Is There A Better Moka Pot? (Episode #4)
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- Опубликовано: 25 дек 2024
- This one is hopefully just a bit of fun to round out the Moka Series. I hope you enjoy!
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The pots:
Brikka: www.bialetti.c...
Mukka: www.bialetti.c...
Cuor di Moka: ebay.us/CaN7mP (Note: I can't find any for sale at the time of publishing this video, but that might change. Also, this is an affiliate link.)
Kamira: en.espressokam...
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The Moka Pot Series
Ep #1 Classics of Coffee - The Moka Pot: • The Bialetti Moka Expr...
Ep #2 Understanding The Moka Pot: • Understanding the Moka...
Ep #3 The Ultimate Moka Pot Technique: • The Ultimate Moka Pot ...
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There is just something so uplifting and joyful about hearing someone who's basically a coffee expert say "it's gonna do the steamy foamy thing I think".
I know what you mean! We all have those less-than-bright moments lol
Nice to see your video comparing different tipe of moka. I recently bought a Brikka for 4 cups and I can confirm that it doesn’t make cream if you put the wrong quantity of water inside its boiler. But if you respect the measure they give you with the moka, you have a huge quantity of cream, more that the last tipe of “moka” you used. I see from your video that you have neither used nor mentioned the measure.
@@Dominos911 It's likely you meant "crema" which, while it translates to "cream," is not cream. And there's no benefit to it. It's just aesthetics.
@@AbeArmstrong He was being playful, not "less-than-bright," smh. 8:41
@@error.418 The benefit is I like it.
The Brikka is my 'daily driver'. Its demonic hissing has become an endearing character trait. Thank you for this series James!
Amen! The brikka is my daily as well. I watched James talk about cooling your Moka pot with sink water in another video and thought, "You can't do that, it'll spit all over you!" Only just now learned through this video the Brikka has the pressure valve that changes it's brew pressure. I like it ever more now. You have to know when to take it off heat so that you get full brew without opening the gates of hell, but with the Bialetty glass milk frother, I make myself cappucino every day in minutes, and by hand which makes it feel somehow more artisan than a drip coffee with milk.
Same here! Absolutely love my Brikka but it requires some practice to learn how to use it, and a lot of attention while brewing.
I just feel that after the rest of the Moka Pot series, James is now just having fun. This is awesome.
yeah, the face he had while this weird foam sputtered out of the brewer. Priceless.
He's a treasure honestly, when he has fun he takes all of us with him ☕
@Natalia Santiago what the fu-
@@taham33 @Chekov's Bullet I guess we could report the bot ...
Was just going to say the same thing, clearly James is having a lot of fun here and in extension so are we all, I'm watching with a big smile 😄
Your gentle shushing is very calming
James Hoffmann is like a crazy cat gentleman but his cats are all coffee brewing and grinding devices.
Spot on! Lol!
And he mails a different cat to his supporters after every video.
Comment of the year nominee
Definitely. They all have their own unique little personalities, and only James knows how temperamental they can be.
Yaaasss!
Fun fact: mucca means cow in italian. The mukka is a cow print moka that you fill with milk. It's genius.
That's cool!!!!
Lol, Thanks for the fun fact, I learned something new today🙂
It’s so cute. I love a good pun
@@kenzz9682 Me, too!!!! Lolololol 😆
Sometimes I will hear 1, and laugh or giggle at it for a long while, and others are like, "It was a Lil funny, but geez, it's not THAT funny"
And I'm like, "Yeah, but I'm a word nerd.... and I also love that humans use their brain in funny but clever ways" lol 🤷🏼♀️🤣
I just get a kick out of simple, but clever puns, lol
We are a Slavic household and I was confused as Mukka sounds a lot like flour in Russian, pretty cool!
@@savedbyJESUS777 I think the "official" reaction to a pun is a groan.
Delirious dad here, couldn't help but laugh at James shooshing a Moka pot like I shoosh an over-tired 7 month old.
That's exactly what I was thinking, going off of 3 hours sleep with a 3 month old 😂😂
OMG that was awesome! You’d be a good dad James 😂
I would have loved seeing him try the old Brikka which was about 5 times louder than this 😁
oh my god it was making me laugh so hard, james is so great
Hi Delirious dad, I’m dad.
When I was still using my Mukka I would put warmed milk in the top and it made a huge difference. Cold milk cools the coffee down way too much.
I've found that if you leave it on the heat for a minute more, it gets hot enough for me. If you want it hotter, then leave it longer. I'm not a coffee snob, just want a easy cappuccino in the morning. The Mukka Express delivers.
Zack Schindler, I should have read your comment before I left mine. I totally agree with your method. It only makes sense to do it that way. It's a little more work involved though.
I think it actually mentioned to do this in the original instructions or in the video, I got my first one in 2008 or so when they were new & I've always let it go a minute more after the coffee is done coming out and it's plenty warm. If you want hotter milk then heat it first, but be mindful of the cream content so it won't scald.
I had no idea how things would work with that pot. It was a gamble. On the inside there are lines marking levels for water and milk. Fresh milk works better. There are times I want a mocha style and that is add to the milk when it starts to foam. It does well enough to give my satisfaction complete with a generous layer of foam.
I just got mine a week or so ago and yeah I've been doing the same. I haven't had much of an issue getting my to about 130-50.F temperature wise but I have been paranoid about leaving it on the stove (electric) too long and ending up with a harsher, bitter flavor from overheating the beans.
There is a frivolity to this video that I am living for. The cheeky smiles, casual verbal teasing of an angry pot 😂. The whole Mokka series has been a delight to watch, thank you James 🤗.
James is singlehandedly saving the Bialetti company with this series, sales must be astronomical rn
Lingering on the idea to buy one for years (many functional lookalikes in the market at cheaper prices?). However, I will now, finally, buy one, it will be tested for only a few times to taste the brew and then it will remain on the gas hob for exhibition purpose only - just to have the original Bialetti "museum piece" as a collectors item!😄
I don't think Bialetti needs this kind of publicity. Every house in italy has several Bialetti moka pots. And it is the golden standard of moka pots.
I bought one after the series.
We used to have a series of mokka pots in hungary which used a metal weight to allow pressure build-up (do not know the name or if it was sold anywhere else) and the Brikka seems to achive the same thing (without the blowing up bit) so I'm definetly looking to buy one
@@pietervanwyk7896 Bialetti has been a top seller for many years. When I was in Europe almost everyone I visited had one. It Italy, it was a revolutionary thing when it first appeared. Suddenly you could get something close to an espresso without leaving the house, which was a very big deal in Italy, at the time.
Dear James, what a satisfaction watching you tinkering with Kamira! It's a very particular brewer, it has its rules! For example: before the first coffee you have to warm a little water and make it pour through the brewer to clean it from coffee residues and warm it up. The following time the brewer is hot and then the coffee is really ok. I'm so glad you kept it because it's a new Italian reality I'm proud to "endorse", this brewer is really something else and the maker has really thought it all, by being available to explain how to make Kamira work properly, they will even video call if you cannot get the proper way to operate! I have mine since a couple of weeks and it's really lovely, once you get the proper manuality to brew. It's quite particular! Cheers and forza Kamira!
I have one is well 😜
That would trigger me to see if there would be a way to integrate a more traditional basket into that portafilter thing. :-)
I have 2 moka pots and a smaller brikka and I never realised it was a slightly different pot, but it explains a lot. I thought it overflowed so much because it was smaller but you just taught me it has more pressure making it more prone to the sputtering we try to avoid in moka pots. Thank you so much your videos are always so thorough and ressourceful
James, I love your personification of the moka pot. "It's angry!", "Take you off the heat", "I wonder if it would be happier..." lol
It’s like how I talk to my cats.
He was shushing the Brikka like a baby...
You forgot the shhh shhh shhhhhh 😅
I used to find that the mugs I've used tended to sap most of the heat from the standard Moka pot brew - at least during the colder months. For many years now I've let them sit filled with boiled water. A good hot cup won't sap the heat while I open and rinse the pot. I always do that immediately before drinking the coffee. With regard to the last appliance, without the cup being heated by resting on the base it might be very cool indeed.
Very nice to be able to see how these things work and get advice from someone knowledgeable and not have to listen to a sales pitch and then find it's not what you were led to believe after you buy one.
Thanks James.
Thanks for reviewing the Kamira. I've been using one of these since December and it's replaced both my moka pot and automatic machine. To get the water to drain easily you just need to preheat the boiler for couple of seconds (no more) on high with the valve closed, filter off and a cup below. This will purge the pipe and create a vacuum. Attached the filter with coffee and open the valve. The water will now get sucked down in an instant. If you preheat too high it's possible to get blow-back through the reservoir which makes a mess. The the portafilter, I use a finer grind than they recommend - hand grinder timemore C2 set to 10 clicks. Though you don't tamp down the coffee you should repeatedly tap the filter and top up then use the edge of the spoon to level off the portafilter. For brewing I set the induction plate to 5/10. This takes a bit longer but I find the result is worth the wait. Thanks again.
Dear James, many thanks for all your interesting videos.
As I have been using Kamira for more than 4 years, I can ensure you that you can make it much better than in this video.
I've been testing several types of coffe and Lavazza Crema e Gusto give the best results in terms of cream structure and taste, you can also try the Kamira's blends with similar results.
As you said, it is not very practical at first glance, but once you get used to it, it will take you just a couple of minutes to get an amazing coffee.
You probably forgot to pre-heat the Kamira for few seconds on the fire, this step is necessary for 3 reasons: you ensure a quick drain of the water to the boiler, you preheat the whole machine to prevent coffee to cool down before coming out and you remove the leftover of water in the machine from the previous coffee you made.
It looks like you put the full tank of water for only 1 shot of coffee.
For a single shot of Kamira espresso, you need to use half tank of water
The full tank is for a double shot, and if you want double shot you'll have to use the double filter holder.
The more water you put, the less cream you'll get, and also the less and tasty and dense the cream will be, and it will not be much better than a Bialetti coffee.
On the other hand if you put less than half tank, you'll have a nice Ristretto coffee with very little but extra intense foam, comparable to a typical Italian bar.
Also, for a perfect brew you need to modulate the heating: you want to start with a medium heat, when the first droplets of coffee come out you will increase it to 75% and when the foam comes out you reduce it again 50% or lower or even you can remove the Kamira from the fire. You may want to reheat again if you see that there is still some foam coming out.
Another important point it to do not press the coffee.
If you press it a little bit, you will gain intensity of flavor but at the same time you'll reduce the foam yield which will be very little but super dense and intense
If you used an Arabica blend, you should instead press a little bit the coffe powder with a spoon and provide a more gentle heating.
If you like americano or a long coffe, do not put more water, but after your coffee shot, refill with another half tank of water and re-use the same coffe powder twice, there will be still some foam and flavor to be extracted, although much less than with the first shot.
If the Kamira gets too hot between 2 coffees, cool it down under cold water as for a Bialetti.
To find the perfect heating technique may take a while (few days or maybe a dozen of coffees) and it depends on the type of stove (gas, induction, electric) and the blend you are using.
On my opinion it is smart to put the coffee cup on the Kamira, as the machine was designed for an italian espresso size, so a relatively low volume of coffee that can cool down if the cup is at room temperature. For this reason in every Italian bar you will find all the coffee cups placed on the hot espresso machine in order to be warm when used.
But once you will have fixed your favorite conditions, it will be the best coffee you've ever had and I can ensure that it will be as creamy as you see in all the youtube videos
you should give it a second try!
I’ve been using Kamira for years and I couldn’t agree more with all your words!
Really exciting to see you cover the Kamira! After using moka pots I tried this out and have now been using it as my daily driver for 3-4 years.
I do a preheat/purge run before brewing that helps things like the water fill issue. There's always a bit of water left in the bottom after use so I put it straight on the heat (No added water, lever closed, no porta filter) and that bit of old water spits out into a cup, usually with some old grounds stuck in the 'group head'. After this, when filling with water and opening the lever, the water gets sucked straight in, and if any is left, running the base under the cold tap for a bit does something to the pressure to get the rest in. Then, it's exactly as you used it, foam and all!
There's a fair bit of room for experientation - I treat it as having all the same variables of espresso and dialing it in is this fun unexplored territory.
I do a very similar thing - I try not to leave any water in my Kamira, but I preheat it before pouring fresh water in anyway, and the suction eliminates the airlock (which happens almost every time). I also try to leave a bit of water in the tank, it seems to prevent sputtering when the valve is released after the brew.
I need a new moka pot, and this comment as well as it being a lot cheaper than I thought it would be (at least if you buy it directly from the maker) makes me think this will eventually be my replacement.
@@tanterouge It's a great option, compared to a moka pot I like how much quicker it is to brew (Larger surface area to heat the water) and the foam adds a fun element to dial in and enjoy.
@@alecadabra64 Okay, now I saw your profile picture and I'm reading your comment in Soldier's voice, which is - of course - bizarre :P .
At first I read the instructions and thought that was a lot of steps, then it turned out to still be quicker than a normal moka.
The old small Brikka with the weighted steel cap is absolutely great, especially with dark roast, if you find the perfect water for it. It is what really got me into coffee, trying to get as close to an espresso shot as possible with it. It soon got me to buy a good handgrinder for better flavor and more experimental freedom and for years made me enjoy the daily ritual of handgrinding the beans, meticulously measuring the water and filling the basket, for then running to the stove in excitement when i heard the hizz of the valve. Now I am in the middle of customizing my beloved La pavoni professional I dreamed of ever since I got into coffee. The brikka is now the best travel companion i can imagine.
So funny, I almost went through the same stages in the past years! Started with my girlfriend´s no name Bialetti thing and bought the old Brikka afterwards. Then started to grind the coffee with a cheap handgrinder an discovered the huge difference in taste from it. After some time came a Comandante and I bought a Gaggia Classic and a Pavoni, both needing to be repaired since then. In short, I upgraded the Gaggia with PID and other stuff and did a kind of selfmade pressure profiling kit for the Pavoni that works great.
Think i should try out the Brikka again soon, as it kind of started this "journey". ;)
Same thing, started with bialetti clone, now I have 3 cezve, 2 grinders, 1 kemex like contraption, frotter and a mini gas stove. Everything is portable and I can drink coffee at the park now. La Pavoni will remain a dream for a while, but now I`m lookin into Flair. It will never stop, lol
Good guy James giving Bialetti almost a month of sales before explaining why you shouldn’t but from them.
I'm very comforted by the fact that James speaks to inanimate objects making noises the same way I do (like small overemotional children)
This is your absolute best video since the coffee alarm clock. It's got everything: lab coat, dropping a product, a weird commercial, an Italian impression, grocery store coffee, a product you've owned for two years without reviewing, a hair reference, a frankenpot, an ad for squarespace. Kudos to you James and your team.
"They established an early coffee and hair connection, which I fully endorse." Had me nearly spit out my cooffee over my keyboard, waking my little baby boy at 05:30 in the morning because of laughing so loud. Amazing!
why though
@@rowen6880 I think it's because James is a coffee expert who also puts a lot of care into hit hair. You can see he even endorses some hair products in the description of his videos. I'm not sure if that's worthy of such a laughing fit, but maybe Patrick found it more funny than we do.
and the see through underware
Caffein has also been found to be helping with hair growth and helping against hair loss, though not sure if it’s the intended meaning here
Thanks to my son Patrick for recommending your videos. I got out a step stool and removed my Mukka from the back of the highest shelf and proceeded to have some coffee fun. What I want to contribute to everyone is that I opened a Keurig Pacific Bold pod. No new coffee purchase, no grinding, etc. The contents perfectly filled the holder. I made a delicious cup, not really the original pod flavor.
I think Brikka deserves more investigation like in previous video. Starting cold or hot water, new and old model
As a coffee terrorist who has the mukka as my only Moka pot and never drinks capuccino, i love it.
If you brew black coffee and let the valve open, you can close it when it starts to "get angry" and the flow stops inmediatly, just as good as the "sink bath" method but way easier. Also the click-clack helps to heat the water in the lower part and then assembly it without so much hassle.
Perfect machine!
Kamira: you basically missed a step, that is the preheating, put the water, open the valve and turn on the heater (without the filter). The water will slowly make its way in the boiler, when it's there close the valve and wait for the water to come out of the other end. Then you can put again some water in the reservoir, add the filter with the coffee and as soon as you open the valve the water will be sucked in the boiler. Close the valve again and wait for your coffee. Of course there are a lot of little tricks and variations, but I'm not an expert, I'm trying to figure out how to get the best from this little machine.
Very interesting... you're basically creating a vacuum in the reservoir... now I'm curious how it handles lighter roasts/specialty coffees...
Sounds almost like priming a siphon in a weird way.
There are several videos around, check them out. There's also a nice version of the machine with a pressure gauge installed before the safety valve.
I actually lift up the release pressure valve to make the water flow down. No need to preheat.
I put the Kamira on a low heat for 30 seconds before adding the water. Goes down easily if you get the temperature right. I don't like to preheat the entire machine because I like a slightly lower brewing temperature to avoid that burnt coffee problem you can get with other moka pots. I do preheat the cup though
For the Mukka Pot: In short, use warm milk and cool water. My best experience with it has been to warm up the milk for 20 sec in a microwave-safe measuring cup before adding to the pot. Also, I use cold water in the boiler and warm it up to temperature because if the water is too hot at the beginning, insufficient pressure is built up to activate the steaming valve.
"It's ok to have fun."
I feel like this gets forgotten sometimes. I would love to see a video on "fun" brewers. I never knew the "Bripe" existed until I saw it here.
And I think the reason why you had trouble getting water into the boiler is because there was no easy way for it to displace the air. By shaking it you were in a way burping it, allowing the air inside the boiler go up the fill tube and out into the atmosphere as the water displaced it.
I have a feeling that people above a certain level realize that most of these devices simply don't work, and it's meaningless to imitate espresso. It's a sweet scam (I also use a Brikka), but still a scam.
@@SajtosNokedliWhat the hell does "people above a certain level" mean?
Love the videos James! I am a huge fan! 🙂 especially when I realized that you are a world champion Barista and you are so humble about it that you almost never bring it up 😊
My favorite of Jame's videos so far. Laughed out multiple times and he just seems like he's genuinely having so much fun.
I had the Mukka right after college and I LOVED it!!! I had a bad roommate who ruined it and I haven’t been able to find a new one since then but I’m so happy to see it in action here!
I own the Brikka (older, weighted cap version) and the Mukka.
The Brikka was my workhorse for almost 3 years, and I loved every minute I was using it. It was simple to use, relatively light, and it produced good coffee on most days.
The Mukka is essentially a Brikka that makes milk-based coffee drinks. I got the Mukka afterwards because I wanted to shorten the workflow, but it is much more difficult to get good coffee consistently out of it than with the Brikka. My best advice for the Mukka is the milk going in should NEVER be cold, because the volume of coffee being produced is simply not enough to heat that large volume of cold milk to being lukewarm even. A room-temperature pseudo-latte is just not a great drink to have in the morning..
Thanks for your input about the Mukka. Every time I have seen that contraption somewhere I was like: Aw, this is so cute. -- However, the prospect of lukewarm cappuccino does not sound that great. What is your take on the durability of the Mukka's valve? I see it is plastic, so it might not last very long.
@@DellaStreet123 thanks for you reply, glad my comment was helpful. I haven’t used the Mukka that long yet to test the durability of the valve, but it seems quite well-built. There’s definitely some weight to the valve as well which leads me to believe that the valve has some metal components inside
Though the Mukka Express is a plebian, somewhat finicky device that requires consistent preparation, and regular maintenance, to get best results, it's my most "fun" coffee maker. My ingredients and brewing method is as follows:
Coffee: I prefer Chicory coffees such as French Market, Lousianne, or Cafe du Monde because of the pronounced but pleasant bitterness that shines through the milk of the very good faux cappocino this coffee maker is capable of producing. These pre-ground, canned coffees aren't of particiularly high quality but the chicory makes the finished product quite tasty nonethelesss. One could use any medium-ground, high quality bean and add chicory to it, or not, but I haven't gotten round to that... yet.
Milk: I've found good quality, whole milk (preferably organically produced, organically produced milk makes the densest foam for some reason unknown to me), works best.
Water: I initially had hit or miss results with the Mukka until I discovered the amount of water used in the lower chamber is dependent on the heat source (the instructiions that came with my "Holstein" pot made no mention of this). It seemed a bit odd to me that the heat souce for the pot would make a difference in the amount of water used in the lower chamber but it does. I have an electric stove so 8 ounces of water is the correct amount; a gas stove requires slightly less water.
First off, I pour the milk into the upper chamber approximately 3/8" below the fill line (the recommended amount will cause a boil over) and put the upper chamber in the refridgerator to chill.
Next, I heat 8 ounces of water to just boiling in my microwave. The heated water is optional, it simply speeds up the process.
Then, I fill the coffee basket to just level, ensuring there is no coffee on the edge of the basket so the pot will seal when assembled. It's OK to shake or tap the basket to distribute the coffee evenly but It's important not to pack it.
I pour the hot water into the water chamber, place the filter and coffee into the chamber, and screw the milk chamber onto the lower just snugly, place the pot onto the stove, set at medium high heat, and press the cappucino button on the top of the pot. As the pot begins to heat up, it will will soon become evident if coffee was carelessly left on the edge of the coffee basket due to coffee spraying out of the joint where the two parts of the pot fit together.
After the cappucino button pops up, then comes the deep rumbling sound. At that point, be fearlessly patient. After all, only one guy was killed by one of the first Moka pots exploding, none by the Mukka (thus far), so rest easy. Besides, the pot has a pop-off valve that will forcefully eject a pin to releave the pressure in the water chamber in the event it's allowed to get too hot. It goes without saying to point the valve away from yourself as the pot heats up.
Helpful Hint: The trick to getting a properly heated drink is carefully listening to the pot after the cappucino button pops up. The low ominous, rumbling sound will rise in pitch and become a sort of odd whistle over the course of a few minutes. Hold fast! Fearlessly wait at least a minute or two after the whistling sound and voila! Nice and hot!
The result of this bit of rigamarole, that is more difficult to describe than execute, is a tasty, faux cappucino with dense foam, abiet more coursely textured than that from a expresso machine steaming wand, that remains at the bottom of my 16 ounce, borosilicate cup.
Clean and dry the milk chamber immediately after use or it will corrode. Remove the inner seal and screen at the bottom of the milk chamber and clean them once a month or so.
Your recipe sounds as mystical as coffee falvour descriptions or as an old spell. “Turn left from the old willow tree. If you hear a dog barking, you are in the wrong place.” I love it!
@@rencix8 Indeed, learning to inflict your personal preferences on this mavelous device is well worth your time. (Apologies for the misspellings. I'm well aware there is no X in espresso: done in, yet again, by autocorrect.)
@@r.daillee1034 Honestly, despite the fact that I will likely never own a Mukka nor use it over my Mokka + french press set up, your comment is amazing and exactly how I feel about brewing with my Mokka pot lol
Chicory 😂😂😂
@@cosettapessa6417 Really gonna be hating on chicory like you drink civet coffee every day.
Two important things about the Brikka: 1. You’re using the new version. Using the old one with the weight would be interesting. 2. You can achieve a really nice “espresso-like” cup by putting 60-70ml of water in the tank, do not overload the gasket with coffee, pour it to a small cup with the lid open, before the brikka “relaxes” - the last part of the steam coming out breaks the foam. Also the weight of the foam over itself helps with maintaining the foam in the cup.
i had the older model and got to make better coffee than i made with my moka express. Still not good to my taste preferences though
Having an old Brikka, I can attest that the precise quantity of water does matter a lot and a pristine seal gasket are super important to the aroma of the coffee. When done correctly, the Brikka makes any of my coffees smell like (delicious) chocolate when brewing... I use boiled water, and grind (sadly) with a blender, so I judge the coffee coarseness by eye. The Brikka likes a finer grain compared to the Mokka. Like the Mokka, I flush the gasket of coffee flat, clean the joints and let it brew. Sometimes it needs a shake, the valve got some character of its own.
when you say 60-70ml, you mean for the 2 cup version correct? i'd like to try this on my 4 cup since i've never heard of brewing this way before
Yeah I too heard the new one is not as good as the old one. I loved my old one. I don’t remember foam. I’m sure mine did a great créma. I still have it but I went bean-to-cup.
I also remember it was a trial and error thing until you nailed the perfect quantities and tamping and beans.
I really enjoyed my brikka, but pressure valve failed pretty quickly for me. Worked great while it did. Thoughts on removing pressure relief? I know its there for a reason.
James reacting to the Bialetti like it was an enraged cat is comedy platinum.
I can’t quite believe how much my coffee has improved with these set of videos. Hats off and a big thank you.
Timestamps
0:00 B-roll and music
0:20 Introduction
1:19 Brikka
7:03 Mukka
11:27 Cuor di moka
14:52 SquareSpace
15:45 SquareSpace code
15:57 Kamira
20:32 what other brewers should I have included?
I've been brewing almost exclusively Moka for at least three years now, and I live close enough to the Tyrolian/Italian border that people here know all the common advice on how to brew a Moka, but this series of yours has put into light how rugged the Italian commoner likes their Moka, because while other components might vary, they all agree on one thing: never, ever wash the inside of the top part l, beyond pouring in some clean water, swirling it around and pouring out again; it's essential for the flavour 🤷
Anyways: thank you for improving my daily brew!
This series pushed me over the edge and I finally got my own coffee brewing kit! got an original style moka pot and a nice hand grinder and I'm really loving the experience of grinding and brewing my own coffee! Still dialing in my grind and how much water or milk i want in my finished brew but I'm thoroughly enjoying myself! makes waking up exciting! Cheers! 😄☕
It’s so wholesome seeing you enjoy the last moka pot, that pure joy from crema is soooo relatable. Just seeing crema ooze out so really something special
I'm so pleased that you've decided to do such an in-depth examination of the Moka Pot. I started drinking coffee late in life and settled eventually on the these little pots because of their ease of use and the richness of the coffee they deliver.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Hi James. Thanks for your presentation. I've owned and used a Kamira for many years. Begin heating the unit BEFORE pouring the water in. Then the water will quickly go down into the unit when you pour the water in.
James seems to have the time of his life in this one - can't stop laughing along, awesome :D
I just want to applaud you time and time again at engaging my attention. I absolutely adore coffee and after recently being on health kick, have enjoyed pure black coffee this past year or two. You have opened my eyes to all the different techniques and flavours I can unlock with some attention to detail that coffee deserves. Bravo and thank you sir.
For the Mukka, maybe microwave/heat the milk before putting it in.. it seems like the Mukka does the good job as foaming the milk though :D
Wish James would have tried it with full fat cows milk too and not just alt. milk. I don't think it'd do that much better but it's an interesting contraption none the less 😁
@@jrqv It wouldn’t make any difference because he’s using cold milk. With the plant based milks there’s Baristas style ones that foam up just like cows milk the results will be the same. I personally would preheat the milk before putting it in the pot.
@@jrqv That Mylk he used actually holds foam better than dairy milk, watch his video on milk alternatives
@@jrqv fat actually disrupts the foam
I get better results doing that too. And it's fun to watch it pop and foam up EVERY TIME!
Having tried a few pots IMHO the Alessi 9090/6 is by far the best stove top (Moka Pot) on the market.
It’s a shame that there are no thorough videos on this little gem 💎
I'd kind of like to see siphon/vacuum brewers on this channel. I think it would be interesting to see James go full mad-scientist with equipment that already looks the part.
As a big fan of the theater that is a siphon brew, I concur!
Siphon Brewer master race! Cleanest cup ever!
In his “World Atlas of coffee“, he argues that they are more trouble than they’re worth and too easy to break. I couldn’t disagree more!
Brikka was quite literally a thing of beauty for me often times.
There were times in depression when all I would have to look forward to was a cup of Brikka and that made my day. It allowed me to start getting into the world of coffee tasting, grinding, brewing and that was all I needed to move on with my life.
When I didn't have the money to buy an extensive setup for Espresso, I relied on the Brikka to get me that 1:4 lungo-esque drink that was palatable and had excellent extraction though a bevy of unbalanced cup was not a farcry from normalcy.
Seeing James having so much fun with this one had me entertained real good, I couldn't stop smiling along.
Hi James, if you make a single shot with the brikka and take of the heat immediately after poor out the first amount of coffe you will have a good expresso shot.
Also you have to do it at low to medium temp, and there is one more thing to have a decent expresso shot crema..don't leave the coffe for long time on the top part of Moka pot beacouse the aluminium make the crema to disappear for some reason!
If you poor it immediately in a cup after you take of from heat the crema will persist long time!
I'll make my expresso shot every morning with brikka and I like it!
Hope that's useful for you!
I'd love to see James' take on the Bellman. The twin spout Bialettis are pretty curious too. Also interested in precision Moka baskets, what a great idea!
I have a twin spout Bialetti/moka from the 80s and it's... Inconsistent 😂
I've been rocking a bellman for a full year and some change. 1-3 cups a day (if I have guests) and I've been told more than once it was "the best cup I've ever had" It beats the pants off a delonghi cheapo and I can run it on a camp stove.
I still use my bialetti when I don't have 15 minutes to make coffee though.
I bought a new twin spout Bialetti last year. Can confirm they haven't been piling money into twin spout R&D since the 80's...
he did a while back. Towards the end of this video: ruclips.net/video/ZgIVfU0xBjA/видео.html
@@J.a.c.o.b thanks, I saw that a while ago but I'd love his take on the whole process including coffee making since they're quite pricey in the UK.
Great video! Brikka is a lot to use, at first I was a little dissapointed with the raging foam and the weird tasting brew. After some research and experimentation, I managed to get a nice brew, and very distinct of a traditional Moka pot:
-Grind coffe finer than traditional moka grind, but coarser than expresso's.
-Prepare the coffee basket: put a washed aeropress filter in the base of the basket. Fill it 90-95% with coffee, then put another washed aeropress filter.
-Fill the base with preheated water at 90º Celsius.
-Put the basket and screw the top. It's crucial to not overtight, when you feel a slight resistance, it's time to stop. I'm not sure why, but seems to be important in the final result.
-Start brewing over a low fire. It will take a while even with preheated water.
-At first, a very light brew will start coming, almost insultingly low. Be patient and keep the fire low. You'll see that little by little, a quite nice crema will start to form, it's crucial to keep the fire low so you get something akin to crema, and not foam. When aprox. half of the water has been brewed, you can serve 2 really nice, intense cups of coffee, then return the brikka to the fire to continue extracting.
-The rest of the brew will not taste bad, but you won't get crema, but foam. I usually drink the first half as an expresso-like cup or make an americano, and the second half of the pot can go into a latte, cocktail, or just a mid-morning pick-me up.
Awww loved seeing James gently talking to the first contender, calming it down. And thank you James for all this lovely experimentation for us to enjoy
I love how much mileage he's gotten out of the Moka pot, in terms of making videos. It's such a simple, elegant device, but there's so much to say about it.
Hi James, it would be interesting to hear your take on "cafecito" (cuban coffee). It seems to be a preparation method used in a lot of the Caribbean and Latin America with the Moka Pot and beaten sugar. Have you tried it before?
Thanks for putting in so much effort into the Moka pot and coffee. I just came across this video thanks to another coffee folk. I have been using a Moka Pot for many years and have experiment and come up with pretty much what you have found out as well. Makes me happy to know I figured it out. One thing I that I find has an over all change on the coffee is whether or not one tamps the coffee in the basket, something I have a tendency to do too much. After watching this I am going to play with my grind and how much tamping I do. Thanks for the wonderful site!
I've been using a Brikka for almost two years now, it's a bit of a complicated machine to be honest, surely the brew that comes out of it it's really strong, I would say about double or 1.5 as much caffeinated and concentrated as a normal moka pot, and since I like a lot strong espresso I really like it, the thing is though that it's very sensitive on the doses of water, ground coffee and temperature, some little variations result in a very different brew. I use medium heat, it will take a while, like 4-5 minutes to come out.
The crema is somewhat irregular but finding the right temperature will help a lot.
This has been exactly my experience with it. I've had it for years and, now also took one to the office. I loooove it.
I have the kamira as well and absolutely love it. I found it at a flea market in Rome, and was happy to realize there were directions on how to use it online. The air pocked thing is annoying and as others have said, putting it on the stove and heating it up for a few seconds or so makes the water get sucked into the chamber. Mine has the double shot head for it, and as others have said, there are tricks to getting the best coffee out of it. There are also ways to get less of that aerated foam and get more of a "crema" style foam. Anyway, I love how the coffee tastes and it's a conversation piece with guests.
If I’m not pouring it out into one cup, I would always stir the coffee still in the pot for the same reason I would stir an espresso. It makes all the difference as the coffee from the mokka pot creates layers of differently extracted coffee while brewing.
I bought my first espresso machine 40 years ago but could never get a decent crema, until maybe 10years back when I found out/realised that you need a fine grind (finer than packaged ground coffee) to cause enough back pressure to allow the machine to build up to its 6 or 8 bar specification. Now, my fourth machine is a DeLonghi and I note that after the filter plate, the coffee has to be forced through a very small hole, which guarantees a correct pressure and it produce an excellent crema with even a coarse ground coffee. Have just found your channel and find it very helpful and interesting. I wish it had been around 40 years ago!!
"I'm not going to say what" he means square mile! I applaud his objectivity. Most company owners would do anything to spread their brand.
Love you James.
Oh my gosh, I never had so much fun watching a dude making coffee. All those boring experts cannot even reach the stirring entertainment and this honest excitement. You Sir, made my day. 😊😊😊
Watching James shushing the moka pot as if it were a baby to calm it down is something I never expected to see in my entire lifetime
Morning James...
For once a short concise & helpful video.
We use a 6 cup pot and have done so so for mmmm over 15 years. We tend to use the German vacuum packed ground coffee by Movenpick...
The hint to use a low more gentle heat - very informative. Avoiding the traditional gurgle - very interesting.
I tested this on my wife and she noticed a definite improvement.
Thanks
After watching your 9barista review, moka pots and their variations have been of great interest. Now, finding you’ve done an entire series is a pleasant surprise!
We use those for Cuban coffee. Fine grain dark roast. We add little coffee to sugar and whisk it till it’s like a paste. Then add rest of coffee and mix. Will create foam that way
Genuinely delightful to see James so excited about a couple of these. Would love to see more showcases of weird, fun brewers like those!
The Moka Pot is not weird, it's the most popular way to make coffee in the world except for the US, UK, and a couple of other countries. The Moka pot has been around for almost 100 years, so that should tell you that it doesn't make crappy coffee. James is an odd duck, he likes Nespresso coffee, I tried that, it lacked body and flavor, but his taste buds probably prefer that, doesn't mean he's wrong, but he is an Englishman, and they don't like strong coffee, in fact, at home most English people prefer instant coffee?! Yup, they will have cans of Nescafe next to jars of tea, so at home their taste in coffee is a lot more bland than even Americans, and our taste is pretty bland! As is our taste for beer, yuck, I can't stand light beer, but my taste buds are different, I like dark beer, and I like strong-tasting coffee, so for me, the coffee that comes out of the Bialetti Brikka Moka Pot is fantastic.
@rekmeyata chatGPT ass comment
Hoffmann hates Nespresso with a passion, and the original commentor was calling the little Mokka variations weird not the Mokka pot itself. Why you spent the rest of the comment describing how Americans are superior to Brits I have no idea but the reason you wrote the thing in the first place is because you misunderstood two attemtps at communication and I think you should maybe think before you type.
Also the thread is 11 months old
I’m not sure what I like more about this video, how excited James is to try everything out or how much he talks to the Moka pots as if they’re beloved pets or children.
I have a brikka and usually use cafe bustelo supreme (DARK DARK roast). I get enormous amounts of crema with this coffee, more than others in my brikka. So I definitely think roast level affects this. But I always leave the lid open when pouring to help the crema not get stuck on the inside top of the lid. Also, as soon as it starts spurting I pour it quick into the cup. I find it I take if off the heat and then run water on the bottom I still get too much of that bitter nastiness. Took a bit of tweaking but I've got it consistently delicious now.
18:50 I would have never imagined him laughing like that! Loved it!
For the Mukka Express you should pre-heat the water as well, otherwise the drink will indeed be cold. It’s against the instructions but works much better!
there's no way they'd produce a pot that only makes cold coffee - was a bit surprised James didn't persevere with this to find the solution
I approve this message.
I was on fence getting a moka after listening the Moka series. By chance I received one as a gift. After rewatching this video 3 times I finnally used it and it was one of the best coffee I ever made! Much better than any of my attempts at a decent V60. Thanks James!
17:27 to get the water to go down with the Kamira you should open the valve and turn up the heat. Heating the empty boiler with the valve open will help the water flow down.
Anyway, I think this happens because air gets trapped inside the boiler with nowhere to escape. The water in the tank acts as a plug. Heating the boiler builds up enough pressure to let the air escape through the water in the tank making space for it to flow down.
Also, I'm a huge fan of the Kamira (being Italian myself); it brews on the "colder side" because you haven't used it as intended:
you should first brew once with only water but with an empty basket, next, you fill the basket, refill water, and brew normally.
Anyway I'm very happy you brought the Kamira on your channel, I was sincerely curious about your opinion. Thanks for the content
Finalmente ha recensito Kamira! Era ora, e guarda come si è divertito! Grandissimo e Kamira diobono è coffeep0rn ahahahahaha
Why would anyone not want this level of joy with every cup that the Kamira gave James? I want to see it with hot water added.
I have the Brikka. Got a couple of months ago and I was so enthused about it because I was only ever brewing french press. I have a Timemore C2 hand grinder, so watched tons of videos to figure out ratio, grind size and technique. My first 6 brews were… Underwhelming to say the least. I made so many slight tweaks and voila! That one day something just worked. After a few tries, here are some things I found out:
- Brew from boiled water. I’m lazy so I just boil the water in the bottom holder. Although, I would turn off the heat and leave it for a few mins to cool off ever so slightly before I start brewing.
- Low temp on the stove is a must. It just tastes stronger and less hollow. I can get a really small fire so it doesn’t boil too angrily too fast.
- Don’t fill the coffee or water to what is recommended for the Moka Express. Lesser somehow is better. For coffee I fill it up to just below the brim. Coffee to water ratio of 1 : 8 works best for me to get a really strong coffee to go with milk. While 1 : 13 works better as a black
- Grind size matters so much. On my Timemore I did a cupping for 8, 10, and 12 clicks on my dial. I thought 12 was great. So I stuck with it in the beginning. But as I adjusted other aspects, the coffee just began to taste more hollow/empty. Then one day I decided to try 14 and it was delicious! Not saying that is the right grind size for the Timemore C2 but just saying that adjusting a mere 2 clicks of the dial made a HUGE difference for me.
- My Brikka loves to whistle in the beginning. I thought it was going to explode. I worried too much, obviously. The whistling happens for half a min at the start then just stops.
- Brikka comes out fierce and fast so once it starts to get hissy, I turn off the heat and let the residual heat continue to brew it until it just begins to sputter before running the base under the tap.
Expres vs brikka which one is better
@@slambergamer91 Afraid I can’t be certain because I only own a Brikka. But I am very happy with it.
I have a silicon replacement gasket that seems to hold the seal better than the regular rubber gaskets. Btw, a tip for helping the gaskets to last longer is to unscrew the pot as soon as you can after brewing - don’t keep it screwed down tightly for too long!
This was a great series and the final episode is my favourite. I enjoyed how James almost treated the pots like unruly children. Funny and informative.
I used the Bialetti 1281 Mini Express that i brought home from Italy when my espresso machine died during quarantine. I had bought it as a souvenir but it ended up saving me when I had to wait for parts twice over the course of one month. Made a decent little cup ☕
You should definitely try the Alessi 9090 for 2 main reasons: very fancy (exhibited in MOMA NY, designed by R. Sapper) and does the best job with light roasts (by far)
Also the Pulcina By Alessi and Illy would be interesting
Lavazza crema e gusto is my absolute favorite coffee. Either as ready grounded or ground it by myself.The 3 videos about moka pots were really amazing. Of course Im not a coffee hobbyist. I will stick to my Silvia or my Dedica in the summer home. But I really enjoyed all the 3 videos.
Interesting... that means my old "GSI Mini Outdoor Espresso Maker" is actually a moka pot. It looks kinda like a miniaturized moka pot with the Kamira style spout. It makes a great little caffeine shot for cold mornings when you're getting ready to hike through the woods.
It would probably make a good franken-moka platform. I broke my spout on mine; when I reached out to the company for a replacement part, they sent me an entire new brewer. GSI customer service is top notch.
Yes! I had to dig mine out and follow James advice and for the first time had drinkable coffee.
I agree with the kamira suggestion already given. The reason why the water doesn’t want to be flushed, is the fact that there are air bubbles in the pipe. Heating the machine with the water in the tank will release the air and allows the water to sink down. Cheers!
At the bialetti store was a brewer that split the brewed coffee into two cups; like there were two straws the coffee git out of and you could place two cups underneath. Would love to see that one in action! Great video!
The Mini Express! I have one but haven't gotten around to trying it out! Was hoping to see it in this video
I got that one as well but have not test it yet：）
Pm poo poo poo
I have that one! It's so fun, a real crowd pleaser, I break it out at parties.
I've been using Kamira for 3 years and I love it actually, even if it's very hard to be consistent with it. To make the water going down you have to heat the base first (few seconds on the flame/induction), than you need to "brew" water once without coffee, in particular if your room temperature is chilly/cold. Also, it's made for super-short coffees in fact the full chamber is for 2servings (you can buy a double-size filter). In fact, you brew a single coffee, you are supposed to use half chamber. You need to practice a lot testing different flame intensity, valve opening timing, and each coffee bag will be drastically different... However, I still love it, at first sight I thought that was "made with love", it's "warm" looking
hello james could you please make video about cafe been molds ? and what you can do about it, its maybe not commen in your country but in other part of world its becoming worst, i had this problem dizzyness after drinking coffee and it toke me about one year to find about this mold.
Watching this is the most fun I've had all week. I don't know what that says about my life but I'll stand by it
Super nice video as always, I was hoping that this one would come out soon!!!
That said, I got much better results with my Brikka (after seeing some youtube hack videos) using cold water on the base, but also using less water then the recommended... the faux crema actually goes to the cup (need to serve with the lid opened) and the taste is better than a regular Moka for me
(but if you exaggerate and use a very low amount of water of course the acidity goes through the roof - it took some try outs to get to the perfect recipe for me)
Could you please share some links to those hack videos. I too get better results with cold water and pouring coffee out before the final gurgling. Also find it works a lot better with robusta blends such as crema e gusto
@@FaithGasolineMusic I saw a number of them, and also surfed through the comments to find some tips. I found one of the videos that I remember seeing first
ruclips.net/video/V2bx-5HOuDQ/видео.html&
(be mindful that he uses the older version, but the main tip was the ratio - he uses 1:4, I usually go to 1:5 and above - and serving the coffee immediatelly)
I have an old Brikka that used a weight instead of a silicone valve and am using a darker roast with some robusta so your mileage may vary, but the trick to keeping the crema is taking the pot of the heat as soon as you hear it hiss and then pouring the coffee right away.
James Hoffman is the type of guy to waterboard his crying coffee brewer
I cannot get over how lucky I am that you made this series just as I am starting to get into coffee using a moka pot.
I’m about to level up to making espresso with a Flair 58 but these videos have inspired me, confirmed some things I was getting right and corrected some things I could do better with my humble moka pot.
It’s so fantastic that there is a creator with the ability to take ones curiosity to the nth degree and test these things to their absolute limit and explore every avenue of a hobby. Not one of us could do this ourselves but here it is for us all to watch and learn from. Wonderful, fulfilling content.
crema e gusto is my go to for moka pot style coffee tbh. it's far more forgiving than my usual specialty coffee choices (probably because its designed for the 'traditional' brew method and flavour) and i prefer how a moka pot coffee tastes with the style of beans
I've owned a kamira for years but aren't using it all that much anymore, i'm from the place where it was invented and it was really nice to see it exposed here :) , it's messy as heck but once you know how to handle it, it's a nice and funny experience, the coffee that comes out of it is not half bad too.
If water doesn't go into the internal sink, preheat the pot for a minute or so at low heat and with the lever down. Also after you use it you should remove the excess water that remains there by flipping it over, still with the lever down. You can regulate how much foam you want too by regulating both heat and pressure with the lever down for a second and then putting it back to the fully closed position.
Your newer version of the Brikka is definitely different from the one I have. It has more like a metal valve on top. Would be interesting to see if there is a difference between old and new. For me the silicon slit doesnt seem like an appropriate improvement over a metal valve. But who knows.
I was also wondering that newer version. My has just heavy weight on top of spout for generating pressure
The newer brikka can handle finer grind than the old one. I got both or them. if I put older one with espresso type of grind, the water would not have enough pressure to push up the weight valve but the newer one doing OK
Same here, I have the older, original Brikka. Works very well, built to last.
Wondered about that as well, this thing also looks way less "explosive" when the coffee comes out
I also thought the same. I've used mine prob a dozen times and have never gotten any foam at the start. Mine just starts putting coffee through.
We love our Brikka. We use a medium-dark roast. We cold water in it on a low, direct gas flame. Amount of water in base is important. Use the measuring cup. Do not over fill. Great coffee for our taste.
The best Moka pot is the Bellman CX-25P Change my mind! I still have a bialetti tho and use it when I don't have time
Fascinating watching James dealing with things over which he can't exert his normal level of control. At one point with the Brikka I thought "Oh, he's a normal guy" Then ! THE LAB COAT.
Your brikka is newer version. I have (4) old version brikka with metal pressure cap, and seems like it work differently than your brikka.
For brikka, I usually use cold-room temp water with good espresso blend coffee beans. It seems like that you used too much water. For my brikka (2 cups size), I usually use 80gr of water and it is far bellow the safety valve level.
It would be interesting, if you can find old version brikka and review it.
I have the older version I get good results using boiling water measured up to the H2O mark before pouring into the base.
Yes brikka is never filled to the valve
My 4 cup is 150ml and to the valve would be 250-300ml
I also got the old weighted valve version, 2-cups. The way I do it are the following: 1. Start with a flame that just covered the bottom of the pot as suggested by the instruction. 2. When the first coffee appeared on the top, I turned down the heat a bite. 3. I keep adjusting the heat, up and down in order to maintain a steady slow flow of coffee on top and keep listening to the pot for signs of “too much boiling “ 4. It is true that I still get a mild “angry” noise at the end but the foam still formed in my coffee that last in my cup. The coffee is good and no harsh taste, every balance and sweet, I use 18g of medium roast coffee and pressed a little bit on the coffee ground with a spoon.
@@sid35gb yes. On 2 cup brikka, the h2o level in the top compartment is around 80-85cc of water
“Look at that!!” With all the excitement and enthusiasm as Dr. Frankenstein’s “it’s alive!”
What always surprised me about my Moka Pots here the difference in flavour I saw dependent on size. I much preferred the mellow and rounded extraction I got from my tiny 3 cup over the 9 cup (both Aluminium). This seems counterintive to your assumptions about the larger water reservoir keeping lower temperatures during the brew. Maybe channeling in the larger basket?!? I'm curious whether you noticed something similar.
Ok I thought i was the only one being crazy on noticing the difference. I love the 3 cups and had used it for years and then i used the burrka and the coffee taste bad! So now i dont know how to make the big one taste the same as the tiny one
Yes, the better moka pot is the Belman CX25p. It lets you control the start of the pre-infusion and the pressure. It then also has a built in milk steamer that works great. I love it so much and never use my moka pots any more.
for brikka, I'd pour out the coffee with the lid open so the crema pours out too.
love your videos.
it never comes out. i have it and i always get it out with a spoon
Hi James! I'm Your big fan and most of my right knowledge about cofeee I got from You. There is a little secret I've found using Muka Pot. It works much better on electric (or induction with special adapter) than on gas kitchen. Try to use Muka on steel plate like with first Moka Pot. Problem with cold milk will be eliminated because Moka have much more time for heat itself.
Thank You for Your great job in coffee lovers world, Best Regards - Peter