Cleaning Your Moka Pot Will Lead To Better Tasting Coffee

Moka pots make excellent espresso-like coffee for a fraction of the price and are among the ways people enjoy their coffee worldwide.  However, after a few uses of the pot, the coffee can start to taste different, sometimes even bitter. This is due to the oils, leftover grounds, and limescale from the water, all of which can build up in the moka pot and produce off-flavors in future cups of coffee.

Like any coffee maker, moka pots need to be washed after every use. These coffee pots are made from either stainless steel or aluminum, so abrasive detergents should be avoided, and they should never be cleaned in a dishwasher. For optimal care and best-tasting coffee, coffee grounds should be removed after each use, and a deeper cleaning should be done routinely. If the pot is used regularly, deep cleaning once a week is sufficient and limescale removal should be done twice a year (depending on the hardness of the water that is used). Not cleaning a coffee maker is one of the most common coffee mistakes people make at home, and this results in bad-tasting coffee.

There are three chambers to a moka pot: the brewing chamber, the filter plate, and the upper chamber which holds the brewed coffee. To clean a moka pot after each use, remove the coffee grounds, then rinse all three chambers with hot water, including the pour spout and around the safety valve. For a deeper cleaning, use distilled vinegar as your cleaning agent.

To descale the pot, add two tablespoons of distilled vinegar to the bottom chamber, fill the chamber with water to the safety valve, put the pot back together, then let it rest for a few hours. Once the pot has soaked for the appropriate time, run it through a brewing cycle to allow the acidic water to reach all parts of the pot.

After the cycle, it's also a good idea to run water through the pot on another brew cycle to get rid of any vinegar and remaining lime deposits. After the pot is cooled, whether you're conducting a deep clean or a simple rinse of the pot, dry the interior of the pot with a towel or paper towel to prevent limescale from the standing water. The result: better-tasting coffee, without any of the off-notes.