Coffee Stovetop Maker

This is a great coffee maker (not “espresso maker”), which is what I bought it for. The only explanation I can find for some of the negative reviews is the unwillingness on on the part of the reviewers to take the time to learn how to use and maintain it properly. This entails memorizing the following rules:1. Do not fill with water above the steam vent hole.2. Heat on low to medium. Stainless steel is a great conductor of heat so you don't need to turn the heat to high to get it to percolate, nor should you, since doing so can ruin not only coffee but also the pot.3. Do not tamp down (compress) the coffee or allow any grounds to catch on the edge or threads of the chamber—this can cause the pot to leak. Keep the coffee loose and about 1/16-1/18” from the edge of the chamber. This type of coffee maker uses about a 1/3 less coffee than a french press to make the same amount of brew, so don't be concerned that there is not enough room to make 12 ounces of coffee, there is.4. Make sure to screw on the bottom chamber tightly so as to avoid leaking. The only trouble I've had with leaks has been when I violated this rule and/or rules #1 and #3.5. Rinse with hot water, don't wash it. Dish washing liquid should not be necessary to clean this unless you burn it (which you won't unless you violate rules 1, 3 and/or 4).6. Do not use the plastic lever at the top to pour when hot or you'll risk burning yourself. Only use it when pot has cooled, for cleaning purposes. It should be obvious when the coffee is ready from the sound.This type of coffee maker is considered by many to be the greatest ever designed, weighing a range of factors, including taste and efficiency, cost (less coffee and no paper filters), and ease of use and maintenance. If you are using the coffee pot the way it was designed to be used, it should take from 8 to 10 minutes. Some good things simply take a bit more time. If it seems too much to learn or too long to wait for your coffee in the morning, simply buy a different type of coffee maker.

My husband and I are very happy with our Maggift expresso maker. We researched different brands for the stainless steel structure and picked this one. We don't pack the coffee in too hard as per the advice of other reviewers. It yields a full size mug of rich flavored coffee. I look forward to my coffee every morning now!

This is for expresso. When they say four cups, it means those tiny little expresso cups__and that's fine, when you know what you're getting. So if you want the four eight-ounce cup size, you need the much bigger model. Or a regular coffee maker.Actually, this little puppy makes just a little more than eight-ounces of strong black coffee. Only one cup. However, it is not the concentrated black rich real expresso.It is interesting and fun to use though and it looks great. Impress your next morning guest.Because of its shape and the way it works, the top part that holds the brewed coffee, is a bit of challenge to clean. I use my water bottle brush to get to the tight places in the bottom.If I had it to do again, I'd get a larger size. I really like the look and design. I just wish the base was wider making the hold thing not so tall.The build is good and solid. I expect it to last and keep shining. I was searching for a hard to find cool percolator and this is a fun alternative.Great little coffee brewer as long as you know what you’re getting. Update: It works with instant coffee.

Very good product very sturdy. Easy to clean easy to use. I use it for road trips when I need to make some coffee in the morning when I wake up. I use it for camping on my camp stove. It's nice having that expresso in the morning. I use it at home it's a great product highly recommended.

I bought this, trying to switch from an aluminum Moka pot, because I was concerned about the potential effects of the aluminum. This pot is weird. It starts making noise the moment you put it on the burner, so it's very hard to tell when the coffee is done by sound. If you open the lid to see how the coffee's doing, you can burn your thumb--because there's actually a steam vent between the side handle and the knob on the lid, to open the lid. Once you have it open, it takes a flashlight to assess the coffee's progress--because from the moment you put it on the burner till the coffee's done, the sound remains the same. Which is just weird but true. With the aluminum moka pot you can always tell by listening, and you can open the lid without a steam burn, and you can see what's going on with the coffee. The taste of the coffee is fine in this pot, but I've several times discovered at cleaning that there was still water in the bottom part, because I thought the coffee was done when it wasn't.

I LOVE this stovetop coffeemaker! My daughter brought me two bags of espresso from Columbia so I HAD to purchase an espresso maker. After searching for and reading several reviews over the course of a couple of days, I selected this one because it’s stainless steel and sleek.

The instructions were printed in 4 pt. type and did not include hardly any info on getting a good result. I tried several different grind settings, and didn't get anything like espresso. It takes a really long time to get a cup of coffee from it. If it actually made espresso, I wouldn't mind the difficult and messy clean up process. I would return it, but the cost of return shipping is 41.2% of the cost of the unit. So, I will keep it for the morning my drip coffee maker decides to stop working.In the meantime, I guess I will have to get a real espresso maker if I want espresso at home. If you want to wait 15 to 20 minutes for a decent cup of coffee (not espresso), this is your unit.

Oh my what a gorgeous expresso maker! I was thrilled to receive this package to find the coffee maker to be just as described... I have always wanted an espresso maker, but the other ones on the market are not nearly as fashionable as this one. What a great find on Amazon! I highly recommend it for your Christmas gift giving!