If your barista owns a coffee maker, there’s a pretty good chance it’s a Technivorm Moccamaster.
For over four decades, the family-owned Dutch company has been making high end home coffee brewers loved by coffee aficionados. Their popular Moccamaster model is one of a select few that meets the strict standards of the Specialty Coffee Association‘s Certified Home Brewer Program.
Although the Moccamaster is a great coffee maker, it’s not without it’s short comings. Most notably, the water distribution could be better. Much better actually. It tends to drip unevenly and leave a crater in the center of the brew bed– a surefire sign of uneven extraction. Unlike newer brewers like the Breville Precision Brewer, the Technivorm doesn’t have an automated prewet setting, or the ability to adjust the water temperature. Although it might lack special features, it can still make a great cup of coffee, if you know how to use it properly.
Of course, most people who use a semi automatic coffee maker just want to press a button, and that’s fine. If you just want to press a button with the Moccamaster, you’ll probably get a pretty decent cup of coffee. But chances are if you’re reading this article, you’re the sort of person who is willing to put in a little extra effort for better results. Lucky for you, we’ve developed a (somewhat) simple five step process to make the best possible coffee with your Technivorm Moccamaster.
1. Weigh your ingredients
This is the most essential step to get positive results with your Moccamaster, or any coffee brewer for that matter. A consistent coffee to water ratio means consistent brews. We recommend the standard 60 grams of coffee to 1 liter of water. The Moccamaster uses a Melitta #4 filter, and is probably best suited for 40-60 gram batches. If you want to make less than half a liter of coffee, stick with a pour-over.
Note bene: the tank has volumetric measuring markings, but it’s best not to trust them. Even a small variance in brewing water can have an enormous impact on the final cup. Measure out filtered water before you add it to the tank. Your taste buds will thank us later.
2. Bloom (optional)
Just because your Moccamaster doesn’t have a fancy prewet feature, doesn’t mean you can’t bloom your brew bed the old fashion way. With your water in the tank and the coffee in the filter, turn the brewer on. It will immediately start to heat the water. When the water starts to come out of the shower head, start a timer. When enough water has come out to saturate all of the coffee grounds, flip the brewer off for 15-25 seconds. This allows the coffee to degas.
3. Stir
Stir the slurry to ensure all of the coffee grounds are saturated. This should be done as soon as there’s enough water to wet all of the grounds. Dig deep into the brew bed to make sure there are no dry pockets.
4. Have you tried turning it off and on again? (optional)
Moccasters, like most consumer coffee brewers, essentially do one thing: heat the water in the reservoir. In the case of smaller brews, this means it might cycle through all of the water faster than you want it to.
If your brew is moving too quickly, flip the brewer off to extend the contact time, but be sure to turn it back on before all of the coffee drains from the dripper. We typically shoot for a total brew time of 4-6 minutes.
5. Stir (Again)
After all of the water has been dispersed from the shower head, gently stir the top of the slurry. Unlike the first stir, be careful not to disturb the bed of coffee. If done properly, the bed of grounds should be nice and flat when the brew is finished.
Before serving, be sure to give the pot a good stir. The different flavor compounds tend to stratify. Mixing everything up ensures each sip has a good balance of sweetness, acidity, and bitterness.
Also, as tempting as it might be, resist using the hot plate. Only bad things happen when you try to heat a finished brew!