[reprint] Lao Qin explained the five skills of mocha pot coffee operation.

Lao Qin explained the five skills of mocha pot coffee operation

First, do not use mocha pots to make individual coffee. As far as making a single product is concerned, the control of the water temperature is the most important condition, and the second is the control of the grinding thickness. These two basic conditions are the prerequisites for making a good single product coffee, which can be summed up in one sentence as "constant temperature and atmospheric pressure". Constant temperature is a relatively stable water temperature maintained in a relative period of time, which involves the technical level of the operator. Normal pressure, that is, under the conventional pressure of the natural environment, this is mainly a brewing tool. From this premise, the selection of hand-made and siphon pots are most suitable for "constant temperature and atmospheric pressure", so they happen to be the best tools for making individual coffee, and they are also the preferred tools for baristas to recommend them. It should be said that there is not much objection to this, but whether it is siphon or hand pulping, their familiarity with the operation technology and techniques is still relatively high, and they do not have certain practical experience. It is difficult for beginners to make a good cup of coffee that really reflects the flavor of a single product. If you want to maintain the long-term stability of a single coffee, you need continuous accumulation of experience and continuous improvement of the operator's level.

Second, correctly select the coffee beans suitable for the mocha pot. From the manufacturing principle of the mocha pot, it uses the high temperature and high pressure produced by steam to extract coffee, while "high temperature and high pressure" is the least suitable for making single coffee, but only suitable for Italian espresso (please note, the Italian espresso here does not refer to the Italian espresso extracted by the Italian machine that is "constant temperature, high pressure and fast"). The correct choice for the coffee beans should be to mix the Italian beans. Its requirements for baking and grinding are also completely different from those of individual coffee beans.

The mocha pot is a simple and easy to learn coffee brewing tool. The mocha pot itself is a popular and household-oriented tool for brewing coffee, and it requires very little technical operation and is easy to master, otherwise it would not be a household name in Italy. So I think mocha pot is the first choice for new coffee starters.

Do not attempt to use mocha pots to make Espresso. Many people see that mocha pots also use steam pressure like Italian machines, so they try to use mocha pots to make espresso like espresso. this is still due to a lack of in-depth understanding of the great difference in brewing principles between mocha pots and Italian machines. One is "high temperature and high pressure", the other is "constant temperature, high pressure and fast", so this attempt is completely futile, and the result must be tragic without exception. This is like a small digital card camera trying to capture the illusory effect of a large aperture in a SLR full-frame camera. Although the principles are similar, the final effect will be completely different because the hardware conditions are completely different.

Don't be fooled by dazzling production tools. The biggest misunderstanding and defect of newcomers lies in the correct understanding, identification and selection of different coffee beans. Anyway, I know that some friends love coffee very much, but their love for all kinds of beautifully made coffee tools, especially Italian machines, goes far beyond the coffee beans themselves. Maybe men are born with some machine control, in the arbitrariness and uncertainty of the operation procedure. As a result, the coffee brewed from the mocha pot is bitter and difficult to swallow, so it is concluded that the mocha pot is difficult to master. In fact, a closer look at the cause has something to do with it. It should be noted that no matter how exquisite coffee-making tools are, they are all for coffee, and their ultimate goal is for a cup of good coffee with strong flavor. Just as the best and more expensive camera is to finally take a good picture, the real photographer is to pursue a good picture rather than a camera. The ultimate goal of a true coffee master is a good cup of coffee rather than a tool.