I own a cheap burr grinder and I mainly brew my coffee 95% of the time with a Vandel Moka pot. I just recently found out that a moka pot doesn't actually make espresso, that I need to pre-heat my water and that an espresso grind is too fine. Up until that point I was using Lavazza and Illy pre-ground espresso purchased from my local grocer.

I have since started grinding whole beans (I just finished a bag from Intelligentsia) with a coarser grind, somewhere along the lines of a drip/french press grind. The coffee has been better.

Now I am looking to branch out more and buy some awesome coffee. When I check out small roasting companies they have a lot of regions listed (which I don't know anything about) but I usually just go by the description. However, most roasters advertise certain coffee as espresso and was wondering if I should not buy those beans since I am not actually making espresso? Or do they refer to these beans as 'espresso' because of the roast?

I have read somewhere on here last night that it is a misconception that all espresso is dark roasted and that it simply refers to the brewing process and grind. Therefore, if you can use any type of roasted coffee bean for espresso is it OK to use any type of bean for my moka pot?

Thanks!!!

I like to try everything...except Kopi Luwak. I suggest you do the same and find out what you really like.

A mocha pot does not make espresso by modern standards, although it is espresso as it used to be before WWII.

The basic mocha pot rule is to use a grind slightly finer than drip, not as fine as espresso. For the best cup, cut the heat once the water starts boiling, so it's barely oozing out and takes several minutes to finish brewing.

You can use a wider variety of coffee in a mocha pot, both darker and lighter roasted than traditional espresso roasts, although the lightest roasts do better as French press or drip.

For coffee, check out any of our favorite roasters

Coffee characteristics can vary widely depending on how they are brewed, and increasing the pressure from 1.5 bars of a moka pot to the typical 9 bars of pressure in an espresso machine can change the taste considerably. i could be wrong, but it seems Illy beans are tuned for moka brewing, as I've never had a good illy shot out of a commercial machine, but it's acceptable out of a moka pot. where your intelli beans are tuned for big commercial machines.

Thank you everyone for your input.

Let's say I am looking at ordering some coffee from Counter Culture (http://www.counterculturecoffee.com/coffee). Should I stay away from the Espresso section since I won't be brewing espresso? It seems like people will make espresso using any type of bean they want, depending on personal preference. Would the same go for me using a Moka pot or french press? Should I limit myself to non-espresso coffee?

I brew everything from South American single origins to espresso blends in my Moka. Let your taste buds be your guide. Buy lots of different coffees and toss what you don't like. In my opinion the Moka is not a limiting factor when it comes to beans. The biggest point I like to make about the Moka is that you are trying to dance the line between enough steam pressure to get the water to flow without boiling the water. The slower you heat the pot up the slower it will brew and the closer to an acceptable water temperature you'll get. I have a little 500 btu simmer burner on my gas stove and I run my Moka on that at medium-low. Takes somewhere between 3-5 minutes to brew with cold water. Less than a minute of that time coffee is flowing into the upper pot. Muck with your grind/fill (don't tamp!!!) until you are grinding as fine as you can and not clogging the thing up. There shouldn't be any steam sputtering out into the upper pot while the coffee is flowing. Sweet Maria's has a good how-to.

Good to hear!