A stovetop brewer in which steam pressure from a lower water chamber forces water up through a puck of coffee and into an upper collecting chamber, producing a strong, concentrated coffee often used as an espresso substitute.
Coffee-to-water ratio
90–110 g per litre (typically 100)
Grind
Medium-fine, finer than drip but coarser than espresso.
Water temperature, as commonly used
95-100 celsius (typically 98)°C
Contact time
240-360 seconds (typically 300)
Skill level
intermediate
Descriptive grind labels like this are illustrative starting points, not precise measurements — the same label can mean different particle sizes on different grinders. See the grind size guide for how to dial this in on your own equipment.
In short
A moka pot is a stovetop brewer in three parts: a lower chamber for water, a funnel-shaped basket for coffee, and an upper chamber where the brewed coffee collects. Heat builds steam pressure in the sealed lower chamber, and that pressure pushes hot water up through the coffee.
It makes a small, strong, heavy-bodied coffee, stronger than filter and weaker than espresso. Its reputation for bitterness is mostly a matter of heat: the same pot that scorches coffee on a high flame makes a rich, sweet cup on a low one.
Why it is not espresso
CoffeeHQ explanation
A moka pot works at roughly one to two bar of pressure, against around nine for an espresso machine. That is enough to move water through a medium-fine bed but not through the fine, compacted puck espresso requires, so the brew is less concentrated and has no true crema.
The other difference is temperature. An espresso machine holds its water below boiling. In a moka pot the water is driven by steam, so it reaches the coffee very hot, and hotter still as the lower chamber empties. Managing that heat is the whole technique.
The recipe is built into the pot
Typical range
Unlike most brewers, a moka pot is designed to be used full. The basket and the water chamber are sized for each other, so the ratio is largely fixed by the pot you own.
The recipe is built into the pot
Variable
Typical range
What moving it does
Water
Up to just below the safety valve
Never cover the valve. It is the pot's pressure release.
Coffee
A level, full basket, not pressed down
Works out at about 90–110 g per litre. An under-filled basket lets water rush through unevenly.
Grind
Medium-fine: finer than drip, coarser than espresso
Too fine and the pot struggles and tastes harsh; too coarse and the brew is thin.
Heat
Low to medium, with the flame no wider than the base
The most important setting. High heat is the usual cause of a burnt taste.
These describe a traditional aluminium or steel stovetop pot. Sizes are named in small 'cups' of roughly espresso volume, so a three-cup pot makes one mug at most.
A method that avoids the bitterness
CoffeeHQ explanation
Fill the base to just below the valve. The maker's manual read for this page specifies cold water, filled to just below the safety valve and never above it. Some people start with hot water from a kettle to shorten the time on the heat; a hot base is a burn risk to screw together, so follow your own pot's instructions.
Fill the basket level and leave it loose. Heap the coffee in and level it off with a finger. Do not tamp: the pot cannot generate the pressure to push through a compacted bed.
Screw it together firmly and use low heat. Make sure the rim is clear of grounds so the seal is tight, and screw it together by the body, not the handle. Set the pot on a low to medium heat, with a gas flame no wider than the base, close the lid as the maker directs, and stay with it.
Take it off as the sound changes. The coffee comes through in a steady flow that you can hear with the lid closed. When the flow gives way to sputtering, remove the pot from the heat at once.
Pour, then let it cool. Pour once the pot is off the heat, so the coffee does not sit on hot metal. Let the pot cool before you unscrew it, as the maker directs.
From the first pot to your pot: change one thing
CoffeeHQ explanation
A moka pot gives you fewer controls than most brewers, which makes it a good one to learn on. Two things are fixed by the pot and are not adjustments. Three are yours: the heat, the moment you take the pot off, and the grind.
Make one pot and watch it. Brew as above and notice three things: whether the coffee arrives as a calm stream or in spurts, what the last of it looks and sounds like, and how the cup tastes, first as it is and then with a little hot water added. Those are what you will compare the next pot against.
Leave the water and the basket alone. Water to just below the valve and a full, level, loose basket are how the pot is built to work. Using less coffee to make it weaker leaves a gap the water crosses without resistance, and the brew comes out thin and harsh together. If it is too strong, add hot water in the cup.
If it spurted: change the heat. Heat is the nearest thing this brewer has to a flow control: more heat makes steam faster and drives the water through sooner. If the coffee came up in spurts, use less heat next time and change nothing else.
If the stream was calm and the cup is bitter: change when you take it off. Take the pot off at the first sputter instead of after it. The pot will hold back a little more water, and that is the trade. If it is still bitter after that, lower the heat.
Then the grind, by a small step. Thin and quick on low heat: a little finer. Slow, dark and struggling: a little coarser. Stay clearly coarser than espresso. Grinder numbers do not transfer between grinders, so move one small step and brew again.
Change the coffee last. A dark roast is bitter in any brewer and a moka pot serves it strong, so some bitterness belongs to the coffee and not to your technique. If every pot is harsh once the heat and the stop are right, try a medium roast before buying a different brewer.
One change per pot. Two changes at once and you will not know which of them did it.
When it goes wrong
Tendency, not a guarantee
Bitter, burnt or metallic
Usually because: Too much heat, or the pot was left on until it finished sputtering. The final phase is steam passing through spent grounds.
Change first: Lower the heat and take the pot off as soon as the flow starts to sputter.
Very little coffee comes through, or steam escapes from the join
Usually because: The grind is too fine or the coffee was tamped, or the rubber gasket is worn or dirty and the seal has failed.
Change first: Take the pot off the heat and let it cool completely before opening it. Then grind coarser and do not press the coffee down. If steam leaked at the join, clean the rim and the gasket, and replace a hard or cracked gasket with the maker's part.
Usually because: The water went through too easily: a part-filled basket, a coarse grind or high heat. A light roast can also taste sharp at this strength however it is brewed.
Change first: Check the basket was full and level, then grind a small step finer, staying clearly coarser than espresso. If it also spurted, lower the heat before touching the grind.
Rinse every part with hot water after each use and dry it before reassembling. Old coffee oil left inside turns rancid and is a common, overlooked cause of a harsh or stale-tasting brew. The belief that a pot should be left unwashed to season it does not hold up; what builds up is residue, not flavour.
On detergent, follow your own pot's instructions. The best-known maker of aluminium pots says warm water only, no detergent and never a dishwasher; a stainless-steel pot from another maker may be different, and its manual is the authority.
Check the gasket and the filter plate from time to time. A gasket that has hardened or cracked will let pressure escape, and the brew will be weak and slow however you set the heat. Replace it with the maker's part for your size of pot; one maker recommends a new gasket at least once a year, and sooner if it is worn. For descaling the base, and for anything to do with the safety valve, use the method in your pot's manual.
What the maker's instructions insist on
Sourced
A moka pot is a small pressure vessel on a hob. These points are from one maker's printed instructions for its aluminium pot, read in full. Your own pot's manual comes first.
Cold water, to just below the valve. Fill the base with cold water up to the lower edge of the safety valve and never above it. The valve is the pot's pressure release and has to stay clear.
Coffee level and loose. Fill the funnel with ground coffee without pressing it down. A tamped or espresso-fine basket can resist more than the pot's modest pressure can push through.
Lid closed, flame within the base. Brew with the lid closed. On gas, keep the flame from reaching beyond the base of the pot, and stay with it while it is on the heat.
Cool before opening, and not by the handle. Let the pot cool before unscrewing it, and grip the body to open or close it: the handle is not made to take that twist.
Check the valve when you wash it. The same instructions say to move the valve's small piston when washing the pot, so that limescale does not clog it, and their rule for any malfunction is not to use the pot and to contact the dealer or the maker. That a piston which will not move freely counts as one is CoffeeHQ's reading, not the sheet's wording: do not use the pot until the maker's instructions for it have been followed.
These are one manufacturer's instructions for one aluminium product. They say nothing about stainless-steel or electric pots or about other makers' designs.
Making more or less, and the hob you have
CoffeeHQ explanation
A moka pot does not scale. Each size is built for one batch, with its basket and its base matched, so the way to make less coffee is a smaller pot and the way to make more is a larger one or a second brew. Half-filling the basket or the base changes how the pot behaves, not just how much it makes. To change strength, add hot water or milk in the cup.
The hob matters more than it does for most brewers, because the heat is the main control. A small pot on a large gas ring is hard to keep gentle, and the flame can reach the handle. An electric or ceramic ring keeps giving heat after it is turned down, so the pot may need to come off it altogether at the end. Aluminium does not work on an induction hob without a steel adapter plate; many steel pots do, though not all. The moka pot maker page goes through the materials and which hobs they suit.
Two things worth trying once
CoffeeHQ explanation
Each takes two pots of the same coffee. They show, in your own kitchen, what the two main controls do.
Your usual heat against the lowest that works
Change
Brew one pot on the heat you normally use and one on the lowest setting that still brings the coffee up.
Keep the same
The coffee, the grind, the fill of the basket and the water level.
What to notice
Whether the stream is calmer, how long the pot takes, and whether the burnt edge in the cup is smaller. If you can taste no difference, heat was not your problem.
Off at the first sputter against off a little later
Change
Brew one pot and take it off the heat the moment the steady flow gives way to sputtering. Brew a second and take it off a little later, as you used to.
Keep the same
The coffee, the grind, the heat, the fill of the basket and the water level.
What to notice
Taste the two side by side once they have cooled a little. It is the plainest way to find out what the end of the brew adds to your cup. Do not put a pot back on the heat once it has finished: the maker's instructions say never to heat one without water in its base. Mind the hot metal when you handle the pot.
Compared with its nearest alternatives
Tendency, not a guarantee
Espresso machine — High pressure, conventionally around nine bar, and controlled temperature produce a much more concentrated shot with crema. A moka pot makes something strong, not the same thing.
AeroPress — Can make a similarly small, strong cup with paper filtration and no stove, and is cleaner and less roasted in flavour.
French press — Also metal-filtered and full-bodied, but brewed at ordinary strength and far gentler on the coffee.
A short history
Widely documented
The moka pot was introduced in Italy in 1933 by Alfonso Bialetti, and the octagonal aluminium design of his Moka Express is still the one most people picture. It became a fixture of Italian homes in the decades after the Second World War, when it made strong coffee possible without a bar's espresso machine.
It takes its name from the Yemeni port of Mocha, long associated with the coffee trade. In Italy it remains the ordinary way to make coffee at home, and it is the usual base for a breakfast caffè latte.
What to do next
Espresso machine vs. moka pot — sets out what the pressure difference means for the cup and for what you can make with it.
Moka pot bitterness — the single most common complaint about this brewer, worked through cause by cause.
Grind size guide — moka sits in an awkward gap between filter and espresso settings, and this helps you find it.
Make my coffee better — choose the moka pot and tick what you noticed, and it gives the one change to try first and what to watch for.
The moka pot as an object — sizes, aluminium against steel, which hobs each suits, and the care of the valve and the gasket.
Become a barista — A structured programme from dose and grind through milk, drinks and maintenance.
Owning a moka pot: the parts, the heat and the safety valve
A moka pot is the one brewer on this site that builds pressure over a flame, so owning one starts with knowing what each part does and what must never be done to it. This part covers the anatomy, a first setup, how to control the brew with heat, what each fault points to, and the parts that wear.
Your maker's instructions come first. Every safety line below is from one maker's instruction sheet for its aluminium stovetop pot. Stainless steel, induction and electric pots, and other makers' pots, have their own instructions, and those are the ones that apply to yours. Nothing here describes altering a pot.
I have just bought one. What do I do first?
Unscrew it and name the parts. The base, which the maker calls the heater, with the safety valve in its side; the funnel that holds the coffee; and the upper part with the gasket and filter plate under it and a column up the middle.
Check it is complete and undamaged. The maker's instruction, before every use, is to make sure the valve, the funnel, the gasket and the filter plate are intact and correctly in place.
Wash it with water only. The maker asks for a thorough wash with water before first use, and for hand-washing without detergent from then on.
Make and throw away the first brews. The maker says to make at least three brews and discard them before drinking any. Use the same steps as below.
Fill the base with cold water to the lower edge of the valve. Never above it. The valve has to stay clear of the water to do its job.
Fill the funnel with coffee ground for moka, and do not press it. Level, loose, with no grounds left on the rim. The maker says never to use a fine grind and never to press the coffee into the funnel.
Screw it together firmly, by the body and not the handle. Tight enough to seal. The maker says not to open or close the pot using the handle.
Heat it gently with the lid closed, and stay with it. A flame no wider than the base, or a medium setting on an electric or ceramic hob. Take it off the heat when the upper part is full. Then taste, and change one thing next time.
What each part of a moka pot is for
The base, or boiler
Holds the water. As it heats, the air and vapour above the water expand and push the water up the funnel's stem.
The safety valve
A small valve in the side of the base that opens if the pressure rises too far, for example because the coffee is blocking the way. It must stay above the water and must never be covered or blocked.The maker asks for the valve not to point towards you when the pot is on the heat.
The funnel
A basket with a stem that reaches down into the water. The coffee sits in the basket and the water is driven up through it.
The gasket
A ring under the upper part that seals the joint between the two halves. If it does not seal, water and steam escape at the middle and the pot will not brew properly.
The filter plate
A perforated disc held in place by the gasket, above the coffee. It keeps the grounds out of the upper chamber.
The column and upper chamber
Brewed coffee rises through the column and collects in the upper chamber, which you pour from.
The lid, handle and knob
The maker asks for the lid to be closed during use, and for the pot to be moved only by its handle and knob, because the metal gets hot.
Heat is the control you actually have
CoffeeHQ reasoning
The dose is fixed by the basket and the water by the valve, so the amounts are built into the pot. What is left to you is the grind, how the basket is filled, the heat, and when you stop.
More heat raises the pressure faster and pushes the water through the coffee sooner and harder. Less heat gives a slower, steadier rise. What you can watch is the stream in the upper chamber: a steady, quiet flow is the brew going well; spurting and spitting means steam is coming through.
Brewers commonly take the pot off as the steady flow gives way to sputtering, since the last part of the brew is widely found to be the harshest. That is common experience, not something measured. The maker's sheet says to remove the pot when the upper part is full.
Starting with hot water in the base: a choice, with a cost
Common practice
Some people fill the base with water that is already hot, so the pot spends less time on the heat before the brew begins. It is a widely repeated suggestion and nothing read for this site measures what it does to the cup.
The maker's sheet says to fill the base with cold water. A base full of hot water is also hot metal that then has to be gripped and screwed tight, which is a real burn risk. So this is a workflow choice some brewers make, not a requirement, and your own pot's instructions come first.
What changes what in a moka pot
Each line is a tendency and the mechanism behind it, not a promise about taste. The last part of each says what else the result depends on.
Heathigher or lower
Higher heat brings the coffee up sooner and faster and is more likely to end in spurting. Lower heat gives a slower, steadier rise.
But it also depends on: The hob. Gas, electric rings, ceramic and induction deliver heat differently, and a small pot on a large ring is heated up its sides.
Grindfiner or coarser
A finer grind resists the water more, slows the brew and tends to make a stronger, more bitter cup. Coarser lets it through quickly and thinner.
But it also depends on: Safety, before taste. The maker says never to use fine-ground coffee, and a grind fine enough to block the basket is what the valve is there for.
How the basket is filledlevel and full, or under-filled
A level, full basket gives the water an even bed to pass through. An under-filled one lets water through easily and gives a thin brew.
But it also depends on: Not pressing it. The maker's instruction is never to press the coffee into the funnel.
Water levelto the lower edge of the valve, or below it
Less water gives a smaller brew from the same coffee. More than the maker's level is not an option: the valve must stay clear.
But it also depends on: The size of the pot, which is why a pot is bought for the amount you drink.
When you stopat the first sputter, or after it
Stopping as the steady flow ends leaves out the last, steam-driven part of the brew. Leaving it on gives a little more coffee and usually a harsher cup.
But it also depends on: The heat. On gentle heat the end of the brew is easier to see coming.
The coffeedarker or lighter, fresher or older
A dark roast gives the heavy, bitter cup the pot is known for. A lighter roast can taste sharp in a moka pot.
But it also depends on: Taste. This is a change of drink, not a correction.
When a moka pot goes wrong
For each thing you might notice: what to consider, since there is rarely one cause, and the first thing to try. One change, then brew again.
It sputters early
Consider
The heat is too high
Too little water in the base
The basket is under-filled, so the water rushes through
A leak at the middle joint, so pressure is escaping
Try first: Lower the heat. Check the water reached the lower edge of the valve and that the basket was level and full.
Try first: Check the coffee was not pressed and is ground for moka. If the valve vents, stop: take the pot off the heat and let it cool completely before touching it.
A part is missing or out of place: the maker's first answer is to check that all parts are present
The pot is not screwed tight, so pressure is escaping
The pot is leaking
No water in the base
Try first: Take it off the heat and let it cool completely before opening it. Then check it is complete, filled and tightened. Never heat a pot with no water in the base.
The coffee is watery
Consider
The basket was not full
A coarse grind
Coffee meant for a filter machine
Heat so high that the water went through at once
Try first: Fill the basket level to the top, without pressing, and brew again on lower heat.
The cup is harsh or bitter
Consider
The pot stayed on the heat through the sputtering end of the brew
High heat
A grind that is too fine
Old coffee oil in the pot, or a very dark roast
Try first: Take the pot off the heat as soon as the steady flow gives way to sputtering, and change nothing else.
Try first: These are the maker's three checks, in this order: tighten it, look at the gasket for wear, and clear any coffee from the rim. Do all of them with the pot cold.
Steam escapes from the valve
Consider
The coffee is too fine
The coffee was pressed into the funnel
Too much water in the base
A fault in the pot
Try first: Take it off the heat and let it cool. The maker's checks are the grind, that the coffee was not pressed, and the water level. If the valve still vents after that, the maker's instruction is to stop using the pot and contact the seller.
There are grounds in the upper chamber
Consider
The filter plate is missing, damaged or not seated
The gasket is worn, so the plate is loose
A grind fine enough to pass the plate's holes
Try first: With the pot cold, check the filter plate is in place and held firmly by the gasket.
Change one thing, observe, learn
Each of these changes one thing and holds the rest. Brew the two side by side where you can, and write down what you notice before deciding which you prefer.
Off at the sputter against left on
Change
Take one brew off the heat as the steady flow ends. Leave the next on a few seconds into the sputtering and then take it off. Do not leave a pot on the heat until the sputtering stops: the maker says never to use it without water in the base.
Keep the same
The coffee, the grind, the fill and the heat.
What to notice
How much more coffee the second gives, and what that last part tastes like.
Low heat against medium
Change
Brew once on your lowest steady heat and once on a medium setting.
Keep the same
The coffee, the grind, the fill and when you stop.
What to notice
How the stream behaves and how the two cups differ. Stay with the pot both times and keep the flame within the base.
Two grinds, both made for moka
Change
Brew with your usual grind and one a small step coarser.
Keep the same
The coffee, the fill, the heat and when you stop.
What to notice
The speed of the brew and the weight of the cup. Do not test a finer grind than coffee sold for moka: the maker rules it out.
What to avoid with a moka pot
Filling above the lower edge of the safety valve. The maker's instruction is cold water up to the lower edge of the valve, and too much water is one of its checks when the valve vents. Never covering or blocking the valve is CoffeeHQ's caution, not the sheet's wording.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Pressing the coffee into the funnel, or using a fine grind such as coffee ground for an espresso machine. The maker says never to do either.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Opening the pot while it is hot. The maker's instruction is to let it cool down before opening it.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Too much heat. The maker says a gas flame must not go beyond the rim of the base, and an electric or ceramic plate should be on a medium setting and not its highest.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Heating it with no water in the base, leaving it unattended, or putting it in an oven or microwave. The maker rules out all three.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Using it when the valve vents and the grind, the fill and the water level are all as they should be. The maker's instruction is to stop using the pot and contact the seller.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Opening or closing it by the handle, or putting anything in it but water and coffee ground for moka.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Touching the hot metal, standing the hot pot on a surface that heat can damage, or leaving it within reach of children. The maker says to move it only by the handle and knob, that the base reaches high temperatures, and to keep the pot out of reach of children.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Any modification: a different valve, a blocked valve, a tamped basket, or a part from another maker's pot. This is CoffeeHQ's caution; the maker's sheet asks for its own spare parts, suitable for the model in question, and nothing else.CoffeeHQ reasoning
Care, and the parts that wear
Every time
Wait for the pot to cool completely, then wash it by hand with warm water and no detergent or abrasive. The maker says this pot cannot go in a dishwasher.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Move the small piston that sticks out of the safety valve along its axis while you wash, which the maker says keeps limescale from clogging it.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Store every part completely dry, with the pot left unscrewed and not closed up.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Tip the grounds out without knocking the funnel on anything. The maker warns that beating it can bend it out of round and spoil the seal.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
From time to time
Check that the holes of the filter plate are clear, and open any that are blocked with a soft brush or a needle.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
Descale it regularly. The maker's sheet gives its own method, brewed through once with no coffee and followed by a wash and a brew that is thrown away, and says what to use; take the quantities from the sheet for your pot.Maker's instructions: Bialetti Industrie
This is one maker's care for an aluminium pot. A stainless steel pot may be washed differently; its own leaflet says how.CoffeeHQ reasoning
Parts that wear
The gasket
Hard, cracked or flattened, with water or steam escaping at the middle joint. The maker says to replace it when worn, and recommends at least once a year in any case.Maker's instructions
The filter plate
Bent, corroded or with holes that will not clear. The maker says to check the internal parts periodically and to replace a worn or damaged one only with its own spare for the model.Maker's instructions
The funnel
A rim that has gone out of round, so the pot no longer seals even with a new gasket.Maker's instructions
The safety valve
A piston that does not move freely when you wash the pot. CoffeeHQ's caution, not the maker's wording: do not use a pot whose valve is stuck, and ask the maker or the seller.CoffeeHQ reasoning
What else changes how it is used
Only the things that change the brewing. None of this is a list of things to buy.
The right size of pot
The amounts are built in. A pot cannot be half-filled to make less, so the size is the recipe.
Coffee ground for moka
The maker requires it, and it is the one grind the basket and valve are designed around.
A spare gasket and filter plate of the maker's own
The parts that wear, and the usual cure for a pot that leaks at the middle.
A hob that suits the pot
A pot has to be made for the kind of hob it stands on, induction most of all, and a small pot needs a small flame or ring. The maker's leaflet for your pot says which hobs it suits.
From the first brew to knowing it well
Fill and assemble it the same way every time. Cold water to the lower edge of the valve, a level basket, no pressing, a clean rim, screwed tight.
Learn the heat. Find the lowest setting on your hob that still gives a steady stream. This one setting does more for the cup than anything else.
Learn the stop. Watch and listen for the moment the steady flow ends, and take the pot off then.
Adjust the grind within what the pot allows. A small step coarser or back, never finer than moka grind, and one change at a time.
Keep it sound. The valve piston moving freely, the plate's holes clear, a gasket that is still soft. A pot that is looked after is a pot that stays safe.
Extraction basics — What heat and time do to what the water takes from the coffee.
How this method is usually described
Produces a strong, concentrated cup with a heavier body than filter coffee, often described as more bitter than espresso; the usual explanations are heat at the end of the brew and a pot left on the stove too long.
A description of the usual expectation, not a measured result. The coffee, its roast, the water and how it is brewed change the cup at least as much as the brewer does.
Two things are fixed: cold water to just below the safety valve, and a full, level basket that is never tamped. Then change one thing at a time: the heat if the coffee spurts, the moment you take the pot off if it is bitter, and the grind by a small step after those.
Derived from CoffeeHQ's own Change the Taste guidance for this method, not a marketing feature list.
Water temperature
Brew or steep time
Grind size
Cleaning, prep or maintenance
Freshness
Dose
Change the taste
Tastes burnt
(Moka pot)
The brew tastes scorched or acrid — usually from the last of the water boiling dry through the puck, not from the coffee alone.
Safety note
Cool the base under cold running water briefly to stop brewing once you remove it from the heat — never open a moka pot while it is still pressurised or hot.
Try the first step below on its own, taste, then move to the next one only if needed.
Change
Try
Why
Watch for
FirstWater temperature
Decrease: use a lower stovetop heat setting
A gentler, steadier heat reduces scorching risk.
—
Brew or steep time
Check / reset: remove from the heat as soon as the flow sputters
Stopping before the pot boils dry avoids drawing burnt, steam-forced coffee through.
—
Grind size
Increase: a small step coarser
Reduces resistance and the risk of an overly slow, overheated brew.
—
Cleaning, prep or maintenance
Check / reset: check the gasket and funnel are clean and seated correctly
A worn gasket or blocked funnel can force water through unevenly, promoting burnt flavours.
—
When to reset: Use lower heat and remove promptly before trying grind changes.
Rinse all three parts and the gasket with hot water after each use and dry them before reassembling. On detergent, follow your pot's instructions: the best-known maker of aluminium pots says water only, no detergent and never a dishwasher.
Replace the gasket with the maker's part when it hardens or leaks (one maker recommends yearly), check that the safety valve moves freely, and descale as your pot's manual describes.
Each step links to its own page; this is the order they belong in.
I have coffee and a brewer
You own something to brew with and want a good cup from it.
Find your brewer's page, start from its recipe, and change one thing at a time. The later steps are for when the cup is not right, and for finding out why a change worked.
1Find your brewerWhat it does to the coffee, and a starting recipe labelled as a starting point.
2Work out the amountsCoffee and water for the cup you are making; the recipe scaler follows from it.
3If the cup is not rightChoose the brewer, tick what you noticed: the quickest check, and one change.
4One change per brewThe same loop written out for filter coffee, from the first brew to a recipe you keep.
5Why the change worksStrength and extraction as two numbers, and what a taste can and cannot tell you.
6Test it yourselfHow to compare two cups so the difference is the thing you changed.
