 1–2 bar (far lower than espresso, but higher than filter). The result is a rich, intense brew with chocolatey depth and soft crema.

Moka coffee sits between espresso and filter coffee: full-bodied, aromatic, and best enjoyed black or topped with hot water or foamed milk.

⚙️ What You’ll Need

• A clean moka pot (1-cup to 12-cup Bialetti or equivalent)
• Fresh specialty coffee beans (medium roast or omni-roast — our CN “Chocolaty & Nutty” blend is perfect)
• Burr grinder (e.g. Mahlkönig X54 or Moccamaster KM5)
• Filtered water (soft, low in bicarbonates — not distilled)
• A kitchen scale
• Timer and optional stirrer or spoon

⚖️ Perfect Ratios — Beans to Water (Bialetti Moka Pot Sizes)

Below are tried-and-tested starting points. You can tweak strength by ±5 % depending on your roast and taste.

Tip: Always fill the lower chamber just below the safety valve — never over. Fill the basket level to the rim, without tamping (just tap lightly to settle the grounds). 

🔬 Step-by-Step Brew Method

1️⃣ Preheat the Water

Boil your water separately and pour hot water into the lower chamber.

👉 This avoids “cooking” the grounds while heating up, preventing metallic or bitter notes.

2️⃣ Add Coffee Grounds

Grind slightly coarser than for espresso, like fine sand.

Fill the filter basket evenly and brush away loose grounds around the rim for a tight seal.

3️⃣ Assemble and Brew

Screw the top and bottom firmly (use a towel if it’s hot).

Place on medium-low heat — no flame licking the sides.

You’ll soon hear a soft hissing sound.

When the stream turns golden and bubbly, remove from heat immediately and cool the base under a little cold water to stop extraction.

4️⃣ Stir and Serve

Before pouring, give the top chamber a gentle stir — this evens out the strength between early and late extraction.

Serve straight for a rich, syrupy cup, or dilute 1:1 over hot water for a “Moka Americano”.

⚠️ Common Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

• Bitter taste? Heat too high or too long. Lower the temperature and stop early.
• Weak coffee? Too coarse a grind or not enough coffee in the basket.
• Sour taste? Water too cold or under-extracted — preheat your water.
• Burnt smell? You left it on heat after the gurgle. Stop the brew earlier.
• Metallic note? Dirty gasket or buildup — clean regularly and replace seals.
• Bitter, old, stale & boring coffee? Pre ground supermarket coffee (from old italian brands) — use freshly ground specialty coffee.

🌍 Bonus: Cleaning and Maintenance

Rinse with hot water and dry completely. Cleaning guidesline below depend on how often you brew and what coffee and water you use!

Once a week, run one brew cycle with water and coffee oil cleaner to rinse the internal channels. 

Once a month run one brew cycle with water and descaler to rinse the internal channels.

At WB.coffee we stock coffee oil cleaner, descaler, and replacement gaskets, sieves and silicone rings — ask us in store or via WhatsApp if you’re unsure which fits your pot., 

💡 Tasting Notes & Pairings

The moka pot highlights chocolaty, nutty and spicy notes — try these WB.coffee blends:

• CN – Chocolaty & Nutty: classic moka choice
• FC – Floral & Chocolaty: complex and smooth
• FJ – Fruity & Juicy: for adventurous moka drinkers

Enjoy with a square of Chocolatemakers 80 % Intense chocolate made with fine Peruvian cacao. Bold cocoa character with a bright hint of citrus — the combination is unbeatable.

🧠 Want to Taste and Learn More?

Join our “Master Your Moka Pot Napolitano” workshop at Amsterdam Coffee Lab (Weesp) — where we dive deeper into grind size, pressure, and taste calibration.

Book via wb.coffee/workshops or drop by at our Lab next to Karwei in Weesp.

Hooray, your new coffee ritual has been born! It's time to embark on a journey of tasting different coffee blends and single origin coffees. Delve into the rich offerings that the world of coffee presents. 

Many conventional moka pot blends feature inferior robusta beans, which impart a significant amount of flavor. The resulting brew is often referred to as strong, but it can also be quite bitter and harsh. This bitterness leads many to add sugar to their coffee. Steer clear of supermarket coffees, big brand coffees and dark roasts!

By choosing a blend that is 100% arabica and made from specialty beans, you can enjoy a sweeter and more refined beverage without the need to add sugar. 

The Chocolatier's Brew - Choco & Praline (with love from Brazil) is a favorite of more traditional moka pot users whilst the more adventurous coffee drinkers and foodies love the FC blend Fruity & Chocolaty.

If you don't have a grinder and want to try specialty coffee pre-ground for Moka, choose any WB.coffee blend and select espresso grind on check-out.

Your strong moka pot coffee can be used in drinks (try adding it to freshly squeezed orange juice!) and deserts....tiramisu of course, bananbread with coffee, affagato with vanilla icecream, get creative and don't forget to share your best recepies with us!

Share your best recipies 🙏

If you’ve ever opened a shiny can of “authentic Italian coffee” from the supermarket and wondered why it smells like burnt toast and cardboard — you’re not alone.

Those tins from big traditional roasters may look romantic, but the truth is… most of them contain old, over-roasted, and stale coffee. By the time they reach your kitchen, they’ve been roasted months ago, ground even earlier, and sealed away from oxygen — but not from time.

☠️ Too dark, too dull, and too much acrylamide

To make coffee last on shelves, many large Italian roasters roast the beans very dark. That hides defects but also burns off natural sweetness and aroma — and increases the formation of acrylamide, a bitter-tasting compound created by excessive roasting.

The result? A coffee that’s strong, yes — but flat, bitter, and often dusty in the cup.

🌱 The new Italian way: lighter, fresher, full of life

Across Italy’s new-wave cafés, younger roasters and foodies are turning away from the burnt bitterness of tradition. They’re drinking specialty coffee — beans that are lightly roasted, freshly ground, and full of natural fruit, chocolate, or floral notes.

These lighter roasts aren’t “weak” — they’re just balanced. You can still make a beautiful, rich moka coffee — it’ll simply taste smoother, cleaner, and more interesting.

🔥 Which roast suits you best?

• ☕ For moka pot, filter, or Aeropress: choose our Filter/Omni roasts — smooth, aromatic, and easy to brew black.
  • Try the FF – Floral & Fruity for adventurous coffee lovers who enjoy a bright, lively cup.
  • Or the Chocolatier’s Brew for those who prefer a rounder, sweeter, more traditional flavor that’s still smooth and refined.
• ☕🥛 For strong coffee or milk-based drinks: choose our Espresso roast.
  It’s richer, darker, and designed to hold its flavor when combined with milk or oat milk — perfect for cappuccino or latte fans.

💡 Brewing tip from the CoffeeNose 👃

If you’re using a moka pot, both filter and omni roasts work beautifully.

For water and grind advice, check out our blog:

👉 How to Brew Tasty Coffee with a Moka Pot

✨ Freshness matters

All WB.coffee blends are roasted locally on 100 % Dutch green energy, freshly packed, and shipped from Weesp — not months-old imports in cans.

Once you taste the difference between freshly ground specialty coffee and industrial pre-ground tins, you’ll never go back.

more tips from the CoffeeNose👃

WB.coffee blends are roasted fresh on order. We roast with 100% renewable energy ☀ and 0% gas. For espresso, filter & cold brew.

• FC blend Fruity & Chocolaty
• FF blend - Fruity & Floral
• FJ blend - Fruity & Juicy (coffee lovers favorite) 
• The Chocolatier's Brew - Choco & Praline (with love from Brazil) 
• VC blend - Vanilla & Caramel
• CN blend - Chocolaty & Nutty  (HoReCa besteseller) 

Chemical Free Decaffinated coffees

• AFD blend - Apple & Fudge Decaf
• CD blend - Caramel & Spices Decaf

Single Origin - limited editions Get in touch to find out what's available and get flavor recommendations based on your taste!

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Try 4 coffees with a Coffee Tasting Set. Available for filter and espresso with 4 blends or 4 single origin - limited edition coffees.

Not taking any risks? Try any blend (or all of them 🏃) from our tasting menu @ Amsterdam Coffee Lab in Weesp.

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