Coffee like an Italian: the Moka Pot

Look, beautiful. See? Slow but steady. There is this aroma. It's a beautiful process. Has a certain size for a reason. It's the right amount of coffee. In Italy, I have to say, most of the people I know just use cold water. Welcome to Marco in America. Today we're gonna make coffee. Actually, there are basically two ways to make coffee in Italy. Espresso and mocha. Personally, I consider the mocha pot, as it's called here, as the quintessential Italian invention. It is simple, efficient, and poetic. Why do I consider it poetic? Well, because your senses are involved. It's not just a matter of putting coffee here, some water, go back later. You have to engage with the process. It involves your smell. There is a sound. There is this aroma. It's a beautiful process. Why is it efficient? The beauty of the mocha pot is that you can take it with you. Be that home, you're traveling, in the office, camping, pretty much anywhere. As long as you have water, coffee, and a source of heat, you're good to go. And why is it simple? Well, this is what I'm gonna show you right now. Okay, first thing to know is that the mocha pot consists of three parts. There is this lower chamber, there is a filter basket, and then there is what they call an upper collection chamber. I want to share this with you because I think it can be useful when you have to deal with Italians and making coffee. This is a nice way to make coffee. It's cheaper than having an espresso machine, cheaper than using coffee pods, and it's better than using the regular drip coffee, in my opinion. You trust me. The very first thing you need is water, and I have to say there are different opinions when it comes to this, which means either to use cold water or hot water. Personally, I use hot water because after trying, I realized that the coffee doesn't get this kind of metallic aftertaste, and it's faster than using cold water. But in Italy, I have to say, most of the people I know just use cold water. I'm here to tell you right now, we don't care. What I do, I get hot water. The main thing is you want to be sure that the water doesn't go over the line where this little bolt is, which is a valve here. If you use hot water like I do, make sure to get a towel. Now, next thing you need, of course, is coffee. If you can grind your own coffee beans, that's the best I would say. Coffee will be the freshest. Remember to grind it medium fine, but if you cannot, that's fine. You can do what most Italians do. No shame, of course. That was easy. So now we have water in the lower chamber, we take the filter, we position it here, see? The water doesn't go there, so we are good. We take our coffee, you can use a spoon, and little by little, you fill the filter. This is already a bad mistake. My grandmother would be really upset. Never waste coffee. A common mistake you need to avoid is to press it. You do not press the coffee, you just reach the ridge and that's it, like this. I mean, the filter has a certain size for a reason. It's the right amount of coffee. Now, if you're gonna use hot water, like I did, grab a towel, because the lower chamber is gonna be hot. And now you place the upper chamber, you twist, it has to be tight. Simple. Now it's time to have our coffee. The rule is, the lower, the better. Okay, this is a common mistake. You want to keep the heat low, as low as possible. Now, one thing I do is I keep the lid open. Okay, I prefer to do it, because otherwise it will create a kind of moisture that can, I don't want to say ruins the coffee, but you can, you can taste the difference. Most people in Italy don't, don't care. So one thing is happening now, is that the water will start to boil. This will create a pressure within the lower chamber and it will push the water through the filter, through the coffee, which will come on the upper chamber. One thing I do is when the coffee reaches half level, I turn off the stove, I take the mocha pot away and I let the cough come naturally. Then there is one more thing and this is the most, how can I say, poetic about the mocha, which is, you have to develop the ability to understand when the coffee is done. There is no machine, no beeping, no nothing that will tell you. You have to understand it yourself. And this is something you have to understand based on the mocha pot you use. When there is no more coffee to be extracted, so you will only get water. You don't want the last drops of water. See this? This is just water. This will water it down, the whole coffee, which is not something you want. So you take it out, you place it underwater, it will stop the coffee from coming and you will drink a better coffee. That said, most Italians don't care. We don't do that here. Now, last thing you want to do before serving the coffee is to stir it in the mocha pot. You want to do this because the first coffee that came up, it's the heaviest, it's the cream, and it stays at the bottom. So when you stir it, it's going to be nice for everyone to drink the same coffee. So you want to use a small espresso cup for your coffee. That's how we do it in Italy. Then freedom of expression. You want to use a mug, you want to use a jar, go for it. It's all good. And this is a great resource to have in the morning. You take your time, you focus on the coffee. This is good. Good coffee indeed. When you're done and you have to clean the mocha pot, do not use detergent. You just unscrew the upper chamber, you get rid of the coffee stuff, and you wash it with water. That's it. Make sure to take a towel and dry the mocha pot nicely. By the way, this is a mocha pot for at least three people. If it's too strong for you, you can add hot water, make it an Americano. You can add milk, you can add sugar. Your coffee is ready. I hope you enjoyed. I hope it could be useful for you. See you next time.