Filters and Cleaning

We recommend a medium-coarse grind, which should look like coarse sand or sea salt. If having your coffee ground, use these descriptors to ensure you get optimal coarseness. Note that most pre-ground, bagged coffee tends to be too finely ground for ideal operation.

Moccamaster oxygen whitened filters are the perfect choice for clean, crisp coffee. Brown unbleached filters may leave a “cardboard” taste in your coffee, while permanent wire-mesh type filters can quickly clog with coffee oils. A clogged filter may result in your brew basket overflowing or steeping the coffee too long, potentially resulting in over-extracted bitter-tasting coffee.

If it tastes good to drink, it will make good coffee. We recommend fresh tap, filtered, or bottled water. We do not recommend using reverse osmosis filtered water or distilled water, as it can damage the brewer’s boiling element. 

In reverse osmosis water and distilled water, all minerals are removed, and the water’s PH becomes slightly acidic. The water will leach minerals out of the copper boiling element to return to a neutral PH, eventually damaging the copper element permanently. Because we build Moccamaster coffee brewers to last for a long time, using reverse osmosis or distilled water could significantly reduce the brewer’s life.

Over time, minerals from water accumulate inside the Moccamaster’s boiling element, forming scale. This buildup can slow and eventually stop the flow of water. It also can affect the brewing temperature and saturation time. If not descaled regularly, the brewer can become permanently damaged. Descaling products break down the mineral buildup inside your brewer, ensuring consistent brewer functionality and great coffee. 

Descale your brewer every 100 cycles, or a minimum of every three months. An excellent way to remember is by descaling after you finish a box of 100-count filters.