Moccamaster - Iconic Coffee Maker Review
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This model of coffee maker is currently more than 48 years on the market. What exactly still makes it stand out in the world of cheap plastic appliances?
What coffee maker does, technically
It heats up the water and pours it on the ground coffee. And most of the models also have a heating plate to ruin the flavor of coffee with time (please, don't keep it on heating).
What makes Moccamaster stand out?
Besides iconic appearance and steel body it has one not obvious thing: tons of color options. Sorry, can't wait to mention tons of options that they have.
Though, the main difference is the speed with which it supplies the water. Making it stay close to commercial coffee makers.
Of course, that's more than just speed. Because it also can be a bad thing. It's the heating element which it has. It's made out of copper and it is vast.
Guy who owns this coffee maker said that I shouldn't disassemble it, because there are a lot of wires. So you can simply check the graphics of how it looks here, on amazon.
Oh, also it has 2m long cable. Very convenient.
Brewing time
In my experience it took 6:30 to empty the water tank (1.25 L). And total brewing time (including last drops) is 8 minutes. It's for the maximum dose of coffee.
With cheap coffee maker I had around 12 minutes brewing time for similar volume.
But for 15 grams dose it's 1:15 to empty the tank (250 ml / 2 cups) and 2:15 total brewing time.
In both cases I've used Cafec ABACA filters. Which gave me balanced flavor most of the time. Unlike Melitta filters which leaned towards acidity.
For 30 grams of coffee (500 ml / 4 cups) - brewing time is 3:05.
But we can't just talk about paper filters for coffee maker and not say about the coffee paper filter holder that I've created.
Quality of brewing
The most important part. In my case it's a basic model without the option "half cup". So it's better suited for the full volume (10 cups) of brewing. And while using this dose - quality is great. Coffee is well extracted (technically it was 1.51% TDS in my case).
It starts to supply the water after 30 seconds of heating up. Which is great. But there is more. It starts with a proper speed right away. Not gradually increasing the speed like cheap plastic coffee makers.
Features
What I really like is that I see the bubbles going up from the water tank. That way I can be 100% sure that the tank is fully emptied and I can switch the brewer off (remember, don't keep cooking your coffee with the hot plate. Though, it'll keep it on for 100 minutes which could be practical for morning. But definitely not longer than that!).
Also - you can see when coffee is drained through the ground coffee. So that you can be sure it's fine to serve it. Don't serve it before it fully brewed. It will have unbalanced flavor since different flavors are "washed out" with the different speed.
And probably the main feature - ease of maintenance. Everything is relatively ventilated. Unlike cheap plastic coffee makers which you must keep open all of the time. Which looks extremely ugly.
Here you can take off the lids to have even better ventilation. It will still look great. Everything is easy to wipe clean and dry. And deep clean when needed.
The lid on the server is easy to detach. And you can even keep it open (yes, cheap plastic coffee makers can't be opened mostly. You'll need to keep the finger on the lid to keep it open. And it's a pain to clean because the lid can't be detached.
What I don't like
Insertion of the basket with coffee isn't super nice. I wish it'll be more ergonomic. But still, good enough. You will not feel inconveniences.
The basket itself is "plastic". I wish they had an options. But you can use a regular pour over here. It can easily fit (v60 02 size) into the brewer. Probably even 03.
When inserting the carafe - you can break it. Should be careful here. It's true for most of the brewers though. BUT the parts for the brewer are available (not every part, but necessary ones).
How to use
Water matters. Use clean water. Ideally RO + minerals (reverse osmosis + added mineral stage). Or low PPM and low calcium water (like 200 ppm and lower, Calcium under 100).
Use 15 g of ground coffee for each 2 cups / 250 ml. Cups - meaning the marks on the water tank.
I recommend brewing the full amount. Which is 75 g of coffee and 1250 ml of water (10 cups mark).
Coffee - light roast / for filter (preferably).
Grind size - slightly smaller than sugar (around 600 microns). Which is around 20 clicks on Comandante c40, 3.0 on Kinu m47 (3 rotations), 14 on Baratza Encore.
Conclusion
If you planning to use it for family (2+ persons) it's a great investment. Just pair it with a good water, coffee and filters and it'll make your mornings more enjoyable.
Models:
- Basic, for making full volume, brewing directly into stainless steel carafe
- With advanced control of the flow, still simply, but more possibilities
- Most color options, can brew half dose properly
- Parts