Makes industrial quantities of great moka coffee but needs much initial cleaning and some care in use.
Positive Product Points
Size. This baby is huge! Classic Moka Pot looks. Makes a lot of coffee.
Negative Product Points
Boil time. Nasty-smelling oil used in packaging. Needs some arm-wrestling to avoid leakage.
Detailed Commentary
Having sold my Silvia and Rocky when I moved to NZ, I'm at square 1 again. So, until the gods drop an shiny new commercial machine into my lap, it's back to the whirly-blade and moka-pot. I spotted this in a local roasters in Dunedin and, having owned Bialettis before, decided I must have it. Just on size alone. On opening the box, I found a noisome machine-oil smell wafting from it. Ick. So, into soak with mucho detergent and a soft sponge. After 3 rinse-drain-dry cycles and much elbow grease I seasoned it with a run of el-cheapo pre-ground.
"PFFFsstststFPPPsssssSSSssTT!" it went, as it sprayed hot coffee from around the screw-thread in the middle.
"<expletive deleted>" says I, reaching for a cloth. Memo to self - make sure that it's really tightened up prior to heating.
So, getting down to brass tacks, this is a BIG pot. It makes a whole litre of coffee. However, this has drawbacks. Not only does a litre of water take a while to boil, it also gives a bit more pressure in the chamber, leading to coffee leakage. However, tightening it up to about "half a tame gorilla" tightness sorts that out. It also uses a lot of ground coffee, too. This is as big as moka pots get, and IMO this is a Good Thing. The size does make for easy cleaning, too.
It does make good coffee though. Having used both electric and manual Moka pots of many sizes, the coffee produced is easily as good as any of them. And it makes so much of it!
Buying Experience
Purchased from Stewarts Coffee, Dunedin. Nice people, friendly service.
