Bialetti Kitty moka pot review
Table of contents
Product recommendation
Pros
- Easy to find spare parts
- Beautiful design
- Consistently good coffee
Cons
- Hard to clean
- Manufacturing quality
- Ergonomics
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Taste
After a few taste tests, we found that the Kitty creates consistency decent coffee – although not very strong brews, as the ratio of coffee to water is quite high for this model. One brew came out very well, had hints of floral aroma and flavour. If you like coffees with weaker body, like with pour-over, the moka pot coffee that the Kitty produces could be for you.
If you're looking for a moka pot that can create stronger, more espresso-like coffee, we recommend other models with a lower coffee to water ratio such as the Bialetti Moka Express or the Alessi 9090.
Check out our review of the Alessi 9090 here:
…or check prices on the classic Bialetti Moka Express here: Bialetti Moka Express – 6 cups *If you make a purchase through these affiliate links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Aesthetics
The overall look of the Kitty is very beautiful, with the sleek stainless steel body and subtle design details. But a closer look however reveals a few careless design choices.
Usability and cleaning
Listed below are some of the Kitty's usability and cleaning issues.
Un-cleanable groove
Much like the Musa and Venus models that Bialetti makes, the Kitty has a deep groove at the bottom of the top chamber. This groove is essentially inaccessible, so any old coffee dregs will remain there, potentially affecting the taste of all future brews.
Badly designed handle
The handle for the Kitty is essentially a flat steel band with a rubber sleeve, unlike the moulded plastic handles that you see on every other model from Bialetti.
It doesn't fit with the aesthetic of the rest of the design, and it doesn't feel comfortable in the hand, especially when tilting it for pouring. The Kitty we reviewed was the 10 cup moka pot, so maybe this isn't much of an issue with the smaller, lighter sizes, but we can say with certainty that this handle sub-par for Bialetti moka pots.
It's not just ergonomics. The quality of the manufacturing also feels overlooked, with obvious ugly rivets, welding and coarse edges that feel oddly out of place with the rest of the design.
Minor usability issues
- It's not clear how high you're supposed to fill the lower chamber. The instructions say you should fill it to just below the safety valve — but it's difficult to see the valve while filling it.
- This may be only for the model we had, but screwing on and off the chambers created a lot of grating screeching noises — but maybe it will ease with use over time.
Good usability features
- The lever for the lid is easy to reach with the same hand holding the moka pot, and there was no fear of burning our fingers while doing so.
- It pours well, and we didn't experience any spilling.
Sustainability and repairability
Replacement components are readily available, avoiding discarding the entire moka pot due to worn-out or broken parts.
If you need to replace a worn-out gasket in your moka pot, check out our tool to find the correct size, by inputting the model of you moka pot.
