Bialetti Moka Express Coffee Maker Review

Bialetti Moka Express is a stovetop coffee maker you can use at home and on the go. It is a must-have for true coffee lovers since it can produce the perfect espresso without much of your help. You just have to add the water, ground coffee, and pour it into your cup!

I actually decided on the Bialetti while shopping for our new camper van. It is tough to find something small, light, packable, and easy to use and clean. And it ticks all the boxes for a travel coffee maker where space is at a huge premium.

If you want to know more about this coffee maker, you’re definitely in the right place! I’ll explain how it works, any issues, and whether it can really produce the best espresso you’ve tasted. Also, we’ll go through some other versions of the Bialetti coffee maker, which might be more suitable for your home.

In any case, if you’re a coffee lover who truly enjoys an espresso on the go, the Bialetti really be at the top of your list.

Quality And Durability

The Bialetti Moka Express is an old-school coffee maker made from aluminum. It doesn’t have a lot of moving parts, so there are very few things that can break or go wrong. Worst case scenario the hinge of the lid will malfunction, but it’s entirely possible to use this without a lid – it will just take a little longer for the water to boil.

Also, since this uses zero electricity, you can easily use it off the grid. And because it features tough aluminum construction, you don’t have to be too careful with the Moka Express. It will still work if you drop it or leave it outside overnight.

You can’t get that type of durability and toughness from an electric coffee maker, which makes this option excellent for people who want something they can use in more rugged environments.

Another important thing to mention is the ergonomic handle. It features an anti-scald design, meaning that the heat from the Moka Pot doesn’t transfer onto the handle. You should be able to pick this up with your bare hand without feeling the heat or getting burnt.

However, I’m not entirely sure what would happen if the handles were exposed to open flames – some of these materials can start to melt and smell really bad, so it’s best to be very careful with how you’re positioning the Moke Express over a flame.

The aluminum construction is exceptionally tough, durable, and lightweight, but it does have some cons. My main issue with the Moka Pot is cleaning, but I’ll talk about that in more detail later.

How Does It Work?

This coffee maker consists of three distinct parts. There’s the boiler (bottom chamber), which is the lower section that holds cold water. When you’re pouring in water, it’s important not to go over the safety valve.

The middle section is a basket (at the bottom of the image above) where you put the ground coffee. This get placed into the bottom section once the water is added. Then the top is screwed on and the Bialetti Moke Express is placed on the stove.

When the water in the bottom chamber starts boiling, the steam pushes the coffee from the basket into the collecting chamber (seen in the image below), which is the top part of the Moka Express (with the handle and lid).

The best part is that you can actually open up the coffee maker while it’s on the stove and observe it in action – you will see the coffee coming up through the part in the middle and falling into the chamber ready for pouring.

When you hear the gurgling sound, it means the coffee is done and you should turn off the stove immediately. Don’t wait for every last drop of coffee to pass into the collecting chamber – the bits that come through after the Moka Express has gurgled for a while are usually burnt, and they will ruin a perfectly good espresso.

Important Coffee Making Tips

There are two important things you need to remember –

1. Do not over-compress the coffee in the basket. Remember, steam will push water through this basket and it can only move if the ground coffee sits loosely in the basket. If you tamp it too tightly the water won’t be able to pass through and you won’t end up with a delicious espresso but a runny mess.
2. Stir the coffee before you pour it in a cup. The first bits of coffee that come through the pipe are much more potent than the coffee that comes in later. If you don’t stir it, you’ll wind up with uneven cups of coffee, and that’s not what you want. Stirring the coffee in the collecting chamber ensures that it all evens out and that you get identical and perfect shots of espresso.

Stove Top Vs. Electric

Bialetti Moka Express coffee maker is available in several different versions. The classic Moka Pot coffee maker is available in loads of sizes that can produce either one, two, three, four, or six cups of espresso. (there are probably even more if you look around online).

It also comes in a variety of colors!

Obviously, the right size for you depends on how many shots of espresso you usually make at a time. If you make coffee just for you, then the one-cup Moka Express should do the trick.

But if you often make coffee for friends or family, then definitely go with one of the bigger options. I’d recommend the six-cup Moka Pot to everyone – you can always make a brew smaller by adding less coffee and water.

Also, Bialetti’s popular coffee maker is available in stovetop and electric versions, and that’s the more important choice you have to make. The stovetop coffee maker is lighter and more portable, but it will work best with gas stoves. It needs to sit directly on the flame in order for it to function properly, so if you have a fully electric stove it’s not as convenient for you.

The upside of this design is that you can use it to make coffee outdoors. If you’re on a hiking or camping trip, you can just put this on fire and let it make you the most delicious espresso. However, it will take some time to adjust it perfectly, since the flame shouldn’t envelop the entire boiler of the Moka Pot.

It needs to stay inside the bottom section, and the trickiest part will be achieving this with an outdoor fire. You should be particularly careful with the handle to avoid melting it or burning yourself.

On the other hand, if you don’t have a gas stove at home and have no intentions of using this outdoors, the electric coffee maker (Moka Elettrika) is the better option for you. It is bigger, heavier, and more expensive, but you just have to plug it into an outlet and you can achieve the same result.

It Only Works With Ground Coffee

Bialetti’s Moka Express is meant to be used with ground coffee only. And I can’t stress this enough – if you put coffee beans in the basket, you won’t end up with a good result. If you put instant or filtered coffee in the basket, you’ll wind up with a disgusting batch. But if you put your favorite finely ground espresso blend, you will get a delicious shot of espresso.

Bialetti has other coffee makers if you’re not that into espresso. They have a coffee maker just for filtered coffee, as well as Mukka cappuccino maker. So if you’re not the biggest fan of espresso shots, it’s important to know that you have other options.

And if espresso courses through your veins, I have more great news for you. Bialetti has their own ground coffee that is pretty much perfect for the Moka Pot! Their range includes classic, strong and hazelnut espresso, and they even have a decaf option. If you’re new to ground coffee, definitely consider giving them a shot.

They also sell roasted coffee beans, and it’s important to note that you can easily make this work with the Moka Pot. You just have to grind them finely before you put them in the basket, so make sure you have a manual or an electric grinder handy before you put the Moka Express on the stove.

Cleaning And Maintenance

So, how exactly do you clean this coffee maker?

Bialetti recommends that you can easily clean it without chemical detergents and that it’s enough to just rinse it out with water. Personally, as someone who has been using this in our campervan a lot lately, this is what I do:

First, I unscrew the top to get at the wet coffee (it’s probably still hot or warm so watch out). Because it’s hard to get the coffee container out I tap it on the ground or kinda thrust the whole thing forward and let it fly out (making sure it lands on some grass).

Next, I want to get rid of the coffee by tapping the coffee holder on the grass or something hard. If you are in the great outdoors, you could actually disperse it around some grass. I do this to stop getting wet and stinky trash. The other option is the trash of course.

The actual cleaning of the parts is simple, and should not be thorough. The top and bottom can mostly be rinsed in water or use a wet cloth to clean out any residue. The coffee holder needs a little more love to get the grinds out, but again it’s pretty simple to clean.

A more detailed cleaning would mean letting the water boil and pass through the middle column so that it can get out any residual coffee. You won’t get rid of the coffee smell, but that shouldn’t be an issue since you can only use it for espresso anyway.

What If You Have Calcium In Your Water?

But what do you do if you’re dealing with water that has a lot of calcium? This build-up is something you can’t avoid with tap water in certain regions (my area here in Switzerland is right below mountains made of the stuff!), but you do have a few options.

1. You can try to use filtered/bottle water whenever possible, which is an extra step of course.
2. You can just get a product that is specifically meant for getting rid of the calcium.

If you go with the second approach, just make sure that you run water through it (ie. boil it like you would make a coffee in it) a few times to clean out any residue. Otherwise, your first cup of coffee will taste a little weird!

Additionally, pay the most attention to the central column. It’s arguably the most important part of the coffee maker since it’s where the magic happens, and if it’s not cleaned properly or the holes get clogged up, your espresso won’t taste good.

Good For Travel?

The Moka Express is super-portable because of its lightweight, but it’s not the most convenient option for travel. And that’s because it’s meant to be used with gas stoves, and you can’t guarantee that you’ll have a gas stove at your accommodation. However, I have also tested it on our glass top stove here at home and it is slower to boil, but it works.

My only beef so far with the Bialleti is that it is hard to store given its odd shape, I take it apart and store the parts in a softbox in our camper. It’s no big deal, but something to be aware of. Either way, it’s small, compact, and easy to store.

However, it is one of the best coffee makers for camper vans, travel, or even outdoor use – since lighting a fire is an essential part of camping trips. If that’s what you’re looking for, the Moka Pot is a great option for you, especially because it’s very lightweight and it’s just so easy to clean.

And you can separate the bottom chamber from the collection chamber, to make it even more portable. In that sense, the Bialetti coffee maker is certainly a great option for travel – better than a bulky electric coffee maker anyway!

Bialetti Moka Express Coffee Maker: Final Thoughts

In the end, does it make sense for you to bite the bullet and get yourself an old-school espresso maker? If you drink coffee regularly I think it does. And by regularly I mean if you put the kettle on in the morning before you’ve washed your face.

By that point you’re just looking for excuses to add another type of coffee maker to your growing collection – if you don’t have something that makes perfect espresso shots, the Moka Express is great for you!

Especially if you have a gas stove since this one works best with actual flames, but there is an electric option for those of you that prefer electricity to old-school use. Also, the Moka Pot is the best – and maybe only – coffee maker you can get that will work off the grid, making it a great option for hikes and camping trips.

If coffee is not the first thing on your mind when you wake up in the morning and you prefer cappuccino to espresso, you might want to skip the Moka Express. It’s not at all versatile and if you want to make cappuccinos or filtered coffee, you’d have to buy an entirely different model.

Head over to Amazon to check out the various models of the Moka Pot and to pick up the one that will work best for you!

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