How a Moka Pot works

How a Moka Pot works is a very simple, yet ingenious process. Simply put, heated water under its own pressure is forced through coffee grounds. The expelled liquid, the brewed coffee, is caught in a seperate reservoir to the heated water.

The Detail behind how a Moka Pot works:

Ground coffee is placed into a funnel that is lined with a metal filter (part of the funnel), diagram, section B. Water is placed into the bottom reservoir, diagram section A.

See Moka Pot brewing tips here.

The Moka Pot is then placed over a stove top flame that starts to heat the water. The Moka Pot has a rubber seal between sections A & B. The allows the heated water to build its own pressure (steam pressure). The steam rises through the funnel and pushes its way through the coffee grounds.

The steam and coffee mix continues to force its way to the only exit up through the center spout, diagram, section C. Once the brewed coffee reaches the top of the spout, it falls into the upper reservoir, diagram, section C. When the brewing has completed, the upper reservoir contains the brewed coffee, the lower reservoir has much of its water expended.

This methods is not necessarily the best for brewing coffee as it requires the water to be boiled. This can lead to the coffee having a burnt taste to it. Espresso machines regulate there temperatures below theboiling point and will produce a better tasting coffee.

The benefit of a Moka Pot is that you can have real coffee (not instant) brewed almost anywhere (even camping). And the cost of a Moka Pot is a fraction of the price compared to an Espresso machine.


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