How to Use a Stovetop Coffee Maker
Quick summary
- The stovetop makes thick, strong, espresso-style coffee without a machine
- Use a fine-to-medium grind and roughly 7.5g of coffee per 100ml of water
- Start with hot water, not cold — cold water sitting on heat for longer is the main cause of bitter stovetop coffee
- Works best with an espresso roast — the same coffee you'd use in an espresso machine suits a stovetop well
I get why the stovetop has an old-fashioned reputation — it's not the trendiest thing on a café counter, and it's easy to make a genuinely bad cup with one. But done properly, it's the closest you'll get to an actual shot of espresso without an espresso machine, and it's been how plenty of people started their coffee journey, myself included.
This guide covers the method and ratio I use, plus the mistakes that turn stovetop coffee bitter — because it's a fact that a bad stovetop cup is usually a rushed one, not a coffee problem.
QUICK ANSWER
How Do You Use a Stovetop Coffee Maker?
Grind coffee fine to medium and fill the filter basket level, without tamping. Fill the base with hot water rather than cold, assemble the pot, and place it on the heat. Listen for a bubbling sound, then take it off the heat straight away — that's your cue it's done. Use an espresso roast for the closest result to a real shot of espresso.
Table of Contents:
Why the Stovetop Works
The stovetop — also called a moka pot or stovetop espresso maker, after its inventor Alfonso Bialetti — uses steam pressure rather than gravity to push water through the coffee. That's what gets it closer to espresso than any other manual method: real espresso machines also rely on pressure, just a lot more of it. You won't get true crema or the same body as a machine, but you'll get a strong, full-bodied cup that no pour-over or plunger can quite match.
Quick take:
- Pros: Strong, espresso-style coffee without a machine, cheap and durable, no paper filters or power needed
- Cons: Easy to over-extract and get bitter coffee if you rush it, doesn't produce true crema, needs a fine-to-medium grind that not every home grinder handles well
What You'll Need
- Espresso roast coffee, ground fine to medium
- A stovetop coffee maker — we use and sell the Avanti Stovetop Espresso Maker
- A grinder capable of a fine-to-medium grind
- Scales
- A stovetop or hotplate
The Method
- Set up the filter. Grab the filter basket from the base of the stovetop and place the funnel inside.
- Grind and dose. We recommend roughly 7.5g of coffee per 100ml of water for a single serve — double both for two cups. Grind fine to medium, similar to caster sugar.
- Fill the basket. Add the ground coffee to the filter basket, level and even, without tamping. Tap the basket gently to settle the grounds and remove air pockets.
- Add hot water and brew. Pour hot water into the base — starting hot rather than cold keeps the total brew time short, which is what keeps the coffee from turning bitter. Assemble the pot, screw the top on tight, and place it on the heat.
- Listen and remove. Once you hear a bubbling or hissing sound, take it off the heat straight away. Pour and enjoy — stovetop coffee is strong, so add hot water to taste if you want it lighter.
Choosing Your Coffee
An espresso roast is the right call here — the same coffee that suits an espresso machine suits a stovetop, since both rely on pressure to extract. If you want something stronger with chocolate notes, Shadow Boxer is a good place to start. Want something a little more fruit-forward? Street Fighter leans cocoa and berries.
If you want to branch out, our single origin espressos change seasonally and bring more fruit and sweetness than a blend — worth trying once you've got the method down.
Troubleshooting
My stovetop coffee is bitter. This is almost always a heat/time problem, not a coffee problem. Start with hot water rather than cold, and take the pot off the heat as soon as you hear it bubbling — leaving it on any longer over-extracts the coffee.
Is a stovetop the same as a percolator? No — a percolator repeatedly cycles water up through the grounds and back down, which tends to over-extract and produce dirty-tasting coffee. A stovetop pushes water through once, under pressure, which is a cleaner process.
Can I use an aluminium stovetop? Yes — there was a health scare around cooking with aluminium some years back, but further studies haven't found a link, so it's nothing to worry about. If you'd rather go stainless steel anyway, that's what the Avanti Stovetop Espresso Maker is.
More of a visual learner? Watch our Stovetop brew guide
Final Thoughts
The stovetop rewards patience more than any other method on this site — the single biggest fix for bitter coffee is starting with hot water and taking the pot off the heat the moment it starts bubbling, not leaving it to keep going. Get that right, alongside a proper grind and a decent espresso roast, and it's genuinely the closest you'll get to real espresso without owning a machine.
If bigger batches are more your thing, our batch brew guide covers brewing filter coffee at scale — or for the full picture on brewing at home, start with our guide to making coffee at home.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best coffee for a stovetop?
Is a stovetop the same as a percolator?
Can I use an aluminium stovetop?
What grind size should I use?
I want to brew a bigger batch — what should I use instead?
