I must say this pot makes the best espresso. Use a dark roast bean and follow the instructions. I have used a few machines, with and without pumps and the old fasion way is by far the best. On my electric range between medium and medium high it takes about 20 minutes to brew, worth the wait! Then relax and enjoy a great cup of coffee. Nice to have a taste of biscotti handy or if the mood serves you a taste of your favorite liqueur. Cleans up easy enough.

This concerns the Bialetti Class 4 cup expresso pot. After becoming addicted to the much too expensive Starbuck's caramel macchiato but living too far away to have one daily, I happily discovered this small expresso pot. The Amazon reviews sounded encouraging so I ordered one. It's amazing! I use sugarfree vanilla syrup, nonfat milk (frothed with the Aerolatte milk frother, another wonderful product) and sugarfree caramel sauce and when combined with the expresso made with the small pot I have an even better tasting drink than Starbuck's in less than 3 minutes. I like it so well that I've ordered the Bialetti Class 10 cup for when I have guests. Both are made in Italy of heavy gauge stainless steel and are very handsome. Incidentally, my husband bought a Bialetti Musa 6 cup for me but I had to return it. It leaked around the seal when making the coffee. It was made in India and although it looked very nice, the steel was a lighter gauge or it was possibly made of aluminum, I don't remember for certain, and I didn't like the handle or lid opener button nearly as well as the Class version.

I bought this for my wife as a gift. Works exactly as it says it does. It cleans easy and is very small, so it takes up little space. The espresso is great and seems to work with any kind of ground coffee. The only problem with it that I have found is that you have to screw it together tightly. My wife isn't as strong as I am, and has trouble getting it tight enough. If it is too loose, steam escapes and it looses pressure - most of the time it still brews fine though. Those with arthritis or weak wrists like the the elderly may find it too difficult to screw down tight enough.

It brews 6 shot glasses full of espresso, (7 if you count the dregs). This is enough for me to have my quad-shot mochas, and leave my wife with enough for her tastes.

Filled to just even with the safety valve with hot or warm tap water, then placed on the burner of my electric stove set to "high", it takes 5 minutes to brew the pot. If I use cold water it takes another minute or so. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes espresso or espresso drinks like mochas. This is a very simple way to brew excellent espresso and has none of the fuss of those fancy espresso machines.