Moccamaster KBGT

Technivorm

Moccamaster with thermal carafe instead of glass + hotplate.

Moccamaster KBGT (thermal carafe)

The Moccamaster without the hot plate. Same copper element and same 96°C brew, into a vacuum carafe that keeps the coffee drinkable for hours instead of cooking it in twenty minutes.

Roast	Grind	Coffee	Water	Time
light	medium	11 g	180 ml	6:00
medium	medium	11 g	180 ml	5:50
dark	medium-coarse	10 g	180 ml	5:30

Per 180 ml cup. Makes 4–10 at a time.

What goes wrong

Not preheating the steel carafe (the first cup lands lukewarm), brewing half batches on the full-batch setting (fast flow over a shallow bed, weak), grinding fine (the basket floods and bypasses, bitter), leaving stale coffee in the carafe overnight (stains and taints the next batch)

Care schedule

2 tasks for this machine.

Wash the carafe properly

Weekly

Coffee leaves a brown film on glass and a duller one on steel. It is not a stain, it is oil, and it goes rancid - a thermal jug that has never been properly cleaned adds a stale note to everything poured into it.

What you need

A long-handled brush. Bicarbonate of soda, an oxygenated cleaner such as Cafiza, or a denture tablet. Hot water.

What goes wrong

Leaving the pot on the hot plate to dry out, which bakes the film on hard. Cleaning the jug and never the lid. Dishwashing an insulated jug. Taking a scourer to glass and leaving scratches that hold more oil than before.

The procedure

Rinse with hot water after every pot, before the oil dries. That is 90 percent of the job.

5 more steps

The full procedure is in the app, along with a reminder when this is next due. Add the Moccamaster KBGT to your shelf and it keeps track.

Get the app

Descale the Moccamaster

Every 3 months

Scale builds on the copper heating element and drops your brew temperature below the 96°C the machine is built around. A scaled Moccamaster brews cooler and flatter, and the element works harder to get there.

What you need

Citric acid powder, about 30g, or a citric-acid based descaler such as Durgol Swiss Espresso. Fresh water for two rinse cycles. No paper filter.

What goes wrong

Leaving the paper filter in the basket, which floods the counter. Rinsing only once, so the next pot tastes sour and metallic. Letting the machine sit switched off with descaler in the reservoir overnight, which attacks the element instead of the scale. Using vinegar and then wondering why the coffee smells of vinegar for a fortnight.

The procedure

Fill the reservoir with 1 litre of water and 30g of citric acid powder, stirred until it dissolves. Warm water dissolves it faster.

4 more steps

The full procedure is in the app, along with a reminder when this is next due. Add the Moccamaster KBGT to your shelf and it keeps track.

Get the app

What it makes

Batch Brew

95 mg