Can a moka pot replace a coffee machine? “This is a curious question for many people when planning to buy a mocha pot. Because they have a relatively high demand for coffee, but the price of coffee machines can be several thousand or even tens of thousands, which is not a necessary expense, most friends will turn their attention to relatively affordable mocha pots.
Of course, the substitution here does not refer to functionality, but rather to whether coffee made from a Mocha pot can replace espresso made from a coffee machine. Because both are pressure extraction methods, the coffee produced will have a higher concentration than conventional single products, which naturally leads to this idea. Great, then let me tell you through an experiment whether coffee made from a Mocha pot can replace espresso extracted from a coffee machine!
This experiment will use the same coffee beans to make a cup of espresso and a mocha pot of coffee, and then compare the differences between the two! The coffee beans used here are still the backbone of the front street store: Warm Sun Mix. The powder content is 20g, and the grinding degree is uniformly on the 1.6 scale of Galileo Q18 (flour like thickness).
The powder to liquid ratio used for extracting espresso here is 1:2, which means that 20g of coffee powder extracts 40ml of coffee liquid.
The production of Mocha pot coffee uses a powder to water ratio of 1:4, and 20g of coffee powder is made using 80ml of hot water. Because the mocha pot coffee made here is a high concentration version, less hot water is used. In terms of production, it will also be more complicated than making regular mocha coffee pots. The final poured coffee liquid weighs 45ml, with a powder to liquid ratio of 1:2.25.
Due to the lingering oil in espresso, the first thing you feel when tasting espresso is the dense texture of the oil, followed by its rich and balanced taste. In terms of flavor, I tasted butter cookies, chocolate, berries, and whiskey aroma from espresso, and the overall taste is very thick with a long-lasting aftertaste.
Next is Mocha pot coffee, which is a concentrated drink that is consumed first. In comparison, the difference between Mocha pot coffee is very obvious. Firstly, its concentration is not as high as concentrated coffee, so the overall taste is not as strong as concentrated coffee. Secondly, because its bubbles dissipate quickly after extraction, and the concentration is not as high, the taste is slightly thin. But the flavor performance of coffee is still quite outstanding, with almost all concentrated extracts, indicating that a complete extraction has been obtained.
The main reason for this difference is that the extraction pressure of a Mocha pot is not as high as that of an Italian coffee machine. Although both are pressure extraction methods, the extraction pressure cap of the Mocha pot is around 3 bar, while that of the coffee machine is around 9 bar, which is a significant difference. So this leads to the fact that even if the mocha pot is adjusted, it is difficult to extract the same concentration as espresso, and the taste and texture will be slightly inferior. But we need to know that the reason why the Mocha pot was invented was not to replace the coffee machine (which cannot be done), but to provide a more convenient coffee extraction tool for everyone. Although the coffee it extracts is not as strong as espresso, its concentration is still sufficient to make a cup of “Italian coffee” with excellent flavor and taste (such as milk coffee, black coffee, etc.), but it is not as outstanding compared to real Italian coffee.
Small and portable, easy to operate, and affordable are the advantages that distinguish Mocha pots from coffee machines. If everyone’s daily coffee demand is not that high and they just want to make a cup to satisfy their appetite at home, then a mocha pot is completely capable of doing this job.
之所以会有这样的区别，主要是摩卡壶的萃取压力没有意式咖啡机那么高。虽然同为加压式萃取，但摩卡壶的萃取压力封顶就在3bar左右，而咖啡机则在9bar左右，相差甚远。所以这就导致，即便摩卡壶再怎么调整，也很难萃取出与浓缩咖啡相同的浓度，味道和口感都会稍逊一筹。但我们需要知道，摩卡壶被发明出来的原因本来就不是为了取代咖啡机（也做不到），而是给大家提供一个更加便捷的咖啡萃取工具。虽然它萃取出来的咖啡没有浓缩咖啡那么浓，但其浓度也足以制作出一杯风味、口感俱佳的“意式咖啡”（例如奶咖、黑咖等），只是相对于真正的意式咖啡来说没有那么出彩罢了。
Post time: Apr-08-2025