Best stove top espresso i've ever made. Takes some tinkering with the grind to get reliable crema but worth the effort for under $40.00.
Positive Product Points
Easy to use - simply rinse well with water and ready to make another pot. Brikka with the crema maker is excellent idea for the folks who cant afford big hardware. Easy to take on the road - makes great camping coffee solution. Overall excellent quality espresso at a great price and the crema addition is wonderful feature.
Negative Product Points
Spent a considerable amount of time and money on various grind types and blends to get good crema.
Detailed Commentary
Stove top espresso is reliably good stuff - and once you make a couple dozen pots with the Bialetti Brikka to get the grind dialed in you'll get the same good quality espresso along with the added bonus of decent crema.
The only problem with this crema ehancer is that the foam is rather delicate and I have to pour very gently to give the crema any chance of surviving into the cup. Often the first cup would be beautiful but the second pour would be without any crema - just not dense enough to survive the pouring.
After purchasing a Mazzer Mini for my home grinder I was able to grind several different grind types and make pot after pot to get really dense crema that makes it into both the first and second cup - every time. The sweet spot on the grinder ended up at number 3 on my Mini. Somewhat more coarse than standard espresso for a high pressure machine.
Buying Experience
Bought it at a nice little hardware store in Venezia Italia - so my buying experience was quite memorable and so pleasurable that I am returning next spring!
