What to put in a moka pot: three Italian-style coffees

The best coffee for a moka pot for most people in the UK is Lavazza Qualità Rossa ground, an arabica and robusta blend that Lavazza sell for moka and espresso, and the cheapest per cup of the three. For a darker, Neapolitan cup buy Kimbo Espresso Napoli, and if you grind your own buy illy Costa Rica beans, a 100% arabica that illy tell you to grind medium-fine for a moka pot.

What is the best coffee for a moka pot?

Lavazza Qualità Rossa ground, for most people. Lavazza name the moka pot on its UK product page, they say each of their ground blends is cut 'to a specific granularity calibrated for the intended brewing method, whether moka, espresso, or filter', and the robusta in the blend adds the body a short stovetop coffee is drunk for. At 31p a cup on our 18g dose when we last checked, it is also the cheapest of the three.

Each pick here passes the same test: its maker names the moka pot, or tells you exactly how to grind for one. Kimbo Espresso Napoli is the darker choice, and illy Costa Rica the one for anyone who owns a grinder.

Lavazza Qualità Rossa: best overall

Lavazza describe Qualità Rossa as a medium roast of arabica and robusta from Africa, South America and Southeast Asia, at intensity 5 of 10, with chocolate notes and a 'dark colour, velvety texture'. Their UK page gives espresso and moka as the methods. The Amazon listing for the 1kg pack calls it 'Ideal for Moka Pots' in its title, then widens that to French press and filter in the description, which Lavazza's own page does not do.

The 1kg comes as four 250g packs, so three stay sealed while you work through the first. Lavazza's moka method is short: fill the base with water, add the coffee to the filter, give it a light knock to level it, close the pot and heat it until the coffee rises.

Skip it if you want 100% arabica; Lavazza blend robusta into this one and say so.

The blend and what the price buys are covered in the full review. Lavazza Qualità Rossa review

Kimbo Espresso Napoli: best dark roast

Kimbo list Espresso Napoli as a dark roast of arabica and robusta at intensity 10 of 13, for espresso and the moka pot, and describe it as having an intense aroma and a long-lasting flavour. The Amazon listing puts the mix at 80% arabica and 20% robusta; Kimbo's own page gives no percentages. The same listing says intensity 9 of 13 in its title and 10 of 13 in its description, so go by Kimbo's figure.

It is a 250g vacuum pack at 43p a cup when we last checked, 12p more than Qualità Rossa and still well under the ground coffee median. Choose it if you want the moka coffee dark and heavy, in the Neapolitan style the blend is named for.

Skip it if you take your coffee black and dislike bitterness; a dark roast with robusta brings both.

The Neapolitan style, and why Kimbo pack it in a brick, are covered in the full review. Kimbo Espresso Napoli review

illy Costa Rica beans: best to grind yourself

illy sell Costa Rica as part of their Arabica Selection: a 100% arabica single origin at a medium roast, with notes of caramel, chocolate and vanilla. The listing spells out the grind for each brewer, which is rare: 'medium-fine with a moka pot', fine for an espresso machine, and coarser for filter and cafetière.

At 57p a cup when we last checked it is the dearest of the three, though still 6p under the 63p median of the 812 whole bean coffees we track. What you get for it is control: you set the grind for your own pot and grind only what you need that morning.

Skip it if you have no grinder, or if you want the extra body that robusta gives the other two.

What grind does a moka pot need?

Finer than filter, a touch coarser than espresso. Bialetti, who have made the Moka Express since the 1930s, say that 'unlike for espresso machines, coffee for the Moka is a coarser grind'. Union's stovetop guide asks for 'medium to fine, similar to caster sugar', and illy's 'medium-fine' says the same thing.

The reason is pressure. A moka pot pushes water up through the coffee at about 1.5 bar, by Bialetti's figure, where an espresso machine works at 9 bar or more. The grind has to give the water some resistance at that low pressure without stopping it. A cafetière grind is too coarse to do that, which is why a bag cut for the plunger makes thin moka coffee.

Do not press it. Bialetti put it bluntly: 'Ground coffee for Moka should never be pressed!' Union say to level the basket 'without patting it down'. Then use low heat and take the pot off as soon as it starts to gurgle. Bialetti and Union agree on that much and disagree on the water: Bialetti say room temperature, Union say start with hot water to shorten the brew. Wikipedia's moka pot article explains why the end matters: in the final sputtering phase steam and water push through together, which can cause 'rapid overextraction'.

Why are Italian espresso blends the usual pick?

Because the moka pot is Italian, and so are the roasters who grind for it. Alfonso Bialetti and his son Renato popularised the pot from 1933, according to Wikipedia, and Italian brands still cut their ground coffee by brewer: Lavazza calibrate each blend for moka, espresso or filter, and Kimbo sell Espresso Napoli for espresso machines and moka pots together.

A moka pot also makes a short, strong cup, closer to espresso than to filter coffee in character, and these blends were built for that kind of cup. A bag designed for a filter machine or a cafetière is cut for a longer, gentler brew instead.

Does robusta make better moka pot coffee?

It makes it heavier and stronger, at the cost of some bitterness. Wikipedia's entry on Coffea canephora describes roasted robusta as 'strong, full-bodied' with 'more bitterness than arabica', puts its caffeine at 2.7% against 1.5% for arabica, and notes that 'good-quality robusta beans are used in traditional Italian espresso blends to provide a full-bodied taste'.

Two of the three picks contain it: Qualità Rossa in a medium roast, Kimbo Espresso Napoli in a dark one. If you want a cleaner, sweeter cup and do not miss the weight, illy Costa Rica is all arabica.

How do the three compare?

Two ground blends with robusta and one bag of arabica beans. Lavazza Qualità Rossa is the only medium-roast blend, Kimbo Espresso Napoli the only dark roast, and illy Costa Rica the only single origin and the only one you have to grind.

What does each cost per cup?

Between 31p and 57p a cup on an 18g dose when we last checked, and all three come in under the median for their format. At two cups a day Lavazza Qualità Rossa costs about £189 a year less than illy Costa Rica.

A moka pot usually takes less than 18g. Union's stovetop recipe uses about 15g, so on that dose each bag goes roughly 20% further than the table suggests. Prices move; the cards at the top of this page carry today's.

Who should skip all of these?

• Cafetière brewers. Moka and espresso grinds are too fine for a plunger, and the result is silty and bitter; buy a coarse cafetière grind instead.
• Anyone who dislikes bitterness. Skip the two robusta blends and go straight to the illy beans.
• Anyone without a grinder should skip the illy beans, which are no use in a moka pot until they are ground.

The verdict

Buy Lavazza Qualità Rossa if you want a moka coffee that suits most people, at the lowest price of the three. Buy Kimbo Espresso Napoli if you want it dark and heavy. Buy illy Costa Rica beans if you own a grinder and would rather have a single origin without robusta.