Anything goes. I have preground bialetti intensa for the bitter goo output (grabbed in a brand store during a trip). I have regular espresso roasts from local roastery for the taste I like in general, and recently I fancied to load some filter roasts to get refreshing and fruity results.

Summary: try different things, find out what you like!

"the lavazza espresso" -- there are many varieties. You need to see what you like, there is no one answer about what works best. I suggest starting with a sampler of italianish espresso beans, since those are more what the pot was designed around, and branching out from there. If you are in Europe it is very easy to get a variety of italian beans (whole or pre-ground) at different roast levels and with different arabica:robusta ratios, and different flavor profiles.

I use whatever coffee I like when making drip or pour over. For me that is beans that are less heavy than espresso roast. Enjoy! ❤️

Easy peasy---what coffee do you like? and is that coffee amenable to being roast super concentrated as more of an Espresso.

My mouth keeps to Italian Roast, French Roast, Spanish/Cuban roasts---everything else I've tried tastes awful. done experimenting----everyone's different.

In general the moka pot was designed for dark roasted coffee but you can use almost any coffee at any roast level as long as you like the taste and you like the proces of brewing with it.

I have used medium roasted and dark roasted in the aluminium version and turns out great never used a stainless steel one but would work about the sams.

Hope this makes sense.

Lavazza is absolutely perfect for Moka Pot. Buy smaller package beans - 250 grams. If you can use it 2 weeks time it is absolutely ok. Lavazza Oro and Lavazza Caffee Espresso are both perfect for Moka Pot. Qualita Rossa is also good but it has arabica and it is a little harsher.
Definitely try some espsresso blends of freshly roasted coffee but really, don't dismiss supermarket coffee. It has its place and Moka Pot is a good brewing method for it.

I have been using a Moka pot every day for about 4 or 5 months now, and these three are my hands-down favorites:

1. Dallmayr Espresso Monaco
2. Kimbo Napoletano
3. Sprouts Honduran Santa Rosa

I really like medium-dark roasts with a "chocolatey" flavor. I had tried all these before....

• Lavazza Caffe Espresso
• Lavazza Qualita Oro
• Cafe Bustelo
• Cafe Pilon Gourmet
• Publix Espresso (similar to Bustelo, just not as dark)

...and while the Qualita Oro was doing a pretty good job, I didn't feel like I really hit "paydirt" until, on a whim, I grabbed a 7oz can of Dallmayr Espresso Monaco at World Market (I'd never seen it before and their Prodomo coffee used to be my daily drinker with the Aeropress, so I figured why not?). This one has come the closest so far to nailing the flavors I was after. Tastes amazing for making cafe au lait and lattes too.

I am also enjoying Kimbo Napoletano quite a bit now too (which you can now get at World Market as well, at least the one near me), but I find it's a little less unforgiving with the brewing. I feel like I've made 3 pretty different "profiles" of it so far depending on how I brew it with the Moka pot, whereas the Espresso Monaco is a bit more forgiving and always puts out those strong chocolate notes without getting the least bit "sour" (I am getting better with the Kimbo though, and it's possible my list could change in a week or two if this trend continues ;) ).

The Sprouts Honduran Santa Rosa is the only one out of the three where I can have any control over the grind (in-store). I usually do the coarser espresso setting or the one just before espresso ("Fine"). Gotten great results with either one.

Beans from a local roaster from your area (Order online). If thats not possible, then try the Caffe Piansa 7+1.

Have you tried Illy Classico Medium Roast yet? I found it best for my Moka Pot.

Ok Im probably going to get verbally assaulted for saying this lol but I really like illy Coffee. They sell pre-ground specifically for the moka pot and I think having the grind size dialed in helps a lot. I like the taste altho there are better out there but as someone new to the moka pot the pre ground has helped me in creating super consistent quality and keeping the process really easy/fast

You're going to get some strong opinions on this question but, an easy answer is: Lavazza beans are great and Lavazza ground espresso is also good. I use both. The most important thing is solving the eternal mystery of good moka pot technique. You can make undrinkable coffee with the most expensive beans in the world, you can make good coffee with humble beans.

No problem let us know how the coffee search goes, and how it taste in the moka pot

It really does depend on what country you like.

I find Brazilian so nice, and recently Guatamalan has been a revelation. Colombian is nice but a bit sharp. In terms of your brands like Lavazza or Illy I’ve never tried them yet.

Moka is a unique taste no matter which coffee.

That said I like Italian Roast or French Roast--Can be Peets or Starbucks few other big brands. Grind is medium to fine. Tastes great. Bustello Cafe Caribe.

Beans home ground are great.

what brands did the OP try?

I typically use Lavazza or Kimbo.

opening a question like that to the world would invite a never ending list. the only answer can be to try all you can afford and all that is available in your corner of the world, researching for mid to high level of quality beans (some big names can hide some bad quality stuff and you dont need overpaying for good name and bad taste). Do not snub the "nothing special" though, there can be surprises there too as some notoriously not great names decided to up their game a bit

brew the mid-dark roasts in the simplest way first, no hacks, use only the minimum prescribed workarounds for light ones... its the only way to judge everything in the same way

Tip: You might want to grind coarser for dark roasts to keep them from over-extracting.  Worth experimenting with for sure.

Tried any decafs yet?  Look for different processes — Swiss Water, ethyl acetate (aka “sugarcane”), CO2, etc.  

Since you already like light roasted Ethiopian coffee, try a dark roast. It's my daily driver and goes perfectly with the moka pot method

I think darker roasts really shine in the moka, especially if you're adding milk of some sort.

Currently I have a mexican medium roast, bourbon-mondo novo, and I'm getting a sour-ish shot, but if I pour a little water over it I get an amazing taste of fruital notes and chocolate. So... I think that medium roast with natural processed beans is where it's at, at least for me.

My favorite currently is a medium roast level blend of Columbia, Guatemalan and Ethiopian. Makes for a decently sweet cup a joe with half n half added

I agree with a darker one

The pot's brewing method tends to bring out the bitter flavors in darker roasts to unpalatable levels. I tend to prefer whatever Espresso Blend your favorite coffee shop stocks.

Note: i enjoy brighter, juicier brews with the Moka pot

You can get extremely high quality brews out of a Moka pot. I recommend going for good quality coffee 100%. If I had to pick a home brewing method for under $200 Moka pot would be on the top of the list. Powerful little thing!

Ok lang din nmn po sa ibang roast pero mas litaw po kasi yung smoky/chocolatey flavor pag dark roast pag moka pot po gamit. In terms of recipe po 70/30 recommended po para may tapang pa din po.

It's a preference thing and not more on the beans you are using.

I do moka pot brews using different roast levels; currently I'm having a blend of medium roast Arabica from Mt. Bauko + Light roast Robusta from Mt. Matutum.

I just grind finer than usual to get the most of the flavors I want but it works for me.

da best dark .. pwede medium dark .. kahit blend goods

OP where Ka nabili ng dark roast mo?

grind finer

While getting your beans from a local roster fresh will always be the best option if thats not available I find Lavazza Crema e Gusto Whole Bean Coffee to be really good in my moka pot.

Easily available from Lavazza'a web site, Amazon or even some local supermarkets. The quantity is large, 2.2 lbs and even for me with multiple cups day it lasts a while. To keep them as fresh as possible I bought one of those canisters that have the lid that forces the air out. Seems to do a good job.

I like illy. Especially because they come in the sealed steel cans that you can re-use. But the coffee is really good too

Some central american coffee. El salvador, Mexico, Guatemala... It's no frills, very smooth, and quite traditional. Maybe even South America. There used to be good lots of Brazilian yellow bourbon, I don't know how things are with that now. This won't scare off anyone who might not be ready for the more vibrant flavors of the third wave, but it is tasty. The roast is about what's sometimes called as "omni". Like light espresso or not so light filter. If a person is ready for a new experience - then it will be Ethiopia. Some natural Yirgachefe. It will be a feast for the taste buds.

I recommend going to a local coffee shop - mine sells beans from a local roastery

Mine also will grind to whatever you need (although I just buy whole and grind at home)

Hey OP! That’s a kind question to ask. Best thing to do is go to your best local coffee shop and ask the question there - they will happily talk you through the best beans for moka pot and how to grind them - and your colleague will then know where to get his/her beans and your local economy benefits!

I'm actually okay with flavored preground coffees in my moka pot. I'm almost done with a bag of Bialetti Perfetto with hazelnut flavoring.

Before that, my wife and sister got me a bag of moka-ground coffee from Ikea. I liked it quite a bit, too.

As far as recommendations, I'd only say to get smaller bags, because then you'll finish them before they get too stale. Grind size kinda matters, but keep in mind that if it's a dark roast, it'll probably taste best when starting with cool water like the Italians traditionally do. Starting with boiling water will extract more, which is good for lighter roasts, but dark roasts (and finely-ground particles) might overextract.

So far my favorite coffee is an ethiopian heirloom arabica. Its fruity and has a very strong black tea taste to it. Freshly ground with my hand grinder before brewing, so there is no need to use the coffee immediately and its no problem if one or two weeks pass after opening the bag.

I buy beans from a couple of local roasters, who source it from the same few estates and have different blends. I like rotating between different packs of these with slightly different tasting notes, so I have some subtle differences in my coffee to look forward to.

Lavazza 5/10, it’s what I was taught to use in Florence and I won’t go back. If I’m feeling fancy I go for some blends I get at Fortnum & Mason.

The best results I've had from a moka pot were with "Huye Mountain", a natural-process Rwandan coffee from my favorite local roaster Novo Coffee. It's out of season now though, I wish I'd bought a huge bag and frozen it :(