Searching the market for good quality coffee to use in your moka pot – this ultimate list of the best coffee for moka pot helps you find what you are looking for. With many brewing methods, the moka pot method is perhaps the next best option for making excellent espresso-quality coffee.
Unlike a complicated espresso machine, there’s not much skill needed to use a moka pot. This tool is designed to help you churn out the best cup without doing much. However, you don’t use just about any coffee for moka pots. You want to pick the right beans or grounds, grind level, and even roast level.
Here are 9 of the best coffee for moka pots approved by moka pot enthusiasts.
Our Top Picks for Moka Pot Coffee
1. Lavazza Espresso Italiano Whole Bean Coffee Blend
Roast Level: Medium roast
Bean Type: Whole/Arabica
Flavors: Fruity and floral
Origin: Italy
Lavazza Espresso Italiano Whole Bean Coffee Blend is packed with unmatched richness to produce excellent-tasting coffee. This Italiano espresso blend is one of the best Lavazza coffees for moka pots and espresso machines.
The coffee bean blend combines 100% Arabica whole beans from central and South America. As a result, you get a rich body with delicious aromatic fruity and floral notes to make you want more. The 100% all-natural, non-GMO beans also come with a medium 5 out of 10 light intensity to balance the coffee.
The coffee beans come packed in a 2.2 lb resealable bag and can be used in various brewing methods, including moka pot, espresso, French press, and drip coffee maker.
2. Illy Intenso Ground Coffee
Roast Level: Bold roast
Bean Type: Ground/Arabica
Flavors: Full flavored with deep cocoa hints
Origin: Italy
Specially crafted for the moka pot method, Illy Intenso Ground Coffee guarantees an unforgettable coffee-drinking experience. Integrating 100% Arabica coffee, ground coffee features an intense and robust flavor profile. Its full-flavored body with deep hints of cocoa accentuates the coffee's taste.
The 8.8-ounce coffee ground tin contains bold roast coffee ground at just the right consistency. This, in turn, ensures optimal flavor extraction using a moka pot. Plus, the coffee has a balanced smoothness with no bitter aftertaste.
While the coffee comes pre-ground, the tin’s air-tight and pressurized nature seals in the aromas and oils to retain the freshness. Yet, the coffee is 100% natural and organic with zero preservatives.
3. Bialetti Moka Intenso Coffee
Roast Level: Dark roast
Bean Type: Ground/Robusta
Flavors: Toasted bread and cocoa
Origin: Italy
A product of the famous Italian brand with over 8 decades on the market, the Bialetti Moka Coffee offers the best coffee for moka pots. The Intenso blend is specially crafted to use with a moka pot. The coffee goes through a traditional and artisanal roasting process.
The process takes longer than regular roasting before grinding. This, in turn, allows the coffee to develop distinctive aromas and flavors. The brand’s unique grinding helps to extract a full-bodied yet, creamy, and intensely flavored coffee.
The Intenso variety features a majority robusta India blend that offers an intense taste with a whole body. Its dark roasting gives it a beautiful blend of toasted bread and cocoa. To best enjoy this blend, prepare your coffee on a stovetop moka pot.
4. Bialetti Caffe Italian Roasted Coffee Beans
Roast Level: Medium roast
Bean Type: Ground/Arabica
Flavors: Dried fruit and floral
Origin: Italy
If you want to enjoy Bialetti Coffee with fruity and lighter notes, the Bialetti Caffe Italian Roasted Coffee Beans are an excellent blend. Crafted especially for stove-top moka pots, the coffee goes through Bialtetti’s unique roasting and grinding process. The longer roasting extracts the coffee’s full flavors and body.
On the other hand, unique grinding maintains a good balance between fine and coarse to extract the most pleasantly flavored coffee using a moka pot. This blend uses 100% high-grade Colombian Excelso beans. Coupled with its slow medium roasting, the coffee beans develop notes of flowers and dried fruits for a sweeter and more delicious cup.
5. Bristot Moka Oro Ground Coffee
Roast Level: Medium roast
Bean Type: Ground/Arabica & Robusta
Flavors: Spices, caramel, sandalwood
Origin: Italy
The Bristot Moka Oro Ground Coffee combines an artistic blend of various coffees to produce an incredible coffee taste. The ground coffee contains a well-balanced blend of Brazilian Arabica Santos cerrado, Arabica India plantation, and robusta parchment coffees. This means the blend contains 70% Arabica and 30% robusta beans, roasted mediumly.
Combined with its medium roasting and bean blend, this coffee produces an intense flavor with pleasant notes of spice, caramel, and sandalwood with undertones of dark cocoa. You can brew the coffee in a moka pot, French press cafetiere, or pour-over percolator.
6. Lavazza Qualita Oro Ground Coffee Blend
Roast Level: Medium roast
Bean Type: Ground/Arabica
Flavors: Sweet and aromatic
Origin: Italy
The Lavazza Qualita Oro Ground Coffee Blend gives you great value without compromising on taste or quality. The coffee comes in an 8.8-ounce 4-pack to last you a while. You don’t have to worry about this considerable quantity losing its freshness, thanks to its well-sealed and airtight packaging.
The coffee blend uses a mic of Arabica beans from Central American and African highlands. On the other hand, its medium roast delivers a smooth and refined flavor with an intense aroma. You will also get great sweetness and a satisfying golden crema. To best enjoy this blend, you want to brew it using a moka pot, espresso machine, drip coffee maker, or French press.
Roast Level: Dark roast
Bean Type: Arabica & robusta
Flavors: Velvety cocoa, pear, and candied pecans
Origin: Vietnam
The Dark Roast Coffee Trio will make you travel straight to Vietnam. These vietnamese beans feature a distinctive velvety and smooth mouth feel with notes of chocolate. You will also get undertones of pear and candied pecans for an excellent balance. The Dark Roast Coffee Trio is unique in terms of quality and consistency.
Roast Level: Medium roast
Bean Type: Whole beans/ Moxy (100% Arabica), True Grit (100% Peaberry Robusta), and Loyalty (Arabica & Robusta)
Flavors: Moxy (wild berries, chocolate, cherry & honey), True Grit (scotch, grapefruit zest & bitter melon), and Loyalty (cacao, pomelo, almond, and smoked caramel)
Origin: Vietnam
If you want to experience something different, there’s no better way to do so than with coffee from the Nguyen Coffee Supply. The coffee comes in a trio, so you can try three of the roaster’s best sellers. Vietnamese coffee is specially curated for brewing in the traditional Phin filter brewer. Interestingly, the Phin filter resembles and functions like a moka pot.
The only difference is that the Phin filter is thinner and lighter. So, what better way to sample the trio set than using a moka pot? The Moxy blend is the brightest, offering a sweet and smooth mouth feel. The True Grit blend is the strongest, offering nearly twice as much caffeine content as Arabica.
Yet, it has less than 60% sugar and fat. On the other hand, the Loyalty blend combines a blend of Arabica and robusta with twice as much caffeine and less sugar and fat. Further, this blend contains twice as many antioxidants. This blend also offers a beautiful blend of sweet, smooth, and nutty notes.
9. Lavazza Espresso Decaffeinato Ground Coffee Blend
Roast Level: Medium roast
Bean Type: Ground/ Arabica
Flavors: Sweet & fruity
Origin: Italy
Just because you can’t tolerate caffeine doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy good coffee. The Lavazza Espresso Decaffeinato Ground Coffee Blend lets you brew excellent decaffeinated coffee. This blend is versatile, letting you use anything from an espresso machine to a moka pot or even a French press. The authentic Italian blend is blended, roasted, and ground in Italy to give you the authentic Italian coffee feel.
To make the Lavazza decaf coffee, the green coffee blend is made wet using steam before caffeine is removed using carbon dioxide. Next, the coffee is roasted using hot air to give you decaf coffee, without compromising taste or body. The 8.8-ounce coffee tins come in a 4-piece package to give you value for your money.
Factors to Consider When Buying Coffee for Moka Pot
Not every coffee is created equal. So, not every coffee will produce a good cup when brewed in a moka pot. You can brew reasonably tasting coffee with the most choices. But you want to pick a specific kind to craft the best cup of coffee. Below, we’ve outlined vital factors to consider when choosing the best coffee for moka pots;
Grind Consistency
The grind consistency is very important when brewing your coffee using a moka pot. This is because you must use the right grind for the coffee maker to ensure optimal extraction. Using a moka pot to brew fine ground coffee ends up bitter, nearly burnt, and very bitter. Check out our article on the best grinder under $100.
On the other hand, using a moka pot to brew coarse ground coffee will give you a watery, weak, and ultra-acidic coffee.
The best coffee for moka pot should be medium to medium fine coffee. This means the coffee should be coarser than what you’d use for espresso. On the other hand, it shouldn’t be as coarse as the coffee you use for a drip coffee maker.
Typically, you will find many brands, particularly Italian ones, with pre-ground coffee tunes to just the right consistency for a moka pot. Nonetheless, other experts suggest you purchase whole coffee beans and grind them yourself if you can afford them. Doing so allows you to fine-tune the grind to end up with your desired coffee.
It’s also worth noting that pre-ground coffee doesn’t mean you will not achieve good coffee. After all, the moka pot is pretty forgiving.
Roast Level
Similarly, the right roast level is essential for a moka pot. The moka pot functions as a stovetop espresso maker. So, it works by brewing concentrated coffee, unlike a regular coffee machine, French press, or other similar brewers. This means that roast is pretty essential to achieve coffee with the ideal body and taste.
While a more intense espresso machine churns out better coffee using dark or espresso roasts, moka pots work better with slightly lighter roasts. The best roast of coffee for moka pot is medium to medium dark roast.
This type of roast usually comes with more profound and more decadent flavors of chocolate or nuts, allowing for even better flavor extraction. Further, the medium to medium dark roast achieves a heavier body with a creamy mouth feel. These characteristics allow you to achieve a beautiful and well-balanced moka pot coffee.
In this case, using a lighter roast than the recommended will result in a not-so-balanced coffee. A lighter roast has a higher acidity, which results in uneven extraction and higher acidity. In short, brewing a light roast using a moka pot will give you an ultra-bright cup of coffee. However, some people like this feeling. On the other hand, moka pots can be more forgiving on some dark or bold roasts.
Origin
The moka pot brewer itself was birthed in Italy by Alfonso Bialetti in 1933. Yes, you read right – the same Bialetti of the famed Italian coffee brand. The moka pot was named after the city of Mocha in Yemen, renowned for its superior coffee quality.
Today, the moka pot has become an iconic Italian coffee brewing machine found in almost all households in the country. The coffee brewer has even become an icon and symbol of coffee culture in the region.
Now, while this factor isn’t very important, it contributes to the coffee's overall flavor and body experience. The best coffee for a moka pot is usually made by an Italian brand. Some of the best Italian coffee for moka pot is made by brands, such as Bialetti, Lavazza, or Illy. These brands usually dish out several coffee blends crafted especially for moka pots.
From their roasting to grinding, the coffee is designed to extract the best flavors, body, and mouth feel. But, this doesn’t mean you can find good quality coffee from other regions. We’ve even outlined some of the best ones on the list above.
Meet the expert
Donaldina is a coffee lover and freelance writer from Tanzania. Coffee runs deep in her family - tracing its roots to her grandmother’s running of their first coffee farm in the mid-70s. She enjoys spending her time writing and co-running her grandmother's small robusta coffee farm with her sister in northwest Tanzania during the summer seasons.