The Best Moka Pots

This moka pot features the classic hourglass-shape design, with a wide bottom that allows for maximum contact with the stovetop burner, accelerating the brewing process and preventing over-extraction that can cause bitterness. It was fast, averaging a little over 5 minutes to extract the coffee. The center tube inside its upper chamber has two wide openings, which prevents the liquid from spurting and spilling from the pot. We liked that its lid stayed open when we wanted it to; it made monitoring the brew process and cleaning the upper chamber easier. Its curved handle was ergonomic and comfortable to hold. Like all moka pot coffee, there was some grit in the finished brew because the metal filter doesn’t filter out fine solids.

This gorgeous moka pot has a broad, stable bottom, which not only prevented the pot from tilting over but also helped it heat the water quickly, contributing to its speedy brewing process. It consistently produced rich and strong coffee within 5.5 minutes, which we considered to be quick. But the straight handle prioritized appearance over comfort and our fingers didn’t rest comfortably when holding the moka pot by its handle. We also found that the upper chamber was too narrow to reach into easily, so cleaning sometimes felt tedious.

This electric moka pot boasts some bells and whistles that other electric models don’t have. It can be connected to the Bodum app that allows you to remotely start brewing. It also automatically shuts off when brewing is complete, reducing the risk of burning the coffee. It brewed coffee quickly and the coffee was flavorful, but it lacked a bit of body compared to the coffee brewed in the stovetop models, an issue typical of electric moka pots, as they brew coffee much more quickly than the stovetop ones. Another minor complaint is the location of the valve, which was a bit hidden and hard to find, making it hard to fill it to the proper level.

This moka pot brewed rich coffee quickly. Its hourglass-like design, which is similar to the classic Bialetti, offers a wide bottom chamber that maximizes heat contact on the stovetop. The wooden handle stayed cool to touch throughout the brewing process. It took a little more time to brew a full pot compared to our winner, which risked the coffee getting overextracted and developing a “burnt” taste, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. Coffee flowing from the openings in the center tube started to spurt toward the end of the brewing process, which caused a little coffee to spray onto the counter before we removed it from the heat. The lid on the upper chamber, which was a bit loose, slammed shut when we poured the coffee from the pot.

We liked this stainless-steel model, as it’s compatible with induction stovetops. It brewed three servings of coffee in less than 6 minutes, which is a bit longer than ideal, but the yield was consistent throughout the tests. Its design is rather tall and slender, and it has a relatively small footprint compared to the other models with wider bases. We didn’t like the long, narrow upper chamber that was hard to reach into to clean. The valve location is also hidden under the threads of the bottom chamber, so we had to crane our necks to see it, making it harder to fill to the correct level.

This moka pot was easy to screw together thanks to its smooth threads. It’s tall with a narrow lower chamber and a long upper chamber, which made it a bit tricky to position securely on the grates of a gas stovetop. It was the slowest model we tested, averaging around 9 minutes to brew an average 6.8-ounce pot of coffee, which was thin, bitter, and one-note. Cleaning this moka pot was also difficult, as it was hard to reach into the long upper chamber.

This elegant-looking moka pot produced rich and full-bodied coffee that was characteristic of this type of brewing method. Its bottom chamber is made of stainless steel, which makes it induction compatible. It took more than 7 minutes to brew a full, six-serving pot of coffee—not the fastest among the similar-size moka pots, but also not the slowest. However, it has serious design flaws The bottom chamber leaked water from the seam on several occasions when we poured coffee from the pot because the threads didn’t form a tight seal. The water also spurted violently toward the end of brewing.

This moka pot, which is similar in design to the Bialetti, has an ergonomic handle that felt cool to touch when we took it off the heat after brewing. However, we noticed a few flaws. The threads on the bottom chamber were rough and grind together uncomfortably; it sometimes took us several attempts to align the threads properly. The coffee also started to violently spurt toward the end of brewing with the narrow center tube, shooting dangerously hot liquid in all directions. It also took the longest among the 6-cup models, producing scorched coffee with a burnt flavor.

This electric model made an average of a 7.3-ounce pot of coffee in less than 5 minutes, which was faster than even the smaller moka pots. But we soon realized that the coffee was diluted and sour, an indication of a lack of full extraction. Different from other models, its funnel has a perforated metal cover, which is supposed to filter out the sediment. However, the coffee it produced was still gritty, and the metal cover became stuck to the coffee grounds and hard to remove.