The Best Coffee for a Moccamaster, and How Much to Use
The best coffee for a Moccamaster is fresh coffee in the roast you enjoy, ground medium to medium-fine, at 60 to 75 grams for a full 1.25 liter carafe. That is 12 to 15 level tablespoons, or five to six Moccamaster scoops. Light and medium roasts taste brighter; medium-dark makes a fuller pot.
We roast one coffee in cast iron on our family farm in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Here is what the machine asks of your coffee, how much to use, and where our coffee fits.
What makes a Moccamaster different
A Moccamaster is a drip brewer, handmade in the Netherlands, that does the basics very well. Its copper element heats the water to 92 to 96 degrees Celsius, about 197 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit, the range brewing standards call for, and a full carafe takes about five to six minutes. Retailer listings for the KBG Select from Redber and Coffee Supreme say it is certified by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and the European Coffee Brewing Centre (ECBC).
A spray head spreads the water over grounds in a #4 cone paper filter, much like an automatic pour over. For choosing coffee, the point is simple: a brewer that gets the heat right shows you exactly what is in the bag. Fresh coffee tastes its best, and stale coffee tastes stale. Freshness and the dose matter more than the label.
How much coffee to use in a Moccamaster
A Moccamaster cup is 125 milliliters, about 4 ounces, so a full 10-cup carafe holds 1.25 liters, about 42 ounces. That is about five 8-ounce cups of water, and a little less in the pot, since the wet grounds hold some back (estimate). Redber's listing for the KBG Select recommends 60 to 75 grams of filter-ground coffee for a full carafe and says the included Moccamaster scoop holds about 12 grams. The German roaster Simon & Bearns suggests starting at 60 grams per liter, about 1 part coffee to 16 parts water.
| Batch | Water | Ground coffee | Level tablespoons | Moccamaster scoops (about 12 g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full carafe, 10 cups | 1.25 L, about 42 oz | 60 to 75 g | 12 to 15 | 5 to 6 |
| 8 cups | 1 L, about 34 oz | 48 to 60 g | 10 to 12 | 4 to 5 |
| Half carafe, 5 cups | 0.625 L, about 21 oz | 30 to 38 g | 6 to 8 | 2 1/2 to 3 |
These are estimates: Redber's full-carafe range scaled down, at about 5 grams per level tablespoon of ground coffee. Our FAQ's starting rule, two tablespoons per six ounces of water, works out to about 14 tablespoons (about 70 grams) for a full carafe, 11 for 8 cups and 7 for a half carafe, inside that range. The Bespoke Post listing for the KBGV gives the same two-tablespoon rule. See also our coffee to water ratio guide.
Start in the middle, taste, and change one thing at a time. Weak or sour: add a tablespoon. Heavy or bitter: take one away.
Grind and roast
Grind. Moccamaster guides call for a medium grind, about like coarse sand (Caffeine Advisor). Too fine tastes bitter, and too coarse tastes weak or sour. Our ground coffee is one medium-fine grind that works for every brew method, a Moccamaster included, so use it as it comes. If you grind at home, order whole bean and grind right before you brew. More in whole bean vs. ground coffee.
PD wrote to us about the same grind in a pour over, the method a Moccamaster copies:
“The grind is perfect for pour over coffee makers.”
PD, X, September 2026
Roast. Many specialty guides lean toward light and medium roasts for a Moccamaster, for the floral and fruit notes a clean paper-filter brew shows off. Darker roasts work too. Simon & Bearns says slightly darker roasts bring more body and chocolate with fewer floral notes, and in its list of light to medium roasts it calls Colombian coffee (washed or honey processed) "a top all-rounder." If bright, fruity coffee is what you love, a light roast from a specialty roaster will suit you better than ours. We do not make one.
Ours is medium-dark in the German Norwegian style: one roast in a cast iron drum that releases beans at different points, so each batch holds a spread of roast levels. In a Moccamaster that makes a round, full pot. Customers describe it as smooth, bold and low in acid, and good black. Other drip machines are covered in the best coffee for a drip coffee maker.
A better pot from your Moccamaster
- Fresh coffee. Coffee does not spoil, but it fades. Buy what you will finish in a few weeks and keep it sealed in an airtight container, like a Mason jar, in a cool, dark cupboard. We advise against the freezer, which brings in moisture.
- Good water. Coffee is mostly water. If your tap water is hard or tastes of chlorine, filtered water makes a cleaner pot.
- Rinse the filter. Pour hot water through the paper filter before adding coffee, then empty the carafe. It takes out any papery taste.
- Serve it soon. On the glass-carafe models, the hot plate holds the pot at about 80 to 85 degrees Celsius and shuts itself off (after 40 minutes on the KBG Select, per Redber). Coffee on any hot plate keeps cooking, and the flavor fades. The thermal-carafe models brew into an insulated carafe with no hot plate; warm it with hot water first.
- Keep it clean. Rinse the basket and carafe every day and descale as your manual says. Old coffee oils make good coffee taste stale.
Which of our coffee to buy for a Moccamaster
Our coffee is one good option for a Moccamaster, not the only one. A fresh grocery store medium roast with a recent roast date also makes a good pot, for less. If you want decaf, flavored coffee, pods or a light roast, we are not the right roaster.
What we make is 100% Colombian Supremo Arabica (Supremo is Colombia's grade for the largest beans by screen size), roasted medium-dark in a cast iron drum roaster on our farm, in a barn that has been in the family since 1944. We roast in small batches on a regular schedule, and it ships within days of roasting in nearly all cases.
For a Moccamaster, choose ground:
- Big Hoff Bag, ground, 2 lb, $34: about 12 to 13 full carafes at 70 to 75 grams each, roughly $2.60 to $2.80 a carafe (estimates).
- Big Hoff jar, ground, 30.2 oz in a half-gallon glass Mason jar, $42: about 11 to 12 full carafes (estimate), and the jar becomes your storage container.
- The Hoff, ground, 1 lb, $25: about 6 full carafes (estimate), a pound to try it.
If you grind your own, the Big Hoff Bag also comes whole bean. The cups math for every size is in how many cups of coffee in a pound.
Shipping is free on orders of $50 or more, by USPS to US addresses; two ground Big Hoff Bags come to $64, since the second is $4 off. A full carafe every morning empties a 2 lb bag in about two weeks (estimate). If that is your pace, there is an every 2 weeks subscription at $30 a delivery, plus shipping when it is a single bag, since that is under $50. Subscriptions have a two-delivery minimum, and you manage deliveries online through a secure emailed link.
Jim and Kris found us at the Williams Bay farmers market, and the photo at the top of this page is theirs. In Wisconsin, you can taste our coffee first at one of our farmers markets.
“Delicious! We bought your beans at the Williams Bay farmers market for brewing in our Moccamaster. We’re so glad we found you!”
Jim & Kris, verified buyer, July 2026
Moccamaster coffee questions
How many scoops of coffee for a full Moccamaster?
For a full 1.25 liter carafe, use five to six Moccamaster scoops of about 12 grams each, or 60 to 75 grams. With our coffee, start near 70 grams, about 14 level tablespoons, and adjust by a tablespoon from there.
Is medium or dark roast better in a Moccamaster?
It comes down to taste. Light and medium roasts show more fruit and floral notes, which is why specialty guides often suggest them. Darker roasts give more body and a rounder cup. Medium-dark sits between medium and dark, and it is the one roast we make.
How much coffee for a half batch in a Moccamaster?
For five Moccamaster cups, about 21 ounces of water, use about 30 to 38 grams, or six to eight level tablespoons (estimate). Use the half-carafe switch if your model has one, and add a few grams if the pot tastes thin; Redber notes small batches may want a slightly higher dose.
What grind size works in a Moccamaster?
Medium to medium-fine, about the texture of sand. Our ground coffee is one medium-fine grind that works for every brew method, a Moccamaster included, so use it as it comes; we do not grind to order for particular machines. If you grind at home, order whole bean.
A good pot tomorrow morning
Fresh coffee, the right grind, about 70 grams for a full carafe, good water and little time on the hot plate: that covers most of it. Questions about your machine are welcome on our contact page, and there are more coffee guides for every other way to brew.