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☕ Buying Guides · 2026KBGV Select, KB, KBT, KBGT, KBTS and CDT Grand decoded: glass or thermal, automatic or manual drip-stop, and the ratio Moccamaster recommends.
Every current Moccamaster brews the same coffee; you are choosing a carafe and a brew basket. Moccamaster's manual gives every brewer the same 196° to 205°F brewing range and a full carafe in 4 to 6 minutes. Choose a glass carafe on a hot plate (KBGV Select, KB) or a thermal carafe (KBGT, KBT, KBTS, CDT Grand). Then choose an automatic drip-stop that pauses when you pull the carafe (KBGV, KBGT) or a manual-adjust basket you can slow for smaller batches (KB, KBT, KBTS). The KBGV Select is the only current model with a switch for half or full carafes. Nothing here is scored: every figure is Moccamaster's own.
Every current Moccamaster brews the same way. Two choices separate them: the carafe, and how the brew basket stops.
Moccamaster's lineup looks like a wall of letters, but the brewing inside is the same across it. The manual gives one set of figures for every brewer: water at 196° to 205°F and a full carafe in 4 to 6 minutes. Every model is handmade in the Netherlands, carries a 5-year warranty, and appears on the Specialty Coffee Association's list of certified home brewers for 2026, so certification does not separate them either.
Two things do. The carafe: glass on a hot plate, or a stainless thermal carafe with no hot plate. And the brew basket: an automatic drip-stop that pauses the flow when you take the carafe away, or a manual-adjust basket with open, half and closed settings that slows the flow for smaller batches.
Moccamaster does not publish a glossary of what its letters stand for, so we decode the models by what each one has, from its product page.
KBGV Select — the model most people mean by a Moccamaster. Its product page describes an automatic drip-stop and a selector switch for a full or half carafe that adjusts the brewing for the volume you choose. It is the only current Moccamaster with that switch, which matters if you brew 4 to 6 cups on weekdays and a full pot at the weekend. 40 oz (1.25 L), with a hot plate that switches off after 100 minutes.
KB — the same glass carafe and hot plate with the manual-adjust basket instead. Moccamaster pitches it at people who like to be more hands-on and do not brew a full carafe every day; you set the basket to half-open for 4 to 6 cups yourself.
A hot plate keeps coffee hot but keeps cooking it too. If your pot sits for an hour, a thermal model is the better fit.
The thermal models have no hot plate; the stainless carafe holds the heat, with a borosilicate glass lining on the KBT and KBGT, per their product pages.
Moccamaster also makes the Cup-One, a single-cup brewer for one 10 oz cup. It had no priced new offer on Amazon when we checked, and Moccamaster's own store showed it unavailable.
Moccamaster's manual recommends the industry standard, 55 grams of ground coffee per liter
. Its support site turns that into scoops and grams for each water level:
| Water | Level scoops (2 Tbsp) | Coffee, grams |
|---|---|---|
| 1.8 L / 60 oz (CDT Grand) | 10 | 99 |
| 1.25 L / 40 oz | 7 | 69 |
| 1 L / 32 oz | 6 | 55 |
| 0.75 L / 24 oz | 4 | 41 |
| 0.5 L / 16 oz | 3 | 28 |
| 0.3 L / 10 oz (Cup-One) | 2 | 17 |
That is the Specialty Coffee Association's golden cup ratio, which it gives as 55 g/L ± 10%
, or roughly 1 part coffee to 18 parts water by weight. If the coffee is too strong, Moccamaster suggests adding hot water to the cup rather than changing the amount; if it is too weak, its manual says not to add more coffee but to try a different roast.
Grind matters as much. Moccamaster's support site says we recommend a medium-coarse grind, which should look like coarse sand or sea salt
, and warns that most pre-ground bagged coffee is ground too fine. Its manual also recommends brewing no less than 4 cups in its 8- to 10-cup brewers.
Scoop and gram table from Moccamaster's support article, read 30 October 2026. The SCA figure is from its Protocols & Best Practices page as archived in June 2024; the live page no longer loads.
If you are still choosing between a Moccamaster and other drip machines, our best drip coffee maker guide sets it against cheaper brewers.
Moccamaster asks for little beyond descaling every 100 brew cycles, and says failing to descale is excluded from the warranty. Carafes are hand-wash only. Our guide to cleaning a Moccamaster has the full routine. Moccamaster recommends oxygen-whitened paper filters rather than gold-mesh ones, and advises against distilled or reverse-osmosis water, which it says can damage the heating element.
Every brewer below was sold new by Amazon.com when we checked on 30 October 2026, in one representative colour; most come in several. Each product fact is its listing's own statement, and live prices come from Amazon rather than being typed here. The Cup-One single-serve brewer had no priced new offer that day, so it has no card.
The hand-built Dutch reference brewer, in the glass-carafe Select version. Listing states a pump-free brewer that heats water to the correct extraction temperature, a 40 oz (1.25 L) pot in 4 to 6 minutes, a half or full carafe selector switch, automatic shut-off after 100 minutes and a 5-year warranty.
Check price on Amazon →
The full-carafe thermal model: flip one switch, pour from the carafe all morning. Listing states a pump-free brewer that heats water to the correct extraction temperature, 40 oz in 4 to 6 minutes with one button, an automatic brew basket that pauses the drip when the carafe is removed, a stainless steel thermal carafe and a 5-year warranty.
Check price on Amazon →
Thermal carafe with the hands-on brew basket, for people who often brew less than a full pot. Listing states one-button operation and a 4 to 6 minute brew time for 40 oz of coffee, a manual-adjust brew basket, a stainless steel thermal carafe and a 5-year warranty.
Check price on Amazon →
The smaller thermal Moccamaster, for one or two people. Listing states the KBTS coffee brewer with a 32 oz capacity in polished silver and a reusable filter type.
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Glass carafe and hot plate with the manual brew basket, without the half-carafe switch. Listing states the KB coffee brewer with a 40 oz capacity, in brushed silver, measuring 6.5 inches deep, 12.75 inches wide and 14 inches high.
Check price on Amazon →
The 60 oz model, for offices and large households that brew a full pot. Listing states the CDT Grand coffee maker with a 60 ounce capacity, in silver.
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Moccamaster's own grinder, for the medium-coarse grind its brewers ask for. Listing states 50 mm flat steel burrs, stepless grind size adjustment, a direct-drive motor grinding 60 grams in less than 30 seconds, a static-reducing spout and a 5-year warranty.
Check price on Amazon →The carafe and the brew basket. The KBGV Select has a glass carafe on a hot plate, an automatic drip-stop and a half/full carafe switch. The KBT has a stainless thermal carafe, no hot plate, and a manual-adjust basket you can slow for smaller batches. Both brew 40 oz in 4 to 6 minutes.
The brew basket. The KBGT has an automatic drip-stop that pauses when you remove the carafe, and Moccamaster pitches it at people who brew a full carafe. The KBT has the manual-adjust basket, with open, half and closed settings, for people who often brew less. Both have the same 40 oz thermal carafe.
Moccamaster recommends 55 grams of ground coffee per liter of water: 69 grams, or 7 level scoops, for a full 40 oz (1.25 L) carafe, and 55 grams for 32 oz. Use a medium-coarse grind that looks like coarse sand or sea salt.
It is a question of what you value: every model is handmade in the Netherlands, brews in Moccamaster's stated 196° to 205°F range, carries a 5-year warranty and is on the SCA's certified home brewer list. Cheaper SCA-certified brewers exist, and our drip coffee maker guide compares them. We have not scored any Moccamaster.
Any of them can brew less than a full carafe, but they do it differently. The KBGV Select has a switch that adjusts brewing for a half carafe. The manual-basket models (KB, KBT, KBTS) do it with the basket set to partially open for 4 to 6 cups. Moccamaster recommends the CDT Grand always brews its full 60 oz.
Moccamaster does not publish what its model letters mean. In practice, the KBGV Select is the glass-carafe model with an automatic drip-stop and a half/full carafe switch; the T in KBT, KBGT and KBTS marks a thermal carafe.
Sources for this page: Moccamaster product pages for the KBGV, KB, KBT, KBGT, KBTS and CDT Grand, us.moccamaster.com/products/, read 2026-10-30 · Moccamaster Brewer Instruction Manual (English, 10-2021), support.moccamaster.com · Moccamaster support: How much coffee should I use in my Moccamaster?; Can grind size make my coffee taste bitter or weak?; What do the settings on the manual-adjust drip-stop brew basket control?; support.moccamaster.com, read 2026-10-30 · Specialty Coffee Association, Protocols & Best Practices (Brewing Best Practices), archived 2024-06-20 at web.archive.org; the live page returned 404 on 2026-10-30 · Specialty Coffee Association, Certified Home Equipment, sca.coffee/certified-home-brewer, read 2026-10-30 · Product titles and feature bullets are each brewer's own Amazon listing copy, read 2026-10-30. We have not lab-tested brewers; where a figure is a manufacturer's, the page names the manufacturer, and machine capabilities come from our own published review records.
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