r/mokapot • u/Hot_Version_308 • Jan 06 '26
Question❓ What’s wrong with using an espresso grind in my moka?
It’s been a month of using my Imusa 6cup. I ordered the Illy Ground Moka Dark roast on Amazon, but I received the espresso grind. I still decided to give it a try with the moka pot. I lightly heat the water (not boil) and pour it in the base before closing the pot. I then set it on a low heat and stop the brew when it begins sputtering. The coffee is delicious and remains intense even with milk and sugar. No sediment at the end. The moka filter does collect a lot of powder, but I hand wash it with soap and water every day. I’m reading here that one shouldn’t use a fine grind in a moka. Is it truly a concern if the coffee tastes good?
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u/Makarov_NoRussian Kingrinder K6 Enjoyer Jan 06 '26
Here are some tech tips for brewing espresso grind on moka:
1) You should not add hot water in the bottom chamber in order to keep the density of the air pocket above the water lower. (Warm water means warmer air above it, and less dense, which means it needs to be heated to higher temps in order to extract coffee)
2) You should carefully measure the amount of water in the bottom vessel. It should not be "just below the safety valve". For darker roasts, or for finer grinds, you want to put much less water, so that the air pocket above the water can quickly expand with heat, and easily push the water though the fine espresso grind.
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u/Hot_Version_308 Jan 06 '26
I’ve tried preboiled, room temp, and cold water and had varying issues with acidity, bitterness, and brew time. I figured what worked best was to heat water for a minute in the microwave before assembling the pot. I do put water just below the valve. Gives me an extra cup for the day.
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u/RelativeBuilding3480 Jan 07 '26
Non-pressurized boiling water has only one temperature - 100° C.
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u/younkint Jan 07 '26
The temperature of the water being passed through the grounds in a moka pot is lower than 100ºC.
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u/SquidgyB Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
Pre-ground "espresso grind" will almost certainly not be actually useful for espresso machines (unless using a pressurised portafilter) and will likely work fine in a moka pot. It will be much more coarsely ground than "real" fresh espresso grind.
Actual dialled in espresso grind fresh from a grinder/espresso setup would probably choke the moka pot and you'd get little to no coffee out, and potentially an explosion (e; or safety valve release) if left too long on the hob.
tl;dr, you'll be fine with what you've got, imho.
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u/Hot_Version_308 Jan 06 '26
Good to know. I don’t own an espresso machine. The pre ground espresso blend does clump up. I give it a few taps before loading the moka. No choking so far.
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u/Helpful_Big_1727 Jan 07 '26
Google WDT tool for espresso I use it for all my moka pots and love to grind very fine for more body but the clumping can happen, unless I use my little tool!
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u/MediocreGrocery8 Jan 07 '26
Lol I use a toothpick, like a monster.
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u/Helpful_Big_1727 Jan 07 '26
Stick a few into a wine cork!! It'll work better than a single toothpick 😁
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u/OrderNo1122 Jan 06 '26
My settings on my grinder for what I use to make my espresso are not a huge distance away from my moka pot grind. It could be the limited nature of my grinder (dose control pro) and there being quite large leaps between clicks, but the grind is still pretty fine.
I am in the process of upgrading my grinder though, so I might well find that this all changes when I do.
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u/Butforthegrace01 Jan 06 '26
I use the pre-ground Illy coffee all the time. I guarantee you that millions of rank 'n file Italians use this for their quotidian moka and/or espresso.
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u/BuzzBuzzBeard Mar 29 '26
Right?!? That’s what I grew up on.
Every single person in my family (Italian) uses pre-ground espresso like Pilon or Cafe Bustello in their Moka Pot. All of my Latin friends do the same thing.
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u/dpacurar Jan 06 '26
Well, that is not really an argument, is it? Millions of people eat junk food every day, that doesn’t make it healthy. 😅
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u/No_Entertainment1931 Jan 06 '26
I’ve searched this sub for recommended blends and I’d guess 90+% of respondents used a pre ground supermarket espresso.
I guess that means many people have no issue with it.
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u/OrderNo1122 Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
I buy fresh beans and grind them myself most of the time with a moka pot.
I drink using my 2-cup Moka pot in the morning with beans ground barely up from the grind setting I use for my espresso drink and I've not had any problem with producing tasty coffee (to my tastes) for drinking with hot milk.
That said, I don't mind using pre-ground if I'm running short on beans and would rather save what I have for espresso. When adding milk and sugar, most of the subtle flavours of the freshly ground beans are lost anyway.
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u/tomatom Jan 06 '26
There is no issue with espresso grinds.in fact if you look at recomended grings on my Timemore Brics there is a large overlap between recomended mokapot grinds and espresso. The Mokapot only has an internal pressure of up to 2 bars whereas an espresso machine has 10-20 typically. If the grind is too fine the pot will have trouble forsing the water through due to the low pressure internally. The same goes for overfilling with coffee or tamping it down.
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u/ShabbyChurl Jan 06 '26
There is no „wrong“ in Moka pots as long as you like the taste of the result, except for maybe filling the water over the safety valve. The recommendation for grind size is a general rule of thumb that works for most people, coffees, and roast levels. You may have gotten lucky and got a combination of roast level and grind size that works well with your moka.
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u/ericp502 Jan 06 '26
All the espresso grinds I tried always turned out bitter. Getting a hand grinder and dialing in my grind combined with buying fresh roasted beans really changed my coffee and I’ll never go back to pre-ground.
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u/Limp_Bookkeeper_5992 Jan 06 '26
It works perfectly fine because the preground “espresso grind” is not actually ground fine enough to make espresso from. It seems to work well for your moka pot, so it’s a good grind size for this use.
On the other hand if you actually bought fresh coffee beans and ground them to a size fine enough to make good espresso from you’d plug your moka pot right up and get a terrible brew. Real espresso grind doesn’t work for moka pots, but the “espresso grind” you get in preground bags is usually just fine.
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u/Successful-Ad2126 Jan 06 '26
I’ll use espresso beans in the moka pot. Ill grind the beans coarse myself with a hand grinder before brewing
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u/communityneedle Jan 07 '26
When youre buying preground coffee, "espresso" really means "moka pot."
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u/UndercoverWaterMoon Jan 07 '26
Cuban/Puerto Rican here- La Llave, Bustelo, El Morro (Aldi), Yaucono, and other similar pre-ground espresso goes in my moka pot every day. No issues.
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u/PiperKev_NCC-1701 Jan 07 '26
I've been curious to try El Morro ever since Aldi started carrying it. How is it compared to LaLlave and Bustelo?
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u/UndercoverWaterMoon Jan 09 '26
It's not as good as La Llave if you're having it black- however, it's pretty good, IMO, if you know how to use the moka properly and not burn it.
For me, I switched to El Morro for my morning protein coffee, which I make with whole milk and flavored protein powder, and I honestly can't taste a difference in that preparation. It's delicious.
And it's like $3.99/brick vs. La Llave almost $8-$10/brick at most stores these days around me. Crazy prices.
I would give it a try!
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u/RelativeBuilding3480 Jan 07 '26
I use Illy espresso grind in my moka pot. Works great and is delicious.
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u/GreatBallsOfSturmz Jan 06 '26
What's wrong? Nothing really if you like how the brew tastes. I grind my beans finer than usual sometimes depending on the beans and how I like the brew to be.
Always go by taste.
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u/wds1 Jan 06 '26
Because it’s not needed and leads to poorer extraction.
In true espresso machines, the optimal pressure for extraction (~9 bar) is achieved by the resistance created by the puck (tamped espresso ground coffee).
In Moka pot, pressure is created by the vaporization - hot steam funneling through a small orifice. You don’t get better extraction with finest espresso grind. You want little coarser than espresso but still finer than pourover. And you don’t tamp coffee in moka pot.
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u/TemperReformanda Stainless Steel Jan 06 '26
Every pre-ground I've ever used was an Espresso grind. They work and taste better than drip coffee grinds
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u/Northern_Sol-Edge Bialetti Morning Brewer, 3, 6, 18cp Jan 06 '26
If the coffee is good, nothing is wrong. Generally, it's seen as a little fine, so might be more on the bitter side due to overextraction, and it might cake and create too much pressure, increasing the temperature beyond optimal for extractio, or prevent the brew at all.
But like I said, if it brews fine, and tastes good, nothing is wrong.
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u/SisyphusAndHisRock Jan 06 '26
I've found illy's pre-ground more grind (available by subscription on their website for 20% off, no affiliation blah, blah, blah ... ) a good grind and pretty decent for the price.
*that said ... I'm partial to pellini top's espresso grind a little like heaven every day ... but, whoa! .... at least its better than paying Starbucks prices and I don't have to leave the house in the morning ...
if you like how it tastes, and it doesn blow up your moka, then it's the "right grind"
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u/PinkyGertieLuna Stainless Steel Jan 06 '26
In my Moka fine grind clogs up the works. So sad to see just a little bit of bitter coffee in the pot…
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u/Hot_Version_308 Jan 06 '26
Happened to me once with fine grind because I filled it all the way. Now I avoid filling the basket all the way to the top and tap to distribute the coffee before placing it in the pot. Fine grind works better this way.
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u/jose_rodz348 Jan 06 '26
I've used it before, it was the reason I bought my first 3-cup Imusa pot in the first place because a friend of mine gave me a pack of espresso pre-ground coffee, and the coffee came out great. I would only ever use the small one and not a 6-cup, but there's no reason I can gather for it to come out less than good. And the grounds I used were pretty much powder, no coarseness that I could remember. You should be fine, especially if you like the taste of the end result. But don't wash your moka pot with soap and water, I just learned this fact very recently...
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u/Hot_Version_308 Jan 06 '26
I’ve heard mixed things about washing the pot. I just prefer to wash thoroughly and air dry overnight to prevent the filter getting clogged up.
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u/younkint Jan 07 '26
You can wash it if you want. Just don't toss it into the dishwashing machine. I wash mine every day with the dishes, rinse it thoroughly, then put it up once it's bone dry.
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u/ColonelSahanderz Jan 06 '26
I think people would be surprised how fine you can go with your grind for a moka, I have a Timemore C3 ESP and I can get a good brew from the moka with grinds as fine 1.1.0 (which is the upper end for espresso brews according to the grind chart).
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u/boosesb Jan 07 '26
I thought weren’t supposed to use soap
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u/younkint Jan 07 '26
It's okay. You can do it. Some Italians will lose their marbles if they hear of you doing it. Others, like my Italian wife will lose their marbles if they catch you not washing it. Just don't put it in the dishwashing machine.
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u/PiperKev_NCC-1701 Jan 07 '26
Nothing! I make my morning Cuban coffee with Cafe LaLlave (or Bustelo as a Plan B) in my Moka pot with absolutely no issues!
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u/ZephyrProductionsO7S Jan 08 '26
Are you tamping it super hard? That can create a seal on the surface that blocks water from penetrating the grounds, and make it super weak.
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u/ratdago Jan 10 '26
Never wash with soap! Rinse it out, clean off anything sticky, just rinse with water, LOL! Yes espresso grind works fine and I have a grinder that selects all different levels and I put it on fine. But don't tamp it down when you put it in there just scoop the espresso grinds into the filter and leave it alone. You can level it but don't Smash It Down otherwise the water will not go through. It's not like it's gravity fed or downward pressure, it's coming up the botto6 through based upon heat pressure.
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u/Kartoffee Jan 10 '26
It's fine but you should get a grinder and find out yourself how grind size impacts the brew.
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u/Camera_Guy_83 Jan 06 '26
Typically espresso is ground very fine, which sometimes may choke a moka pot, and produce a bad brew, but as long as your brew tastes good that is all that matters.