Bialetti Mini Express 2-Cup Stovetop Percolator

The Mini Express works great. It's easy to use and clean (remember not to use soap), and it brews some nice expresso. I'm usually just making coffee for myself, so I bent one of the spouts around so they both go into one larger cup; I'm not sure if you're supposed to do that, but it worked fine.

A couple of other remarks: The cute cups in the picture aren't included :(, and at the end of the brew, it tends to "spit" coffee until you remove it from the heat. If your cups are tall enough, it's not a problem, but otherwise you'll get little coffee specks all over your stove.

I purchased this Bialetti Mini Express as a present for my husband. We have several Bialetti mokas and are thoroughly satisfied with them so I did not hesitate in purchasing this one. Unfortunately, this model does not make two equal cups of coffee. One expresso is almost full and overly strong. The second cup is one third full and very weak. It is possible to mix the two for a double shot, but alone they are undrinkable. This product is a disappointment.

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Let me begin by saying that I am a Bialetti fan. However, I would recommend that you avoid this particular product. I've used it about 20 times since I've gotten it and only once did I get reasonably equal volumes in the two cups. Usually, it's about 70%/30%, always favoring one particular side. I've tried taking the filter out to see if there were any obstructions, but didn't see any. I've tried heating at different rates but to no avail. Rinsing the top part upside-down under the tap results in equal amounts of water coming out each spout so I know it's not plugged. Eventually I may try crimping the more productive spout a bit in order to constrict the flow in hopes that that will remedy the problem...

Anyway, I usually end up having to pour from one cup to the other to make them roughly equal volumes which is messy. Tonight, the cups were about 97%/3%, which prompted this review. I'm very, very disappointed, however, I'll still probably end up buying a Bialetti 3-cup caffetiera to replace it.

UPDATE, August 30th, 2010: This thing still sucks. I just bought a DeLonghi Espresso machine and it dispenses two equal volume cups. I'm probably going to chuck the Bialletti 2-cup.

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I purchased this brewer at a local shop in Brazil about 4 months ago, and brewed nearly daily on it. My first brews were uneven and made a mess on my stove. After quite a few bad brews and almost giving up on it, I began to understand what was going on.

I usually brewed finely-ground coffee and got mediocre results. I would, usually, fill the basket up to the top, tapping it just a little bit, and let it heat. Coffee would begin to brew unevenly, leaving me with a tiny extra-strong cup and a large extra-weak one. In other words, bad coffee. If I took too long to turn off the heat, there would also be coffee spills everywhere in the kitchen.

If you run a test brew with no coffee grounds in it, only water, you'll see it comes out perfectly even on both cups. I realized what the secret was after getting a sack of coarsely-ground gourmet coffee from a relative. Being coarser, the grounds would allow a free flow of water even if I filled the basket up to the top and tapped it. That way coffee would come out perfectly even on both cups. Coarse grounds give you a milder brew, but that's a matter of taste.

Learning from that, I realized that I couldn't fill the basket up to the top with finely-ground and tap it. Water wouldn't flow evenly and coffee would come out wrong.

Nowadays, I usually fill the basket leaving about 2-3mm free space at the top of the basket when using finely ground coffee and progressively less free space the coarser my grounds are. That leaves space for water to flow through more easily, making evrn cups of coffee.

That's a peculiarity of its unique design. There's a limit to how strong your coffee can be, and that will depend on the grind and toast of the coffee you"re using. A regular stovetop won't be limited by that, but it also wont' look this charming to a visitor.

In my opinion, this is the most charming way to enjoy a cup with your coffee-loving significant other. Great value, as long as you learn its ways.

**Regarding the coffee spills, it's all about timing when you turn off the heat. I turn it off just before air begins to come out of the coffee machine, that is, just before it ends brewing. I set the heat to minimum, wait for it to brew and, very few seconds after the brew begins to come out in a very light yellowish tint, turn the heat off. That's just before the brew ends. This reduces coffee spills to nearly zero.

Definitely NOT a novelty item!!

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I have been looking at electric countertop espresso makers for years, but was afraid to buy one because of the cost and size. We got one of these on a whim because it was so cute, and it has worked wonderfully! It only takes about 3 minutes to make 2 shots of espresso, and cleans up very easily.