Premium Stainless Steel Italian Stovetop Moka Pot - 4 Cup (6.7 Oz) Espresso Maker for Latte & Cappuccino - Durable Greca Coffee Percolator for Home, Office & Camping Use

Works well and the coffee tastes great. It takes a little extra work for the single (standard) cup I make to come out HOT from my electric stovetop. I first put on a kettle and bring to a near boil. I fill the Moka pot to halfway and place in the filter/reducer upside-down and topped off. I pour remaining water into the upper, wait a few second for it to warm, then pour into my mug. Screw it together and place on burner at medium heat. It takes 5-6 minutes. Preheating the upper is essential for a hot cup. Preheating the mug also makes a big difference. Preheating the water for brewing may not be necessary but I read that it improves flavor. I haven't had it long enough to say for sure if it matters.UPDATE: I have now owned this thing for almost a year. No problems except me tweaking the lid a little manhandling it when I washed it. I simply tweaked it back. I totally love the way I can cool this thing under cool faucet water right after pouring out my coffee. Nice. I now have the habit of loosening the top before putting it away. This should extend the life of the silicon seal.I am glad I started this coffee habit now when I am retired. I did not have the time during my working days. And now I live in a country that grows coffee. Talking about fresh! Fresh coffee beans + a nice coffee grinder + this coffee maker = much happiness.One thing I would like to mention is the bowl holds 2.5 french press measures of coffee if added loosely. Turning the screen upside down holds half that.I need to confess that I am a coffee newbie, and I have been drinking coffee regularly for only a little over a year. That said, I am retired from working on multi-million dollar precision equipment. I can usually guess if something is going to fail (break).Yes this is the most expensive 4 cup coffee maker I could find. You get what you pay for. It also seems to be the best.The base of this thing is made of heavy metal (and I’m not talking about music). Interestingly enough, my bowl seems to be made a little better than the one in the picture, if you look at the inside machining. Yes the reversible lower filter screen is a nice idea. But I need to learn to hold this thing correctly to keep from throwing it in the trash every other time I empty it.The upper section is not as heavy, but it is a respectable thickness. The lid does not compliment the rest of the coffee maker. It is made of the thinnest material. And the tiny hinge concerns me. I don’t think these parts would hold up well if I threw this across the room at a concrete wall. Dropping on a concrete floor may only cause a blemish on the metal.The instructions say this thing should be disassembled and cleaned every 200 uses. I need to put this on my calendar to clean it every 4 months. Just get in the habit of rinsing this with hot water soon after making coffee or you will need to use a sponge on the dried coffee.Something nobody has mentioned: the little brass safety valve. I looked it up to see if it is safe. It is safe as long as you don’t put salt and acidic foods in the bottom bowl. ??? Who would do that? If you do put salt and acidic foods in the bottom bowl and make 50 cups of coffee a day, your health might (or might not) be affected in about 300 years. Yea, it's safe.On a more serious tone, that is a SAFETY VALVE. It would be good to have a professional maintenance friend take a look at it once a year. Normally if a problem develops in this, it will start leaking a little steam ever time you use it. It is cheap and easy to replace the valve. I recommend you buy a factory replacement valve. Also, NEVER PACK THE COFFEE. That is bad for many reasons I will not go into here.Coffee: I bought a coffee grinder and some roasted coffee beans. It smelled and tasted like chemicals in the French Press I used before I bought this. Today I made some coffee with my stainless steel coffee maker starting it with tap water, on my smallest burner, on the lowest flame I could make. It took forever to get a cup of coffee, but it was some of the best coffee I have ever tasted. It had no chemical smell or taste. I think the super slow heating gives a better result.Buy this thing. Unless you want to keep breaking French Press beakers like I did.This is a beautiful expresso maker. My only beef and thus the 4 stars is the rubber gasket. Ok, so you got this thing that is stainless steel that will last like forever, but it has a rubber gasket that is probably not going to last past the first year. Without the gasket, it's a useless expresso maker. Luckily you can get replacement for the gasket.Also bought the manual coffee grinder. Works pretty well together. Made my first expresso coffee today. The taste is so different and so much better than the instant coffee I have been drinking. Now I know why my friends insist on grinding their own coffee. I did not start drinking coffee until 4 years ago and I am 52 years old.This item was made by coffee lovers. They eliminated cleaning funnel issues by making the filter part removable and also designed it to be able to use as a reducer. Go for it!Excellent quality product. Heavy duty and works like a charm. Best I’ve used.So worth the price! Espresso cooks quickly and tastes great! The pot is easy to clean, easy to use, great for beginners. Doesn’t have flaking metal parts like other Moki pots I have purchased, no aluminum taste to coffee.I had the 6 cups already and now purchase 8cups. 8 cups is enough for 2 people.I purchased this because I thought the coffee might taste less metallic in a stainless steel pot. I haven't noticed much difference yet but I do make milk drinks. Nevertheless, it is so easy to clean. It works perfectly and is easy to assemble. The only drawback is I'm unable to locate a replacement gasket.The only moka pot entirely made of stainless steel, including funnel and filters.Please note that 304 (18/8) steel is non magnetic. The entire body is thick and the base appears even thicker, so it will not warp when heated.I bought the 6 cup version (espresso shot cups @ 30ml/cup), which translates to 6x30ml, not US cups (236.58ml/cup).The manufacturer states that the filter/basket for the 6 cups version can hold 36 grams of ground coffee and it also allows for a half dose brew of18 grams if the filter/basket is reversed (very clever idea). BUT, unless you have very dense coffee beans, roasted lightly, I don't see how 36g is achievableHaving used 4 types of beans roasted for espresso, I found that the filter can only take 20-23 grams of ground coffee, which is fine for me.For those interested in getting as close as possible to espresso in terms of extraction, a moka pot is likely your best bet.Here's how;Your total extraction time should be 120-180 seconds, with a brew ratio of 1:3. For 20g of ground coffee in, you will aim for 60g of liquid coffee out. I marked the inside of the upper chamber so I have a visual reference point for 60ml.Fill the bottom chamber with cold water up to the valve.Grind 22-25g of coffee (aeropress/drip grind size), fill the basket and level it without tamping. Attach top part and place the pot on the stove.As soon as coffee appears in the upper chamber, remove the pot from the stove to allow the coffee bed to absorb water (similar to espresso preinfusion) for 30-60 seconds, depending on your coffee beans' roast level.Place the pot back on the stove until a stream of coffee appears, then remove the pot until the stream stops and so on until the coffee reaches the marker for 60ml. Keep your eyes on the timer, to keep preinfusion times between 30-60 seconds and total extraction times (first drop to last drop) between 120 and 180 seconds.The downside for brewing coffee this way is that the coffee is quite cold, firstly because stainless steel doesn't transfer heat well and 60ml of liquid is a small volume, compared to the capacity of the upper chamber. I don't care about this, as I use the coffee with hot milk but the problem can be mitigated by beating the upper chamber with boiling water beforehand.One more thing. Forget about crema. Many professionals agree that crema looks nice but tastewise it's not desirable, anyway.I like the solid build and accessibility of all parts for cleaning. The thumb-actuated lid is also a plus. The filter in the basket can be removed and flipped in order to make a half-pot of coffee. This is a unique design, far superior to the flimsy aluminium spacers usually provided with other stainless steel pots.Beautifully designed, easily handled, shining silver coffee pot.This cutie is based on the original Stella brand which was made in Italy but sadly now defunct. I have an old Stella (found second hand, still going strong) and it makes the best coffee. This one is solid, stainless steel, almost identical to the old one and still great. The lid and the handle will not come off, or burn or melt like some! Strongly recommend.Formschön, funktioniert auch auf normalen Elektroherden, allerdings nicht, wie oben ausdrücklich beschrieben, auf Induktionsherden. Daher ist sie für mich unbrauchbar. Die drei Sterne beziehen sich in diesem Fall auf die irreführende Produktbeschreibung.