# Bialetti Venus 2-cup: Large volume of water left on bottom of the pot!



## NikEng (Feb 8, 2016)

Hello!

Today I received my new Bialetti Venus 2-cup pot, together with Hario Mini Mill grinder and Lavazza coffee beans.

I've been trying to achieve a nice result since morning in terms of coffee quantity, but either I am doing something wrong or the pot is faulty.

The pot is supposed to produce 2 espresso cups of moka, but in reality it bearly gives me one cup. A considerable quantity of water (around 50ml measured) is left on the bottom of the pot, after the extraction process is finished (I'm sure the extraction is over because I can hear the characteristic hissing sound and I even tried to leave the pot longer on the stove without success). I am providing some pictures to show you exactly what I mean.









Not to forget, I have thoroughly followed all the expert advice I've found on the web about the correct use of the pot.

Could you please give me some insight into my problem? I feel very disappointed and ready to return the pot.

Thank you!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Your grind looks very coarse?

Next brew, can you pour the finished coffee into a cup on tared scales, so that we can see the weight of beverage produced. For example, my Bialetti 2-cup pot produces ~80g of finished coffee.

There will always be water left in the bottom, not all the water is used to brew the coffee, some just provides steam pressure to facilitate percolation. Again, to get my 80g of coffee, I need to put 133g in the base.


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## NikEng (Feb 8, 2016)

MWJB said:


> Your grind looks very coarse?
> 
> Next brew, can you pour the finished coffee into a cup on tared scales, so that we can see the weight of beverage produced. For example, my Bialetti 2-cup pot produces ~80g of finished coffee.
> 
> There will always be water left in the bottom, not all the water is used to brew the coffee, some just provides steam pressure to facilitate percolation. Again, to get my 80g of coffee, I need to put 133g in the base.


Thank you for your prompt response!

OK, I will try a finer grind tomorrow morning. Perhaps you're right, my grind may be too coarse, because I tried to avoid an espresso-like grind, as usually advised.

I am aware of the fact that some water is always left in the end, but 50 ml is more than a single espresso quantity; that makes me believe that my case is not normal.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

For Moka I tend to grind slightly coarser than espresso.


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## NikEng (Feb 8, 2016)

Good morning,

I tried again with the finest grind but the results are the same...Unfortunately, I can't find a scales at the moment, but the problem is obvious in the next photos.









As you can see, the volume of the extracted coffee is nearly equal to the one that is left on the bottom of the pot.

Absolutely disappointed, I am probably going to exchange it with a 4-cup pot.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Why is the volume of retained water an issue?

You say "extraction is over because you hear a hissing sound", extraction is over when the flow of liquid from the centre pipe stops and you start to see jets of steam (more of a "flob, flob, flob", sound). The pot may hiss pretty well throughout if it doesn't have a great seal.

You are not drawing your conclusions as to the performance of the pot from any known datums. However, it may well be that the low output, strong coffee is not what you are after? That's a big glass, what kind of volume is your ideal coffee?


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Once the water level falls to the bottom of the riser tube no more can /will flow. If you measure the basket to the bottom of the tube, then measure the depth of the lower section pot, the difference will be the water left in the pot. Measure this and see how much it is by volume.

Leaving the pot on after initial brew will spoil / ruin the coffee.

As stated above grind looks much too coarse.


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## NikEng (Feb 8, 2016)

MWJB said:


> Why is the volume of retained water an issue?
> 
> You say "extraction is over because you hear a hissing sound", extraction is over when the flow of liquid from the centre pipe stops and you start to see jets of steam (more of a "flob, flob, flob", sound). The pot may hiss pretty well throughout if it doesn't have a great seal.
> 
> You are not drawing your conclusions as to the performance of the pot from any known datums. However, it may well be that the low output, strong coffee is not what you are after? That's a big glass, what kind of volume is your ideal coffee?


It's a typical 250ml glass. What I was expecting to get is a double espresso (2-cup) quantity, that is ~80ml. However, I am just getting


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

NikEng said:


> It's a typical 250ml glass. What I was expecting to get is a double espresso (2-cup) quantity, that is ~80ml. However, I am just getting
> 
> Do you see any puffs of steam from the centre pipe?
> 
> ...


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

Doubles are approx 30g (mine are around 28g as I have weigh in 14g). You won't be able to fill it further than the pressure valve (should be just below) and usually get anymore water out than the level of the bottom of the tube which dips into the water. Plus the coffee grinds will retain a little bit. Expectations of 80ml for a double sound quite a lot to me, although you can't go by ml and need to weigh the output properly.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Rhys said:


> Doubles are approx 30g (mine are around 28g as I have weigh in 14g). You won't be able to fill it further than the pressure valve (should be just below) and usually get anymore water out than the level of the bottom of the tube which dips into the water. Plus the coffee grinds will retain a little bit. Expectations of 80ml for a double sound quite a lot to me, although you can't go by ml and need to weigh the output properly.


Doubles are as big/small as you like, it's the dose that dictates.

80g from my aluminium 2-cup Bialetti isn't a guess, it was measured from a mid-box brew.


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## NikEng (Feb 8, 2016)

There is no need to get confused about volumes and masses, physics are simple: if we assume the coffee density to be approx. equal to water density (which apparently holds), that is 1gr/1ml, then I should be getting around 80gr out of my pot (in agreement to what MWJB said above).

From my own Nespresso capsules experience, 40ml (or 40gr) correspond to 1 classic Italian espresso cup, so twice that quantity should match 2 cups, as what is expected from my pot.

Now, why I am getting just half of it is a matter of concern. The pot has a predefined water capacity of 100ml and cannot give back so much less water. To support my view, I am attaching a screenshot from Bialetti Moka Express 2-cup product in Amazon, where a pertinent question is answered.









I hope that I am doing something wrong in the process (which I doubt however). Otherwise, if the pot is made to yield only this quantity of coffee, there is obviously a problem


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Does your base actually hold only 100ml? Fill it up to the brass valve, whilst on scales (exactly "100g" capacity sounds too unlikely to be true).


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## NikEng (Feb 8, 2016)

MWJB said:


> Does your base actually hold only 100ml? Fill it up to the brass valve, whilst on scales (exactly "100g" capacity sounds too unlikely to be true).


Yes, I just measured it. The capacity of the boiler up to the lower part of the valve is 100ml, so it 100gr of water.

So, since you get 80gr of coffee out of your pot and I am getting a fraction of it, there is an inconsistency here.

By the way, I have made numerous attempts so far and with different coarseness, but the result is always the same.


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## Cirya (Jan 2, 2016)

That's weird. I thought all the traditional Bialetti 2-cup versions, including the stainless ones, have 130-135ml boiler capacity. The Brikka pot with pressure valve has ~100ml capacity at 2 cups but I think that one has slightly different boiler/funnel structure.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

OK, so grind as fine as you can before you get obvious silt in the cup & see how it tastes when your 50g output is diluted to 80g.

The amount of grinds you use & the fineness of grind required to get a good extraction are more important than the exact output.

Or, cut your losses & get another pot, but thanks for getting back with the details.


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## NikEng (Feb 8, 2016)

MWJB said:


> OK, so grind as fine as you can before you get obvious silt in the cup & see how it tastes when your 50g output is diluted to 80g.
> 
> The amount of grinds you use & the fineness of grind required to get a good extraction are more important than the exact output.
> 
> Or, cut your losses & get another pot, but thanks for getting back with the details.


Quantity plays an important role for me, I can't make it with just ~50 ml of moka (which of course is not as concentrated as a true espresso, to my taste it resembles more to filter coffee). So I am going to exchange it with a 4-cup moka pot, which I hope will work fine.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the help so far.


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## Boucaneer (Feb 11, 2017)

I have one of these Bialetti Venus 2 cup pots being delivered on Wednesday, I shall measure and report the amount of coffee it brews as a comparison if that may help.


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