The Moccamaster is a unique drip coffee maker made by the Dutch company Technivorm. These high-end coffee machines brew the coffee at the perfect temperature, creating a perfectly extracted, balanced cup of Joe.
In this guide, you'll learn how to brew coffee using the Technivorm Moccamaster and tips on how to perfect the brew.
Technivorm Moccamaster Brewing Specs
- Brew Time: 10–15 minutes (depends on volume brewed)
- Coffee/Water Ratio: 1:16
- Grind: Medium-coarse to coarse
- Water Temperature: 197°F–204°F (92–96°C)
- Recommended Coffee: DaLat (100% Arabica)
Technivorm Moccamaster Brewing Summary
- Fill the Moccamaster reservoir with water.
- Prepare the filter and carafe with hot water and drain.
- Grind and measure your coffee.
- Bloom the coffee (pre-infusion).
- Start the machine and brew the coffee.
- Serve and enjoy.
What You Need to Brew Coffee with a Moccamaster
If you own a Technivorm Moccamaster, you're already halfway to making the perfect cup of coffee.
You don't need much equipment or ingredients, but quality will determine the taste of the resulting brew.
Here's what you need to make coffee with a Moccamaster:
Tools Needed
- Technivorm Moccamaster — You'll need a Moccamaster to craft this brew. Check out this guide if you want to make coffee with a regular drip coffee maker.
- Coffee Grinder — The best coffee is made from freshly ground coffee beans. Use a burr grinder to achieve the perfect consistency for your Moccamaster.
- Coffee Measure — A coffee measure will ensure you use the perfect coffee-to-water ratio every time.
- Coffee Mug — Your favorite coffee mug is perfect for serving this delightful drip coffee.
Ingredients
- High-Quality Coffee — Select a high-quality whole-bean coffee (or fresh pre-ground coffee). Most opt for arabica or a blend, but robusta works well too.
- Cold Water — Opt for fresh, cold, filtered water to make coffee using a Moccamaster. Filtered water creates a cleaner brew and protects your machine from mineral buildup.
- Milk (Optional) — Add a dash of milk to cream the coffee.
- Sugar (Optional) — Add a teaspoon of sugar to sweeten the brew if desired.
Coffee Recommendations
The best coffee for the Technivorm Moccamaster should be high-quality and freshly ground. Grinding whole-bean coffee yourself before brewing will produce the best brew. A medium-coarse grind size is required to brew coffee in the Moccamaster.
Whether you select a 100% arabica, 100% robusta coffee, or a blend of the two depends on your taste.
Most people opt for 100% arabica coffee such as Cafely DaLat. Arabica produces a naturally sweet, mild, and smooth brew. Blends such as Saigon OG are also popular. Robusta and arabica blends offer a smooth brew with a slightly bitter edge and a strong caffeine hit.
100% robusta coffee is less popular than arabica and blends. When brewed with a drip coffee maker, robusta produces a strong, dark, bitter beverage that's overpowering for some palates. However, if you enjoy strong black coffee or want to sweeten and cream the brew, it can be a good option.
How to Brew Coffee With a Moccamaster: Step-by-Step
Making coffee with a Moccamaster is easy.
Follow these simple steps to craft the perfect brew:
1. Boil a Kettle of Water
Although the Technivorm Moccamaster is self-heating, if you want to make the perfect brew, you should soak the filter to "clean" it and heat up the carafe. You'll need around 250 milliliters of hot water to do this.
2. Prepare the Moccamaster
You’ll now need to prepare your Moccamaster. Ensure the machine is clean before starting, then fill the reservoir with cold, clean, filtered water.
Place a paper filter in the filter basket over the carafe. Next, pour 250 milliliters of freshly-boiled water over the filter until it drips into the carafe below. Once the filter is saturated and the water has drained, empty the carafe and reassemble the components.
Use the table in step two to determine how much water you’ll need to add to the reservoir for your desired serving size.
2. Grind and Measure the Coffee
Once you've prepared your machine, weigh or measure your whole-bean coffee and grind it to medium-coarse to coarse. A burr grinder will produce the most consistent grind size — blade grinders work, but the grind size can be inconsistent.
Reference the table below to work out how much coffee to grind for your desired serving size:
|
Servings |
Ground Coffee |
Water |
|
1–2 |
4 tablespoons (28 grams) |
2 cups (470 mL) |
|
3–4 |
8 tablespoons (56 grams) |
4 cups (950 mL) |
|
5–6 |
12 tablespoons (84 grams) |
6 cups (1.4 L) |
|
7–8 |
16 tablespoons (112 grams) |
8 cups (1.9 L) |
3. Preparing the Grounds for Extraction — The Pre-Infusion Stage
Pour your ground coffee into the filter basket and switch off the flow control from the basket. This will prepare the “pre-infusion stage” of the brewing process.
Next, turn on the Moccamaster and wait for the hot water to just cover the grounds before switching the machine off again. Using the back of a spoon, ensure all the grinds are fully submerged.
This stage is known as “blooming” — it releases gas from the grounds which leads to more even extraction. Wait 30 seconds before moving on to the next step.
4. Brew the Coffee
Now, it's time to brew the coffee. Turn the Moccamaster on and just as the hot water begins running open the filter basket's flow control to "half open."
Now, wait for the Moccamaster to brew completely, but keep an eye on the filter basket. If it looks as though the basket is about to overflow, open the flow control fully.
When the Moccamaster has finished brewing, it will switch off automatically.
5. Pour and Enjoy
Once the Moccamaster has finished brewing, gently pour a serving of coffee from the carafe into your favorite coffee mug.
If you’ve made multiple servings, leave the remaining brew in the carafe and place it back into the machine. The Moccamaster has a built-in hotplate that will keep the coffee warm for 40 minutes.
Add sugar and milk to taste if desired or enjoy the coffee black.
Tips for Brewing Coffee with the Technivorm Moccamaster
Brewing great-tasting coffee using the Technivorm Moccamaster is an easy job. It's difficult to mess up, even for beginners to drip coffee. However, following a few simple tips will ensure you make the best possible brew every time.
Follow these tips to get the most out of your Moccamaster:
1. Bloom Your Coffee
Blooming your coffee prior to brewing is a time-consuming but beneficial step. While it's easier to add ground coffee and leave your Moccamaster to brew directly in the morning, proper pre-infusion will improve the quality of the final cup.
Taking the time to bloom the coffee grounds before brewing leads to a more even extraction. In turn, this leads to a more balanced brew with a wider flavor profile and stronger caffeine hit.
2. Pre-rinse Your Paper Filter
As mentioned in the brew guide above, you should use hot water to rinse the paper filter before adding ground coffee and brewing.
This may seem like a tedious, and even pointless step. However, doing it can improve the quality of your brew tremendously. Pre-rinsing the paper filter prevents loss of coffee through absorption and washes out any “paper taste” an unused filter may have.
Brewing directly through a dry filter can trap (what would be) the first drips of coffee. These first drips are packed with flavors, aromas, and natural oils — trapping them in a dry filter is counterintuitive. Without rinsing the filter, you may also notice a paper-like taste in your final brew, especially when brewing smaller volumes of coffee.
Rinsing the filter with hot water also has another benefit — it preheats the filter basket and carafe before brewing. This ensures your coffee remains at the perfect temperature when the brewing process is complete.
3. Monitor the Flow Rate
While your Moccamaster is brewing, make sure to monitor the flow rate of the coffee.
Ensuring the coffee is consistently ground will allow you to brew the coffee with the filter basket's flow rate set to half — this will produce the perfect extraction. However, when brewing larger volumes, the basket can be prone to overflowing, even if the grind size is perfect. Keep an eye on the machine while it brews, and adjust the flow rate if needed.
It can also be beneficial to open the flow rate up completely towards the end of the brewing process. Doing this will speed up the rate at which the last coffee drips through the basket, preventing fine grounds from seeping through the filter and creating a silty mouthfeel.
4. Adjust the Coffee-to-Water Ratio
Although the coffee-to-water ratio above (1:16) is recommended for the Moccamaster you may want to adjust it to suit your taste. Less coffee and more water makes a milder carafe of coffee, while more coffee and less water makes a darker, more concentrated brew.
Different beans also produce different flavors and intensities. You may want to reduce the coffee-to-water ratio when using dark, bold coffee such as dark-roast peaberry robusta. On the other hand, you may want to increase it when using light to medium-roast arabica blends.
5. Grind Your Own Coffee
You can use pre-ground coffee in your Moccamaster to brew a good carafe of coffee. However, grinding whole beans will produce a much brighter, fresher-tasting cup. This simple additional step is often avoided but it doesn’t take long and will elevate the quality of your brew.
If you really don’t have the time to grind your own coffee, make sure to opt for a high-quality pre-ground coffee that has been ground and packaged recently.
6. Use Fresh, Cold, Filtered Water
Always fill the reservoir of your Moccamaster with cold, fresh, filtered water. Avoid using tap water at all costs.
Tap water will not only affect the taste of the resulting brew, but it could also damage the copper heating elements in your Moccamaster.
Tap water — especially in "heavy" water regions — can cause mineral buildup on the delicate copper heating elements. This can clog the tap head of the machine and reduce its heating efficiency.
7. Keep Your Moccamaster Clean
Look after your Moccamaster, and it'll look after you. Clean the filter basket and carafe after each use using a mild detergent and hot water. Dry the water reservoir after each use.
As mentioned, always use filtered water to reduce mineral buildup. If the machine has already developed a buildup, run a cleaning cycle with a dilute solution of white vinegar. Once complete, run two or three cycles with fresh, filtered water to rinse out the vinegar.
FAQs: The Technivorm Moccamaster
Do you want to learn more about coffee and have questions about the Technivorm Moccamaster and other brewers?
Read the answers to the FAQs below to learn more…
1. Is the Technivorm Moccamaster Better than a Regular Drip Coffee Maker?
The Technivorm Moccamaster is generally considered better than a regular drip coffee maker because it brews the coffee at an ideal temperature. Whereas other drip coffee makers can over-extract the coffee, resulting in a burnt-tasting, bitter brew, the Moccamaster eliminates this risk through efficient temperature control.
2. What’s the Difference Between Drip and Pour-Over Brewing?
Drip and pour-over brewing are extremely similar. Pour-over brewing involves manually pouring hot water over ground coffee in a cone filter. Drip brewing utilizes a drip coffee maker that heats and pours the water over the coffee grounds automatically. Most coffee connoisseurs favor the pour-over setup because it provides more control over the extraction, resulting in a more complex, balanced brew.
3. What’s the Best Coffee for the Technivorm Moccamaster?
The best type of coffee for the Moccamaster depends on personal taste. Most opt for a 100% arabica, which produces a smooth, naturally sweet brew. However, others prefer the bold, dark flavors of robusta or the balanced characteristics of a blend. What's important is the quality and freshness of the coffee — opting to freshly grind whole-bean coffee will produce a better brew than pre-ground.
4. Can You Make Iced Coffee With the Technivorm Moccamaster?
Yes. You can make iced coffee with the Technivorm Moccamaster by brewing a concentrated shot of coffee. Increase the coffee-to-water ratio, brew the shot, pour over ice, and combine with milk and sugar to make a delightfully sweet and creamy iced coffee.
5. What is Moka Pot Coffee?
“Moka pot coffee” is an espresso-like brew made using a device called a moka pot. This stovetop brewer forces hot, pressurized water through finely ground coffee to create a shot of coffee with a potent caffeine hit.
6. Can You Make Cold Brew With a Drip Coffee Maker?
You can't make a traditional cold brew with a drip coffee maker such as the Moccamaster. However, you can make iced coffee by brewing a concentrated shot of coffee, pouring it over ice, and combining it with milk or water to dilute it.
7. How Much Caffeine is in a Cup of Drip Coffee?
A standard eight-ounce cup of drip coffee made using the Technivorm Moccamaster or a similar brewer contains 90 to 160 milligrams of caffeine. The exact amount of caffeine per cup depends on the coffee type used, the coffee-to-water ratio, and the extraction time.
8. Should You Add Milk to Drip Coffee?
You can add milk to drip coffee. However, it’s not essential. If you enjoy a creamy cup of coffee, adding milk, cream, or coffee creamer to drip coffee can achieve this.
9. What is Arabica Coffee?
Arabica is a coffee bean harvested from the Coffea arabica species — an evergreen shrub native to parts of Africa. These beans produce a smooth, naturally sweet brew and are most popular in the Western world, where Italian brews are favored.
10. What is Robusta Coffee?
Robusta is a coffee bean harvested from the Coffea robusta species. These beans produce around twice the amount of caffeine as arabica and produce a dark, robust, bitter cup of coffee. Robusta is more popular in Asia.
