Is saw this discussion on whether you should compact coffee grounds in a Moka pot.
I am in the no compaction camp, but wondered if there was a reason to do one way or another?
main reason: % of caffeine extracted 
(and other phenolic agents). donāt thank me, thank the dozens of PhDs written on that. Moka standard pressure about 1.5 bars, vs expresso machine >6 barsā¦
Highāpressure processingāassisted ināsitu extraction of caffeine, chlorogenic acid, phenolic content, and antioxidant properties of green coffee bean | Request PDF
butā¦more importantly. Will the Bialettis be the same after the acquisition of the Italian company by the Chinese VC in April?..
Iāve long come to the conclusion that thereās no right or wrong way to do stuff. If you prefer the taste of coffee prepared in a certain way, or in a certain machine or using a certain roast/bean/flavour, then your way is the ārightā way.
There are so many people acting as gatekeepers these days that it sucks the joy out of even the most trivial action as they sagely tell you that āyouāre doing it all wrongā.
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Iām in the light compaction team.
No worries about the flavor. My issue is that while you close the Bialetti and no compaction, most of times coffee grounds are dropped. I donāt want to clean this, so I press the coffee a bit with the spoon to ensure nothing is dropped while closing the Bialetti.
You should not compact, the pressure isnāt enough, at least Italians are seeing it as bad thing to do.
In the normal espresso machine however you should, and thereās a special tooling for that, there the pressure is enough. Thereāre other interesting things, like the type of basket you use, distribution.
Not a barista, Iāve just digged a bit into this rabbit hole.
A big fan of Uganda and Rwanda Arabica beans.
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Exactly. However people may like their coffee, you canāt defy the laws of physics.
You mean the pressure is not enough to force the water through well to extract the flavour?
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It will extract some but it wonāt be good, therefore itās normally kept not condensed, itās about 2 bars, while an electric espresso machine is 9-15 bars
I.e. thereāre certain rules, for example if you filter coffee you could do it with a dry paper but the proper way is to first wet the paper and then put coffee and pour water. Of course if you donāt follow it youād still achieve something.
I advise getting a lever espresso machine and forgetting about moka altogether
My question is purely theoretical as guests previously destroyed my moka pot and I since switched to instant coffee 
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Oh I wouldnāt even call it a coffee 
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Isnāt it time that you woke up to a richer, smoother-tasting cup?
That jingle is seared into my brain!
I invite you to go through this rabbit hole.
- Buy an electric espresso machine:
- if you own home and have a good budget go for 3-4k (Iāve never done but but Iāve read maintenance is around 500 per year, I am personally considering Linea Micra if this moment comes..
- if you have a medium budget go for 1k (consider also machines ordereable from China, never tried this but read interesting reviews)
- if youāre low on budget go for ~500 +/ (I did this and I wouldnāt recommend the one I bought)
- If the machine comes with a pressurized basket, order a non-pressurized one (single and double)
- If the machine comes not with a bottomless portafilter order a bottomless one
- Order a magnetic portafilter funnel
- Order a coffee distribution tool (Wdt)
- Order a stainless coffee tamper
- Order a coffee leveler
- Order a brush
- Order a knock-off bin (they look unreliable but the trick is that their bar is not hard plastic but a resin kind of consuming the hit energy)
- Order a small weight to measure coffee you grind to achieve 25s of extraction constantly
- Order a good grinder (~600 ?)
- Optional: itās also possible to order metallic filters to put on top of coffee, I personally stopped using them
After a few weeks of use and mess order some tabletop cover and a startion for this stuff.
And youāll be compacting your coffee every time and even in a few steps
=)
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orā¦ make bosnian coffee in a 10 CHF pot.
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Iāve just googled it, do you bring it to boiling and put powder into it? Thatās all?
My pyramid of coffee preferences from the worst to the best:
BAD
Instant Coffee
BAD+
Ground Coffee with boiling water simply poured into it
Capsule Coffee (unfortunately thereās a trend and Switzerland that many companies adopt this kind of machines, probably for cost cutting reasons)
OK
Dripped Coffee and similar (Filtered etc.)
Aeropress
Turkish Coffee and similar varieties if done by a newbie
Automated Electric Machine Coffee
OK+
Turkish Coffee and similar varieties if done by a professional
GOOD
Moka Coffee
BEST
Electric Machine Coffee (Double Espresso, Flat White)
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I highly recommend a manual lever espresso machine. You can manually adjust the pressure /time curve (which is possible on high end stuff like the decent espresso machine) and you save a ton of money to get a high end grinder.