About the Moca

The Moca is Olympia Express’s espresso grinder, designed from the start to sit alongside the Cremina and Maximatic and finished in the same materials and colours. It is doserless, meaning it has no dosing chamber: it grinds fresh coffee straight into the portafilter on demand, rather than storing ground coffee. The 64 mm flat burrs run at low speed so the beans are not heated during grinding, which helps preserve aroma. Grind size is set with a stepless dial on the side, so you can fine-tune as finely as the coffee and machine require.

Build quality and history

Olympia Express was founded in Switzerland in 1928, and the Moca has accompanied the Cremina and Maximatic as the house grinder for decades. In 2014 the company completely redesigned it, changing the operating principle, the body, and the grinding burrs. Like the espresso machines, it is largely hand-assembled from steel, aluminium, and glass, with no plastic in the parts that touch the coffee. The front is mirror-finished stainless steel, the side frames are powder-coated steel, the hopper is sealed glass, and four rubber feet keep it stable in use. Reviewers consistently note how dense and solidly built it feels for its compact size.

How it works and who it suits

Because it grinds directly into the portafilter with no doser, the Moca suits a single-machine espresso setup where you grind per shot and want minimal waste and fuss. It is a natural pairing for a Cremina or Maximatic, both visually and practically, though it works with any espresso machine that uses a standard portafilter. If you regularly switch between different beans and want the lowest possible retention, Olympia also makes the Moca SD, a single-dose version built around the same burrs in a different body. Choose the standard Moca if you keep one coffee in the hopper and value the classic look; choose the SD for single-dosing and bean-swapping.

Moca vs. Moca SD

Specifications

What’s in the box

• Moca grinder
• Sealed glass bean hopper with lid

Good to know

• The grind dial uses marked positions rather than printed numbers, so dialing in is done by feel and reference dots rather than a numeric scale.
• On units from around 2020 onward, a grub screw limits how close the burrs can sit, set for safety and certification. Olympia’s manual explains how to adjust the grind range if you find you cannot grind fine enough for espresso out of the box.
• Olympia recommends grinder-cleaning tablets (such as Grindz or Cafetto) for maintenance rather than disassembly.