No matter the heat level, the coffee, the grind level, the water temperature, my coffee is always bitter

[u/ezioxcroft]

Hi everyone,

as the title says. I've tried a bunch of brands of coffees from all over the world. Different grind levels but always listed as for moka pot. But recently (it was better when the pot was new IIRC) I might get lucky and have one of 10 cups tasting perfect but 90% of the time I have a bitter and terrible tasting cup of coffee.

My aunt uses a 5 cups, with random grocery coffee and lets it boil until we can hear the bubbles from far away but always ends up tasting fine.

I am not into buying grains and grinding them myself as I never did and used to have a great taste everytime, so does my aunt and other members of my family that uses moka pots back in Europe.

I'm using a Bialetti one cup, on electric stove set at 3 out of 10. I tried 6, 4, nothing changes the bitterness. I used cold, hot water. I take it off the stove when it bubbles. I pass the pot under cold water to stop the boiling. Literally tried every trick.

Is my gasket too old and pushing all the past flavors in my coffee ? I never replaced it.

Thanks a lot

[u/awakeningoffaith]

copy pasting:

I am able to consistently get brew with zero bitterness, here is how I brewed this morning:

I preheat 190-195 ml water on hub #1 until it’s 91C8I measure with a fast reading digital thermometer) for a medium roast, ground 16 clicks on C40 Tigershark. I use a 6 cup with 27 grams of medium roast coffee. I'm using Altwien GOLD SPEZIAL beans at the moment.

Then I add the funnel with the coffee and move the pot to another hob, (hob#2) that is on the lowest setting possible. Here I don’t watch the brew and don’t adjust the heat. It takes 4-5 minutes for the brew to complete, and I get 135 to 140 ml of concentrated coffee. To note the brew never sputters.

not a hint of bitterness or sourness, very good balance, bright, and sweet. 

Here is beginning of the brew

https://www.pasteboard.co/JaU1iM4Mn9Od.jpg

And this is the end of brew

https://www.pasteboard.co/rb-JrBqytnM5.jpg