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The Best Moka Pot — A hands on comparison and review

We've done hands on tests of 12 moka pots (so far) — including iconic and popular models — to determine what makes a good moka pot, and which one is the best!

10 different moka pot grouped together on a wooden kitchen top
Table of contents

We've reviewed each moka pot for taste, ease of use, aesthetics, and sustainability — and there are two clear winners:

Our top recommendation

Image: Honest Coffee Guide

Bialetti Moka Express

Versatile, durable, affordable and makes great coffee, it's no surprise that this is the most popular stovetop coffee maker still today.

5 out of 5 5out of5

Pros

  • Easy to find spare parts
  • Iconic design
  • Durable
  • Consistently good coffee
A 2 Cup Bialetti Moka Express

Bialetti Moka Express Moka Pot Review

Read this for a more detailed review of the Moka Express.

The fancy option

A shiney steel moka pot over a blue stove top flame.
Image: Honest Coffee Guide

Alessi 9090 Moka Pot

A beautiful moka pot that makes great coffee too.

4 out of 5 4out of5

Pros

  • Makes great coffee
  • Beautiful design

Cons

  • Expensive
  • Minor usability issues
A shiny steel moka pot over a blue flame

Alessi 9090 Moka Pot Review

Read this for more a more detailed review of the Alessi 9090.

There are a lot of moka pots on the market — too many for us to review. We believe the two recommendations above are safe bets, but if you're looking at other options, the information below should help you determine if a moka is any good before buying it — even if it isn't on our list.

What makes a good moka pot?

Given the simplicity of moka pots, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking they're all equally capable of making coffee.

When we started reviewing moka pots, we thought their biggest differences would be subtle usability issues and aesthetics. Instead what we found was a stark difference in the coffee they produce and some major usability issues.

Taste

Most of the moka pots we tested struggle to make good coffee due to a poor coffee-to-water ratio. These moka pots have baskets that are just too small compared to the size of the lower chamber.

The moka pots that produced the best coffee had around 3:10 ratio of basket volume to lower chamber volume. This corresponds to the generally recommended 1:10 coffee-to-water ratio when calculating using weight.

A diagram of the moka pots we tested and their corresponding coffee-to-water ratios

This chart compares the coffee to water ratio of each moka pot model, and their position from the ideal 1:10 ratio for stovetop brewers. The recommended Alessi 9090 and Bialetti Express models lie right within the best coffee to water ratio, while brands like Pezzetti miss the mark massively, due to their shallow grounds baskets.

Measuring the correct ratio for you moka pot can be tricky. We've created an awesome calculator for brewing ratios. We've also made useful size guides for the most popular moka pots, so you can quickly determine the water capacity of your brewer.

A cube of water hovering over a rectangular block of coffee grounds on a grey background.

Coffee to water ratio calculator

Calculate the perfect amount of coffee for your moka pot.
A moka pot on a gradient background with a ruler

Moka pot size guide

Figure out the water capacity of your moka pot.

Usability and cleaning

Moka pots had a wide range of usability issues — some minor and some major.

One major usability issue was the impossible-to-clean groove in the Bialetti Venus, Musa, and Kitty models — resulting in a gross hole where coffee grounds accumulate.

Other minor issues we've encountered include:

  • Dribbly spouts
  • Hot handles
  • Difficult-to-screw-on bases
  • Thumb danger zones
  • Lids that spill
  • Poor manufacturing quality resulting in jagged edges

A good moka pot should have no major usability issues — and as few minor usability issues as possible.

Aesthetics

Most moka pots aren't offensive to look at — they tend towards a sleek, art deco style design. Some ruin their minimalist look by sticking on an ugly logo — others have clear signs of poor manufacturing.

Aesthetics is a matter of taste, but if you want our opinion…

Moka pots should either be beautiful or minimalist — they shouldn't look like knock-offs of the original.

Sustainability and repairability

Moka pots are supposed to have their gaskets and filters replaced regularly. Some of the moka pots we tested don't have easily identifiable parts or places where you can buy them. This makes it easier to buy a new cheap moka pot than to replace the part — we think this is bad.

Moka pots are simple devices and should last a long time.

Good moka pots last a long time, have easily replaceable parts, and can be recycled at the end of their life.

How we tested and reviewed the moka pots

We tried our best to be fair by following the same process with all the moka pots and by taste testing them with the same popular pre-ground coffee brand.

Obviously, these reviews aren't objective, but we believe we've done a good job justifying the ratings we've given each one.

The rest of the moka pots

Here's the rest of the moka pots we reviewed, we put them at the bottom of the page because we don't think they're worth looking at — but in case you're interested.

Good for Induction

The Bialetti Moka Induction 6 Cup
Image: Honest Coffee Guide

Bialetti Moka Induction – 6 cups

This moka pot produces strong bitter coffee making it ideal for those who enjoy powerful brews.

4 out of 5 4out of5

Pros

  • Induction compatible
  • Comfortable handle
  • Strong coffee

Cons

  • Squeaking screw thread

It's okay

Image: Honest Coffee Guide

Bialetti Kitty – 10 cups

A pretty design and consistent coffee brewing, despite its usability issues.

3 out of 5 3out of5

Pros

  • Easy to find spare parts
  • Beautiful design
  • Consistently good coffee

Cons

  • Hard to clean
  • Manufacturing quality
  • Ergonomics

It's okay

Image: Honest Coffee Guide

Legnoart 3 Cup Moka Pot

3 out of 5 3out of5

Pros

  • Cute design
  • Easy to use

Cons

  • Hard to source parts
  • Watery coffee
  • Minor usability issues

Not recommended

A shiny stainless steel Bialetti Venus moka pot on a wooden surface
Image: Honest Coffee Guide

Bialetti Venus

Suffers from the same issues as the Bialetti Kitty and Musa models and makes bad coffee — we don't recommend it.

2 out of 5 2out of5

Pros

  • Sleek modern design

Cons

  • Struggles to produce good coffee
  • Difficult to clean
  • Lots of usability issues

Not recommended

A shiny metallic moka pot with a curved black handle.

Bialetti Musa – 4 cups

A clumsily designed moka pot that produces bad tasting coffee.

2 out of 5 2out of5

Pros

  • Easy to find spare parts

Cons

  • Makes bad coffee
  • Impossible to clean
  • Difficult to use

Not recommended

The Alessi Moka 3 Cups
Image: Honest Coffee Guide

Alessi Moka – 3 cups

Designed by David Chipperfield, the iconic Alessi Moka struggles to create balanced, non-bitter coffee, potentially due to over-extraction issues.

2 out of 5 2out of5

Pros

  • Iconic design

Cons

  • Cheap plastic parts
  • Bitter over-extracted coffee

Not recommended

The Pezzati Italexpress 6 Cup
Image: Honest Coffee Guide

Pezzetti Italexpress 6-cup

This moka pot disappoints with consistently watery, astringent, bitter, and metallic-tasting coffee, falling short rich brew expected from a moka pot, coupled with minor usability flaws and an unoriginal aesthetic.

1 out of 5 1out of5

Cons

  • Watery astringent coffee
  • Drips when pouring
  • Uncomfortable handle
  • Poorly made