# Technivorm Moccamaster

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/moccamaster/
Last updated: 2026-10-20

> Fill the reservoir with fresh water, put a pre-wetted paper filter in the brew basket and add 55 g of medium-ground coffee per litre (about two tablespoons per 6 oz). Switch it on: a copper element boils the water and pushes it up to the basket, where it drips through the coffee into the carafe at 92 to 96°C.

## At a glance

- Ratio: 55 g per litre (about 1:18) (55 g coffee : 1000 g water)
- Grind: Medium (sand)
- Water temperature: 92–96 °C
- Category: Pour-over & Drip (Percolation)
- Difficulty: Beginner
- Origin: Netherlands, 1968
- Also known as: Moccamaster, Technivorm, Moccamaster KBG 741

## Steps

1. **Fill the reservoir**: Fill the water reservoir with fresh tap, filtered or bottled water, not distilled or reverse-osmosis water.
2. **Pre-wet the filter**: Put a paper filter in the brew basket and wet it, so it rinses and sticks to the sides.
3. **Add the coffee**: Add 55 g of medium-ground coffee per litre of water, or about two tablespoons per 6 oz cup.
4. **Switch on**: Switch on the machine. The copper element boils the water and sends it up to the shower head over the coffee.
5. **Serve**: When it has finished dripping, stir the carafe and serve.

The **Moccamaster** is the Dutch filter coffee machine that coffee people tend to recommend: a tall, square, brightly coloured brewer designed in **1968** by engineer **Gerard-Clement Smit** and still **made by hand** in **Amerongen**, the Netherlands. It's built around a **copper heating element** that brings water to the boil and drips it through the coffee at **92 to 96°C**, a design shaped by years of work with the **Norwegian Coffee Association**. Here's how it works, how much coffee to use, and how to look after it.

## The short version

- **55 g of coffee per litre**, medium grind, pre-wetted paper filter.
- **Copper element** boils the water; it drips through the coffee at **92 to 96°C**.
- **Designed in 1968**, launched in 1969; the classic **KBG 741** followed in the 1970s.
- **Handmade and tested** in Amerongen, with a five-year warranty.
- **Descale every 100 brews**, and never with citric acid.



## How does a Moccamaster work?

Wikipedia describes the classic **KBG 741**, which has **137 parts**:

1. **Water from the reservoir** drips into a **heater in the base**.
2. When it reaches **boiling point**, it **bubbles up a tube** in the centre of the reservoir.
3. It's delivered over a **cone-shaped coffee basket**.
4. The coffee drips into the carafe at **92 to 96°C**, considered the ideal range.
5. In premium models, the coffee passes through a **destratification tube** that delivers it to the bottom of the carafe, so it mixes evenly.

Moccamaster says the copper element, the shape of the brew basket and "everything in between" were designed from research with the Norwegian Coffee Association and the **European Coffee Brewing Centre** (ECBC), which the association founded in the early 1970s.

## How much coffee should I use?

Moccamaster recommends the "industry standard" of **two tablespoons of ground coffee per 6 oz of water**, or **55 g per litre**, roughly **1:18**.

That works out at about 28 g of coffee for half a litre of water.

Moccamaster's other advice:

- **Pre-wet the filter** to rinse out paper particles and help it stick to the basket.
- **Use white, oxygen-whitened paper filters**; brown filters can taste of cardboard, and permanent mesh filters can clog with oils and make the basket overflow.
- **Use fresh tap, filtered or bottled water**, not reverse-osmosis or distilled water, which can damage the boiling element.

![Chart of coffee grind sizes from extra fine to extra coarse, with medium highlighted for the Moccamaster](https://dailyextraction.com/diagrams/grind-size.svg#medium "A medium grind suits the Moccamaster's cone-shaped paper filter.")

## How do you clean and descale it?

Moccamaster EU recommends **descaling and cleaning every 100 brews**, about one pack of filters, using **Durgol** for descaling and **Cleandrip** for degreasing. Limescale builds up in the heating element and makes the water reach the coffee more slowly and less hot.

**Don't use citric acid descalers.** Moccamaster warns that citric acid reacts with the **copper heating element** and leaves a lasting bad taste, and that damage from the wrong descaler isn't covered by the guarantee.

## Where does the Moccamaster come from?

| When | What happened | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1968 | **Gerard-Clement Smit** designs the Moccamaster | Wikipedia, Sprudge |
| 1969 | It goes on sale as the **Moccamaster 69** | Wikipedia, Sprudge |
| Early 1970s | Exports to Scandinavia begin; it's still the biggest market | Sprudge |
| 1974 | The **KBG 741** is developed, reaching the market two years later | Sprudge |
| 1988 | Technivorm is a founding member of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe | Sprudge |
| 2017 | The **10-millionth** Moccamaster, presented to Smit in September | Wikipedia, Sprudge |
| 2018 | Smit dies in January, aged 87; the original returns as the **'68 Jubileum** | Sprudge |

According to Sprudge's factory visit, all Moccamasters are still **constructed by hand and individually tested** in the Netherlands, come with a **five-year warranty**, and are easy to repair with replacement parts. At the time of Sprudge's visit, Technivorm had just made more than **500,000** machines in a single year for the first time. Its sticker reads "approved" by the **ECBC**; several models are also in the **SCA Certified Home Brewer** programme, Wikipedia notes.

Not everyone is convinced: Wikipedia cites a **Consumer Reports** review that found the coffee excellent but the brewing process not worth the high price.

*General guidance only. Unplug the machine and let it cool before cleaning, and follow the descaler's instructions.*

## Moccamaster vs other methods

- **[Automatic drip](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/automatic-drip/):** the wider world of filter coffee machines.
- **[SCA-certified home brewers](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/sca-certified-brewer/):** machines that pass the SCA's brewing standard.
- **[Batch brew](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/batch-brew/):** café-scale filter coffee.
- **[Melitta pour-over](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/melitta/):** the paper filter that started it all.

Explore every pour-over method in the [pour-over chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/pour-over/).

## Words used in this guide

- [Metal filter](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/metal-filter/): A metal filter is a fine stainless-steel mesh that holds back coffee grounds, as used in a French press plunger and some reusable pour-over filters.
- [Specialty coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/specialty-coffee/): Specialty coffee is high-quality coffee graded at 80 points or more out of 100 by trained tasters using the Specialty Coffee Association's scoring system.
- [Pour-over](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/pour-over/): Pour-over is a way of making filter coffee by hand: you pour hot water over ground coffee in a filter cone and let it drip through into a cup or jug.

## FAQs

### Where is the Moccamaster made?

In Amerongen, the Netherlands. Technivorm says all Moccamasters are made there by hand and individually tested.

### How much coffee should I use in a Moccamaster?

Moccamaster recommends 55 g of ground coffee per litre of water, which it describes as two tablespoons per 6 oz of water.

### What temperature does a Moccamaster brew at?

According to Wikipedia, the water boils in the copper element, rises up a tube, and drips through the coffee into the carafe at 92 to 96°C.

### How do you descale a Moccamaster?

Moccamaster recommends descaling and cleaning every 100 brews, about one pack of filters, with its recommended products. It warns against citric acid descalers, which can react with the copper heating element and leave a bad taste.

### Is the Moccamaster SCA certified?

Several models are in the Specialty Coffee Association's Certified Home Brewer programme, and Moccamasters also carry the approval of the European Coffee Brewing Centre.

## Sources

- [Technivorm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technivorm)
- [The making of a master: inside the Technivorm factory](https://sprudge.com/the-making-of-a-master-inside-the-technivorm-factory-137235.html)
- [Moccamaster brewing 101](https://us.moccamaster.com/pages/moccamaster-brewing-101)
- [Form and function align](https://us.moccamaster.com/blogs/blog/form-and-function-align)
- [How to maintain your Moccamaster](https://www.moccamaster.eu/blog/post/how-maintain-moccamaster)