Bialetti Moka Express Aluminium Stovetop Coffee Maker (12 Cup), Silver

Before buying this coffee maker I thought I knew what coffee tasted like... I was wrong! I had experimented with our morning coffee with a cafetiere and a regular coffee maker with our preferred Lavazza coffee, and thought it was good. After being convinced by a family member of my partner who swears by the old fashioned stove top coffee makers, and this particular long time and high quality brand, I decided to take the plunge and invest. I was not disappointed.First of all the picture seems to be of one of the smaller coffee makers as ours (the 12 cup) was substantially bigger. The coffee maker felt high quality and sturdy however when closing it tightly it is recommended to hold it by the body and NOT pull it closed with the handle as this has been known to break off. This is understandable as you want to really close it well so the force could damage the handle if that was used.The coffee maker unfortunately did not work well with our hobs but we had prepared for this and bought a pair of coffee rings to fit on top of the hobs which allow the coffee maker to sit on top perfectly. The coffee maker was well constructed and the following morning we filled to the recommended limit and filled with our Lavazza coffee. I would recommend not patting the coffee down as it seems to have problems when compacting the coffee too much, just shake and make sure the coffee is level before screwing the lid on. Then pop on the stove until it starts hissing.From our first cup of coffee we were in love, I did not know the difference could be so extreme between this, a cafetiere and even coffee shop coffee. The taste was so much more intense and rich, and every morning since we have woken up with a cup using this coffee maker. The strength is also much stronger than even leaving our cafetiere for a long time, or making multiple espressos.The 12 cup espresso maker is obviously designed for 12 Italian style cups, but we find that with relatively large "English style" mugs, my partner and I get one cup each in the morning (with milk) and I get to enjoy another, still relatively hot, cup later in the morning when he has gone to work. In all this is the perfect size for us.As for cleaning I was told by several people do NOT use any kid of soap or detergent and have stuck to that religiously. Simply slide the seal off after unscrewing (make sure to let it cool down first or you could obviously suffer some nasty burns!) and pop the filter off, then tip away the coffee and rinse. I like to use a soft sponge to clean the inside and once a week use a scouring pad with just hot water. The inside will get stained a little with coffee but any good coffee lover will tell you this is what improves the flavour over time. The only negative is sometimes the seal holding the filter on requires a knife to remove but this isn't really an issue if you are careful.All in all a stylish, sturdy and well made quality coffee maker. This has really improved our mornings as we cannot wait to wake up and make a hot cup of delicious coffee. Personally we recommend Lavazza coffee as it works really well with this proper Italian coffee maker. If you are still reading this why have you not gone and bought one of these right away! Treat yourself to a proper coffee tomorrow morning!

The 12 cup Bialetti arrived yesterday afternoon. I have never used one of this type before so I have listed what happened here for other beginners.The first try out was too weak so decided to use more of the same coffee next day.This morning I filled the base with water then put the filter in - you have to make sure there is no water in the filter. I learnt on You Tube the metal filter has to be dry to put the coffee grounds in so the steam has dry coffee to go through. If the coffee is already saturated the coffee can be bitter or so it said.I filled the filter about three quarters full with coffee grounds but did not press them down. This was three and a half to four measures.Screwed the top part on, lit the gas and waited. It took a little while and not much noise but suddenly it was actually spitting. Turned down the heat and waited. Occasionally lifting lid to see if the brown coffee had stopped coming out of the pipe which would mean the base was empty.Put on one side and warmed the milk in the Bialetti frother without its lid. Took off the heat and frothed it.The coffee maker (full) made 3 normal beaker sized black coffees with about one and a half to two inches of empty space at the top of each. Stirred in my sweetener. Added froth to all three. The mugs are quite deep. (TU Coupe Red made in China for Sainsburys - red with white insides).If you have a four person household there is an 18 cup version, The cups they mean are the little shot size. Or you could put more coffee grounds in and add a bit of boiled water or hot unfrothed milk to each of the 4 beakers and then add the froth, or just hot milk.Don't screw the two parts together too tight and wait till the coffee pot is cold to unscrew with your hands as you must not use the carrying handle to unscrew (or screw it together) as the handle can work loose.Someone told me if you press the coffee grounds down in the filter with the back of a spoon you get stronger coffee.I suppose you could use more coffee and press down a bit and pour a bit less coffee in each of 4 mugs and add more hot water/milk to the coffee once in the beaker or mug.Don't leave the coffee maker simmering and forget it as the water content soon rises into the top section and you'd be heating empty space. I unscrewed the coffee maker as soon as it was cool and had a look - there was no water in the base at all it had all changed to steam.I bought the 12 cup size instead of the 18 cup because Amazon sold spare filter and rubber rings for the top part and spare filter for the base for this particular size.You don't need to buy spares at the same time as the coffee maker but I like to be sure I have them available as and when required.The filter in the lower part has a pipe underneath - I suppose this sucks up the steam and guides it to the coffee. You don't use filter papers at all. A spare one of these filters arrived in a bubble pack. It would not fit through the average letter box.The top part has a rubber ring underneath and another filter but this time a flat one. A bubble pack containing these would fit through your letter box. I bought one pack of spare rubber ring and flat filter but the packet turned out to include three rubber rings not one.I suppose when you screw the top on to the base the rubber ring is a gasket. It did not leak at all and I did let it splutter on a little on purpose as an experiment.Inside the top part is a fixed pipe coming up from the base with a little chimney piece on its end that sends the coffee mixture sideways instead of up like a hot water gusher.Before anyone thinks about having to wash all the bits and brush out the crevices. You don't, you just rinse it with hot water and drain. Use no soap - and not a dishwasher. The coffee grains did not make it in to the top part.The bottom filter had the sodden coffee in it. I just shook it hard so the coffee grounds fell into the bio. bag for the green wheelie bin and brushed the remainder of grounds out with my finger tip then rinsed it under the tap. The sodden grounds were squashed flat in the filter so if I had added more coffee I would have had to press it down.I am told this is the full monty Italian Coffee Pot and that the flavour of coffee will improve with use.It was not difficult at all and it was lovely to have coffee without the odd loose ground arriving in my mouth.ps. I used the wonderful Bialetti Frother and used the milky froth to fill the gap at the top of the beakers/mugs. I suppose hot milk or freshly boiled water could be used especially if you want 4 mugs. The beakers/mugs were a little fatter than the average mug.

A great sturdy pot. I love it. I can make two extra large mugs of coffee in one pot which is clearly the equivalent of 12 espressos!! I much prefer this pot to my 'bean to cup' machine which often made very disappointing lukewarm coffee. The espresso pot makes piping hot coffee every time. The other benefit of having a pot rather than a machine is that the pot can be cleaned much more easily. The water tank in the machine always smelled stale even though I regularly ran hot water through it without coffee and left the lid open to air dry. Also the grinder section couldn't be cleaned properly. Its an espresso pot from now on - but the sturdy feel of this one makes me optimistic I won't be needing another for quite some time.

The price

pay for the quality - got through 3 cheaper ones before this. now years in and still quality every day

Easy to use and clean. And 2 people can have a decent size mug of fresh coffee. Works well on halogen hob.

Steams nicely, able to control pour. Good quality build

I gave this coffee pot an overall rating of 3, because although it makes the loveliest coffee, with hardly any “sludge”, it just won’t pour properly! I have to pour my coffee into the mug over the sink, because I still can’t stop the drip, even though I’m used to it now! I hoped that buying the most famous coffee pot I would get better than this, so I’m disappointed! The filter with the coffee in is hard to get out to empty, & the bottom filter needs a knife to get it out to clean. I’ve got the 12 cup, which makes about 550 mls of coffee - two ordinary mugs of black coffee. I put up with all this for the delicious coffee, but is it too much to ask to get a coffee pot that pours without flooding the counter?