BonJour Stove Top Espresso Maker 3-Cup Caf? Milano, Polished Aluminum

My son gave me this 3 cup BonJour espresso maker for Christmas. I was not expecting much but was actually pleasantly surprised. First let me address the previous poor reviews. First, the pot is small and yes avoid putting the handle directly over the flame or heating element. I am fortunate as my gas stove has 5 burners (4 different sizes). The smallest size is meant to be a warming burner. It is perfect for the espresso maker as the heat is directed to the bottom of the pot. The handle stays cool throughout the 4-5 minutes it takes to brew the coffee. Secondly, I have not yet had a bad pot of coffee from this simple device. I suspect that one of the reviewers either had a defective gasket between the upper and lower portion of the pot or just did not tighten it enough.

With my old Mr. Coffee electric coffee pot I always used to steal the first cup of coffee from the brew before the process was complete. The rest of the pot, of course, was never as good as the first cup. This espresso maker makes every cup like the first cup of the old Mr. Coffee and takes less time to brew. This espresso pot makes 3 cups of espresso. Be warned that this is no more than 5 oz of very strong coffee without being bitter. One cup of espresso coffee is only about 50 ml (1 2/3 oz). I usually put the whole amount (5 oz) into my stainless steel travel mug and top off with hot water from my tea pot. I am told this is the "Caffè Americano" way of preparing coffee. I just love it. I have a pot at home and one in my travel trailer.

Pros:

Coffee tastes great. Rich and flavorful without bitterness.

Simple design, simple to use.

No paper filters.

Takes only minutes to brew.

Easy to clean.

Low cost.

Less waste. I never throw away coffee because I made too much.

Cons:

May not really be a con but must use a different size pot to make more or less than the 3 cups of espresso this pot was designed to make. These types of espresso makers come in a range of sizes. I have seen 1,2,3,4,6,9 and 12 cup sizes (some are different brands).

If you start a pot and walk away and forget you may come back to a mess. This is not an automatic coffee maker and you should not leave the area for more than a couple of minutes. After a while you can tell when the coffee is done by the sound. The coffee is done brewing when most of the coffee has been pushed up into the upper chamber. Towards the end of the process the pot begins to gurgle as it pushes out the last of the coffee. The pot should be removed from the heat shortly after the gurgling starts, within a minute or two. Do not leave the pot on the heat after the gurgling has stopped. The bottom chamber will be empty of water and you will only be heating the metal.

Additional comments: It is now 6 months later with daily use of this espresso maker. Still works perfectly. I have found that this pot also makes a great Thai tea! I fill the brew cup with the tea, brew and pour the rich crimson liquid into my stainless steel travel mug. I then add sweetener (I use saccharin tabs), a shot of sugar free liquid creamer, milk and ice. As a diabetic, I can still enjoy one of my favorite beverages!

What a piece of garbage.

I gave it every chance. I experimented with different grinds running the gamut from coarse to fine, different amounts of coffee in the basket, different water levels in the lower chamber, different flame levels on my gas stove ... 1/4 of the time, it would very quickly brew a batch of really strong, delicious coffee. The REST of the time it would make boiling noises and blow steam out the pour spout, but all I'd get in the top of the pot would be a thimbleful of undrinkable sludge. I thought this meant pressure was escaping from the base, but I could never figure out where the leak was. The gasket was new with no cracks in it, the parts were screwed together as tight as they would go, and I never heard any hissing nor saw steam escaping from anywhere except the pour spout where it is SUPPOSED to come out. After each failure I'd have to wait for the pot to cool off, then take it apart and find the bottom chamber full of a dark liquid that looked a lot like (lukewarm, metallic-tasting) coffee ... but why didn't it squirt up into the top? There's no way to pour coffee out of the bottom! After wasting uncounted amounts of time and coffee beans trying to get this thing to work, I had to give it up as a lost cause. Into the recycling bin with this worthless hunk of metal!

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I purchased this item because I needed a cheap espresso maker for the summer and didn't want to pay for starbucks. Not only did the espresso taste absolutely dreadful (there were grounds consistently in the bottom of the cup), but the plastic handle started melting within one week of use, and by three weeks of use, the entire handle had completely melted off, causing a smelly mess for my stove. I knew this was going to be a cheap espresso maker, but there's a big difference between cheap and completely unusable.

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I have 5 (3 cup),2 (6 cups)and 1 (9 cup) espresso makers. Out of those, one 3 cup and one 6 cup are Bonjour. I use the 3 cups almost every morning, when the husband wants espresso I use a 6 cup one and when we have company I use the biggest one. I have many because I don't run the dishwasher daily. Out of all of them, the best ones are my 3 cup Bonjour and my 6 cup Bonjour. I just love them! The coffee always turns out aromatic and flavorful. I use them in a regular glass electric stove and when we loose power, in the burner of the turkey fryer and even though the 3 cup is small, I have never had any issues.

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I confess I bought my BonJour Stove Top Espresso Maker at the Goodwill for $2. It'd be worth paying full price, however, because the coffee it makes is delicious. It's much, much better than my electric espresso maker; sweet, smooth, and not sour or bitter. It took a little experimenting to learn how to use it, but it's not that hard to figure out.

1. Place the pot at the edge of the burner, so that the handle stays cool.

2. Try about two coffee scoops per batch, about 5-6 oz of water. The water doesn't fill the bottom chamber. I put in a little more than I expect to get out.

3. Turn the heat on HI until the water boils, then turn it down to MED or whatever temp will maintain the boil/perking.

4. When the perking stops, take it off the heat.

I get a few dregs in the cup but not enough to bother about.