GSI Outdoors Moka Espresso Pot

GSI Outdoors Moka Espresso Pot

By Cory McLaughlin

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Just the Facts:

No matter where your adventures might take you, you’re never more than a few minutes away from an incredible cup of espresso with the GSI Outdoors Glacier Moka Espresso Pot.

Simple design is exceptionally easy to use

Brews quickly with 6 double shot (2 fl. oz.) servings ready in just minutes

Ultra-rugged, Glacier Stainless® construction provides years of reliable brewing

Folding handle carafe pours easily and stores compactly.

My Story:

Who doesn’t like a good espresso drink? I know that my family is full of espresso loving folks and because of this I was excited to try my hand at making my own delicious drinks at a fraction of the cost. GSI Outdoors created the Moka Espresso Pot to help us cost aware coffee drinkers become our own baristas in both the home and the outdoors.

My wife was on her third coffee of the day at around $5 a pop and I was looking at her with confusion. She drinks decaf coffee so I cannot understand her love of the drink as it does not have the simulating zing of caffeine. I had seen the GSI Outdoors Moka Espresso Pot in an add and thought it looked like something I wanted to test out. If there was any chance that it could save me some money on expensive coffee drinks I was all about testing it out.

The Moka Pot arrived and after a thorough cleaning I was ready to test it out. I filled the basin with water and filed the strainer with ground coffee. I screwed the two piece back together and started the brew. The stove was turned to high and I sat back to watch the fun. The water started to boil and almost immediately I was struck with disaster. Water came pouring out of the ventilation hole and steam boiled into the air. In my rush to try this pot out, like most guys, I had made a huge mistake by not reading the instructions. I overfilled the pot and that was the issue.

Round two went much smoother. I actually filled the pot to the correct measurements and made sure the two pieces were securely tightened. The espresso began to flow from the spout and fill the pot. An audible gurgling sound and puffs of steam told me that the bottom portion was empty and I pulled the pot from the stove. The first sip was simply glorious! The coffee was very strong and delicious. It was exactly what I had hoped for.

During my next few attempts I found that it was worth the wait to heat the water on lower heat as it made for a stronger mix and less chance of steam blowout. After about the fourth time using the pot I would say I had it figured out.

I took the Moka Espresso Pot with us on our family vacation to the Oregon coast and it was a huge hit as I brewed up some caramel macchiato’ s, a family favorite, and a few other drinks. The whole trip was a huge success and the savings were to the tune of about $100 as we never needed to hit the coffee shops.

At my annual elk camp the fellas were pretty excited to have a super stout cup of Joe. I made the mistake of drinking a whole cup right out of the pot and boy that was interesting. I found myself over caffeinated and jittery with a hint of nausea. Guess I tested my own limits there. I only mention this to silence any doubters about the strength of the coffee this pot produces. It makes a really rocket propelled pot of coffee. The guys at camp loved this it and they used the pot heavily.

During a wash-up I was sad to see the lid fall to the ground. I was confused as to why this happened until I noticed that the two small bead welds that hold the lid to the pot had failed. In a quick read of amazon reviews it seems others have had this issue as well.  The pot was still completely functional but the lid was no longer attached. A quick email to GSI Outdoors and I had a replacement within 2 days. The new pot functions flawlessly. I was sad to see it break but happy to report the customer service was fantastic.

My testing of this GSI Outdoors Moka Espresso Pot saw it used around 25-30 times. Each use produced excellent tasting coffee and even after more than two dozen uses the novity of it has not worn off. I really love using this great pot to make my own espresso drinks both at home and at camp. This is a worth addition to any camp or home coffee bar. Sure, there are much fancier espresso makes out there but for the money I don’t think the GSI Outdoors Moka Espresso Pot can be beat.

Find it Here:

https://gsioutdoors.com/moka-espresso-pot.html

What can be done better?

Well, it would be nice if there was no worry about the lid falling off. To be honest my first thought was to rate this pot low as I don’t feel the failure was acceptable but I just love it so much I can’t really ding it too much. If the failure caused the pot to be unusable I would have to ding it significantly but even with a loose lid it still works. Sadly, in the 4 reviews on Amazon I noticed that I am not the only person to have this issue and because of this I must ding this pot more than I would like to. I will say that GSI Outdoors is great about backing their products so in the unlikely event that you have an issue they will make it right.

I give the GSI Outdoors Moka Espresso Pot a strong brewed 4 stars as it really is a fun product.