French Press vs Moka Pot: Which One is Best for You?

published on: 2022-05-12

As more and more people have gotten interested in making great coffee at home, people have also started to wonder should they get a French press or a Moka pot.

Let’s try to answer this question and help you make a good decision. Few questions to explore regarding French press vs Moka pot as a coffee brewing method:

• Coffee preparation time
• Ease of brewing
• Quality of coffee
• Price

But first, let’s start with a brief description of each method.

What is a French Press?

A French press is a coffee brewing device that consists of a cylinder-shaped carafe, a plunger, and a filter. The carafe is usually made of glass or clear plastic so you can see the coffee brewing inside.

To make coffee with a French press, you’ll need to measure out your coffee grounds and hot water, then pour them into the carafe. After letting the coffee steep for a few minutes, you’ll push down on the plunger to filter the coffee grounds from the finished brew.

Some of the reasons why people love to use a French press are:

• You can make a large batch of coffee at once and store it outside of the carafe to drink throughout the day.
• French press coffee has a rounder flavor than coffee made with many other methods. The reason is that as the brew time is a relatively long, there’s more time for the hot water to extract all that goodness from the ground coffee beans.
• It’s difficult to over-extract the coffee with a French press, so you don’t have to worry about making your coffee taste bitter. In other words, French press makes it easy to make excellent coffee as you’ll only have to be able to pour hot water on the ground coffee beans, stir a bit and wait for 4 minutes before plunging.

To make good coffee using a French press, use a medium-coarse grind size.

What is a Moka pot?

A Moka pot is a stovetop coffee maker that was invented in Italy in the 1930s. It’s also sometimes called a stovetop espresso maker because it’s similar to the espresso brewing method.

A Moka consists of three chambers: one for water, one for ground coffee, and one for catching the brewed coffee. It’s typically made of aluminum or stainless steel.

Sometimes Moka pot is referred as a way to make espresso, which is not really true. While you can brew excellent strong coffee with a Moka pot, it doesn’t produce true espresso because it doesn’t use enough pressure to force the hot water through the coffee grounds.

Why use a Moka pot? Here are a few reasons:

• You can make a small or large batch of coffee with a Moka pot, depending on the size of the pot.
• Moka pots are easy to use and don’t require any special skills.
• It’s easy to control the brewing temperature with a Moka pot, so you can avoid making your coffee taste bitter.
• A Moka pot coffee has a bolder flavor than coffee made with many other methods.

You need to remember that the ideal grind size for Moka pot is finer than what you would use for a French press, almost as fine as you’d need for an espresso.

French press vs Moka pot

So, now that we know a little bit more about French press and Moka pot, let’s compare them in terms of preparation time, ease of brewing, quality of coffee, and price.

Coffee preparation time

Both French press and Moka pot will take about the same amount of time to prepare the coffee grounds and hot water. However, French press will take a few minutes longer to brew since you need to let the coffee steep for a few minutes before pressing down on the plunger.

In general it takes 4 minutes to brew coffee with a French press and about a few minutes to brew coffee with a Moka pot. That doesn’t take into account the time to grind the coffee beans, but that’s pretty much the same for both brewing methods.

One thing to keep in mind is that both of these brewing methods require you to spend some time cleaning afterwards. Especially the Moka pot can be a bit tricky to wash.

Ease of brewing

When it comes to ease of brewing, the French press is the clear winner. All you need to do is measure out your coffee grounds and hot water, then pour them into the carafe. After letting the coffee steep for a 4 minutes, you’ll push down on the plunger to filter the coffee grounds from the finished brew.

On the other hand, brewing with a Moka pot requires a bit more attention since you need to watch out for boiling water and ground coffee spilling over. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to make a mess when brewing with a Moka pot.

So French press is the more idiot proof brewing method, while Moka pot requires a bit more attention and care.

Quality of coffee

Both French press and Moka pot can make excellent coffee, but they have different strengths. As mentioned before, it’s difficult to over-extract the coffee with a French press. This means that you’ll be able to avoid making your coffee taste bitter.

On the other hand, Moka pots produce coffee with a bolder flavor since they use pressure to force the hot water through the ground beans. So if you’re looking for a cup of coffee with more punch, then Moka pot is the way to go.

If you’re looking for something more in the realm of an espresso, go for the Moka pot. If you want to enjoy more of a rounder and smoother coffee, go for the French press.

Price

Finally, let’s talk about price. Both French press and Moka pot are fairly affordable, but there are some differences. In general, French presses are a bit cheaper than Moka pots since they’re less complicated devices.

Moka pots usually cost between $30 and $50, while French presses can be found for as little as $20. So if you’re on a budget, French press is the way to go.

Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule and you can find expensive French presses and cheap Moka pots. It all depends on the brand and materials used.

One factor in both brewing methods is the size . French presses come in a variety of sizes, from single serve to large carafes that can make coffee for a crowd. Moka pots also come in different sizes, but they’re generally smaller since they only brew one or two cups at a time.

So if you’re looking for a small and compact brewing method, Moka pot is the way to go. If you need to make coffee for a lot of people, French press is the better option.

Bottom line

Both french press and moka pot have their pros and cons, it really depends on your needs as to which one is the best fit for you. If you want an easier brewing process and don’t mind sacrificing some complexity in taste, go with French press. If you ‘re willing to put in a bit more effort for a bolder cup of coffee, Moka pot is the way to go.

It really comes down to your personal preferences as to which brewing method is best for you. So experiment with both and see which one you like better!

In the end, the question shouldn’t necessarily be should you go with a French press or a moka pot, but rather which one should you get first. Happy brewing!

Filed under: moka potfrench pressbrewingcomparison