I've tried a bunch of different ways of making coffee. Aeropress makes a great aromatic brew, but the texture is too thin. Same complaint with pourovers. Maybe it's the paper filters, but I feel too much is lost in terms of viscosity.Enter the stovetop Bialetti "espresso". Not quite a real espresso, I know, but irrelevant for my purposes. I drink black coffee. I don't need a concentrated shot. This Bialetti makes coffee the way I like it. Rich, aromatic, and with texture.With the 6 cup version, I use 30 grams of coffee. I usually extract around 200 ml of espresso, which I dilute to a total volume of 450 ml. That's around 2 mugs of coffee. Perfect for a day.The only complaint I have is that the Bialetti pot has a recessed outer ring which makes cleaning it a challenge. I'll have to figure out a way to do that, maybe with a wire brush.I have been using the Bialetti 6 cup espresso maker for a few days now. It makes a flavorful and robust cup of coffee. As for cleaning, this espresso maker isn't meant to be scrubbed and washed like one might do with dirty dishes. It is more like a Chinese tea pot that may get a rinse instead of the full scrub-down with soap and sponge pad. It should be dried after a soft scrubbing and rinsing with bare hands and not left to dry on its own in the dish rack. I switched from my older Primula espresso maker to the Bialetti, because this Bialetti is made of stainless steel and the Primula is made of aluminum. There are indications that aluminum containers used for consumable liquids are problematic especially for brain health. I recommend this Bialetti stainless steel espresso maker. If you handle it properly, it should leave your daily coffee urges satisfied without putting you at risk for Alzheimer's disease.This is a very good quality item but it is smaller than it sounds! Probably not even enough for one person.I would recommend getting at least the medium size one, or definitely get the large one if you ever have more than 2 people to serve.That distinctive little handle/knob on the lid is a total fail. Unless you are an Olympic thumb wrestler you will not be able to lift the lid by pushing it.I just received my coffee maker. Looks good. Nice sturdy looking handle(Debut came of after 2 years) the water chamber seems like it is made from stainless steel and won’t rust (Bivino rusted after years) I have bought several espresso machines in the past 5 years bc after a while the inside rusts, parts fall off. Let’s see how this one holds up. The price was very reasonable compared to others. I make coffee every morning, using Cafe Pilón.After years of service, or aluminum version was finally showing its age.This is the upgrade we should have made years agoUnlike many so-called-stainless units this one is stainless through and through.Almost a year of daily use and not as much as a hint of gunk, rust or anything unsavory.The one big con is that the sexy round shape makes it hard to screw/unscrew the topIt's tempting to use the handle for leverage, but the single screw holding it in place would soon break.A bit of non-slip mat seems to do the trick for extra grip... Just be sure it's cooled down before using it.I put this on medium heat and then turn the burner down or off when the coffee is flowing. I’m able to better control the flow of the coffee than with the electric kettle style of moka pots. I’m using some espresso grind Bustelo to make the espresso and then I add just a bit of water and it tastes like the coffee I get when traveling in Europe. Awesome!Overall, this is a better moka pot than the original all-aluminum model. No corrosion. Better control of heat. Also faster, if you use a pre-heat method: Warm up the water basin with hot water from the tap, heat water up to boiling in an electric tea kettle (for example); fill the basin, & put the pot together, using a towel or oven mitt to handle the very hot basin. Set your timer for 4 minutes and put on the stove on high. As soon as you see coffee entering the top, turn the heat down as low as it will go. It should finish right around the 4 minute mark. This is quite a bit faster than the similar method done with the aluminum pot (which is 6-7min). The top of the pot doesn't get very hot - with the aluminum pot, the whole thing is hot. There's less chance of overheating the coffee. These directions are for an electric stove - no idea about gas or induction.Why 4 stars and not 5? Two design problems: the top lid (which is just a shield to keep from spraying coffee everywhere) is flimsy - needs to be more solid at the hinge. And as others have mentioned there's a channel in the top container that is hard to clean. Had to get a special narrow brush and use Cafiza detergent from time to time to clean it up.This coffee pot by bialetti is a home made bomb. Mine exploded in the kitchen causing some 3900 EUR and almost killed me in the process due to shattering glass from the induction hob that was heating it. Im actually lucky to be alive and writing thisEdit : je reviens après quelques mois d'usage intensif, et bien je suis totalement conquis. Le café est excellent, la cafetière facile à nettoyer, aucun point de rouille, aucun problème de soudure (comme d'autres). Il semble que des copies chinoises soient aussi vendues par d'autres vendeurs ici, donc vérifiez bien que vous prenez "vendu par Amazon). Je ne suis pas près à revenir à la version alu, qui fait aussi un bon café mais 1) qui s'abime vite si on essaie de la nettoyer (c'est mou l'alu) et 2) qui est réputée toxique à long terme...Je ne connaissais que la version "aluminium", mais après avoir lu que ce n'était pas très bon pour la santé, j'ai opté pour la version ACIER. Je l'ai eue aujourd'hui, passé trois cafés comme recommandé dans le manuel.Quelques remarques :- au départ elle ne sent vraiment pas bon. Maintenant c'est parti.- fabriquée en inde, pas en italie. J'enlève une * pour ça.- très jolie et agréable d'usage, fonctionne très bien. Bien étanche, bon café- certains utilisateurs signalent de la rouille. Ce serait regrettable. Si jamais cela devait se produire, je reviendrais revoir ma note.- manuel multilingue tout plié, pas pratique, minimaliste, pas sérieux.I love my morning coffee and when camping/touring around Europe I use a traditional aluminium Bialetti coffee maker. It has always produced great coffee and has never let me down but cannot be used at home as we use an induction hob which needs some ferrous material in all pots. I had been using an Ikea Stainless Steel pot which looked quite smart and made good coffee but did not quite have the style and quality feel of this pot.Unfortunately "style and quality feel" is where the good news ends. The upper and lower parts of the pot fit together very badly with two results. Firstly they have to be screwed together very tightly or hot water comes out of the join while the coffee is being brewed. This is quite hard to do as the fit of the threads is rather poor. Secondly, once the two parts are screwed tight enough to prevent leaks it is close to impossible to get the two halves apart after making the coffee.The quality of the coffee is OK but really there is very little difference in coffee quality between makes and pots as it is the grind, coffee blend and brew speed that defines that but it is disappointing that a well established company produces such a low quality item. I have a cheap Chinese aluminium coffee pot which has poor threads, locks up and leaks. This leads me to wonder whether Bialetti are badging Chinese pots and not spending money on any quality control.I could not be bothered to send it back but if I purchase a new pot in the future I think I will want to check it out "in store" before buying and not rely on the manufacturers name as an indication of quality.Final note. The Headline for this item on Amazon ends with the word "Induction" but the description underneath says it works on all stoves except induction. As it is steel I guessed correctly that the headline was correct and the description underneath was wrong.I've had this coffee maker for 2 weeks. In the last couple of days, it has developed a 4 cm crack that lets the steam pressure out. My impression of Bialetti is that they make stuff that looks nice but is of poor quality. Other reviews on Amazon mention similar problems with cracks. I consider that under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, this item is NOT "of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose".Información errónea al cliente!! El interior del tanque para el agua no está pulido, cuando en todo momento se dice aquí que la cafetera es entera de acero inoxidable, por lo tanto, la durabilidad del interior no es mucha, los cafés empiezan a tener notas desagradables al mes o mes y medio si está bien cuidada. Me dedico al mundo del café desde hace muchos años. Esto no me parece leal.