Cuisinox Liberta 6 cup Espresso Coffeemaker

Works as advertised. Makes excellent strong coffee/espresso (no crema). Easy to clean. Built like a tank (25 year warranty!), of solid 18/10 stainless. Looks good on the stove. Will yield 5 oz of excellent thick complex flavored coffee espresso if you run the heat medium-low and use 25gm of freshly ground-to-fine coffee beans. If you want less heaviness and more volume, move the heat to medium+ and the pot will deliver 8oz or so. About 7 minutes from heat to coffee. Be sure to pull off the heat at the first gurgle so you don't overdo the brew (bitter). As always good freshly roasted beans are a must. Don't tamp down the grind in the basket. Slightly overfill it and when you screw on the top section, that will do the tamping.

Also includes an insert for the basket that will do a half-batch, which will deliver the equivalent of two or three shots.

A few comments were negative on the quality of the basket/insert perforations. Mine are perfect.

For one or two people, pot works great. If you guzzle coffee by the 16 oz cup, not for you (unless you like Americanos).

Very happy with the purchase.

I bought this to replace a Bialetti stovetop maker I had for years. That one made decent coffee & was cheaper, but after a few years of use it started leaking water out of the bottom. I never dropped or dented it, so it appears to have just been thin and wore down so cracks developed after use. I'd never heard of Cuisinox but decided to give it a try based on reviews of this and other pots. The design is cute CUTE!! More importantly, though I've only had it a little while, the pot seems much more solidly constructed (despite being made in China), like a larger Bialetti I own. In fact, I think it's even heavier. It does have a metal handle & top knob which get hot, but I found the black rubber handles on other machines did too, so hello pot holder! This also makes coffee super fast and so far it's been a really smooth tasting cup. Love it!

The level reducer (to make 3 instead of 6 cups) also makes this a versatile pot! Extra gasket is a bonus.

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I splurged on this, replacing my aluminum pot. It makes excellent coffee, rather quickly (certainly faster than the aluminum one), in about 5-7 minutes. I notice the type of roast is very important this pot accentuates acidity of lighter roasts, and so I go with a locally roasted dark Italian coffee, ground to "fine" on a commercial Bunn coffee grinder at the shop, and use a medium-low flame on the stove. The coffee is just out of this world. Perhaps some of the unsatisfied reviewers came up against simply using a roast that doesn't do well with these pots.

I accidentally left the pot on the stove the other day for 20-25 minutes with flame, and boiled the lower chamber dry. Fearing the worst, I poured out (and enjoyed) the excellent coffee, and slowly filled the top with cool water. The bottom was very, very hot. It cooled, I disassembled and inspected perfectly fine, not a single bit of observable damage. This is a very fine pot.

And it's just so pretty.

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This is beautiful to look at shiny stainless steel that is obviously very high quality. However it just doesn't make coffee as good as my previous brushed stainless steel coffee maker takes for ever to percolate and it doesn't send all the water up through the percolator.

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Had this coffee maker for a month now and after daily use I can say this is a really solid coffee maker. I bought this after someone who will remain nameless ran my bialetti though the dishwasher. I had the bialetti for 10 years. I have to say the first few pots were disappointing until I got the temperature right. It definitely needs to use medium high heat while the bialetti made a richer cup at lower temp. I still haven't been able to replicate the bialetti, but the stainless steel is A LOT easier to clean-up. The whole unit is incredibly solid leading me to believe this will outlast my bialetti. The base holds more water than is able to get pushed though the coffee so you limit the risk of "burning" the bottom. You still need to catch this pretty quick. It is a lot quieter than the bialetti was so don't rely on sound alone -keep an eye on the stove. I like the fact that the gasket is silicon, it's easier to clean and doesn't stain like the bialetti gaskets. Only reason why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars was that it doesn't brew as rich a cup of coffee, but admittedly I had 10 years of dialing-in the bialetti and just 30 days with this one.

La Pavoni Professional PBB-16 Espresso Machine Black Base

I have had this machine since 1998, i drink on average 4 espresso a day, that is a total of around 17,500 espressos and it still works like a charm. I have serviced it myself about 3 years ago with new gaskets you can buy them for about 40 bucks. If you are looking for a solid machine that will last, this is it, pays for itself time and time again.

We've only had this machine for a week now, but I'm already in love. It makes the best espresso I have ever tasted... We are coffee snobs (roast our own beans even!) and this machine is perfection. It's quiet (so nice not to hear the thunk thunk of a pump!), easy to use, etc. We thought there was going to be more of a learning curve, but after pulling a few shots, we've got it down. The foam extension isn't the best, but we're getting some pretty good foam now a week later. This machine is perfect too for people who have limited counterspace. It looks SO sexy on the counter, is easier to clean than our pump machine, and takes up so little space.

I'm in love. :) (Don't tell my husband! ;))

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Our machine has been providing us with excellent espresso (and lattes that are far better than those we have gotten at Starbucks) for six years. As others have noted, there is a bit of a learning curve. For example, too fine a grind, especially if it is tamped too tightly, will make it nearly impossible to draw a shot. Too coarse a grind will lead to watery shots that are useless. And I would guess that just about every Pavoni user has at one point pulled the coffee filter too quickly from the machine, resulting in spattered coffee grounds on walls and counters. While getting good foam with the wand takes some practice, I have had good luck with the foamer attachment, which works quite well and requires no skill. Further, the machine does require some maintenance. The wand seal started to fail after about three years; this has to be replaced or you will steadily lose steam pressure for foaming. But this machine is not nearly as mechanically complicated as automatic machines, and I would anticipate that it would last a lot longer than automatics. In the end, the obstacles to using this machine are easily overcome, and it should provide you with years of great service. The Pavoni also has an interesting quasi-steampunk look and looks pretty cool on the counter.

One footnote to a couple of reviews elsewhere that noted that after some time, the Pavoni would not draw water. Keep in mind that the piston screws into the connecting rod. Over time, it can gradually unscrew, so that when you pull the lever up, it will not retract high enough to allow water into the chamber. The fix is simple: just periodically tighten the piston. I am painfully reminded that you should do this when the machine is cold.

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I have owned this machine (8-cup) for over ten years and everyday when I make my morning cappuccino I love it more. You can spend more for a machine that measures the coffee, tamps it, pulls the water through and steams the milk for you, but you can tip the kids behind the counter at Starbucks and they'll do the same thing. Making espresso should be a little art and a little science and this machine an impeccable balance of the two. If you aren't the kind of person who takes joy in mixing the perfect martini, making a risotto that whispers with flavor, or whipping a meringue to impossibly tall peaks, this probably isn't the machine for you.

The La Pavoni is for the person who will find tremendous joy in going to the lengths required to make a perfect cappuccino by hand everyday. (And don't bother using anything less than Illy Cafe coffee in it.)

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Beautiful machine. My wife calls it "futuristic". I call it "retro". It uses steam pressure so there is no pump. Pump failures have limited the life span of other machines that I have bought (usually failure occurs after 1-1 1/2 years of use). The boiler produces steam and when the pressure on the gauge is ~.8 bars you lift the lever and release the hot water through the coffee. Steaming milk is very easy. The espresso/coffee tastes great. We've made multiple lattes at once with plenty of horsepower to spare. You do need to ensure that you don't build up too much pressure (by inadvertently leaving it on) or leave too little water in the machine (you can see the water level in the sight glass). Engineers will likely love having a machine like this in their home. A side benefit while you are drinking your latte is that it is great tool for teaching kids simple science concepts.

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Cuisinart EM-100FBD Filter Basket Double

The only problem with this filter is that it is encased and you can not truly clean it out.

but then I would have to own a different coffee maker.

For us it is an essential additional accessory as we do more lattes back, so have just one that came with the espresso maker is not enough. If we did not have the second one, we had to clean and wash for every latte between making them.

$19 for this is pricey. I don't see a generic cheaper substitute.

Using it every day.

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Espresso carafe, fits Braun, Krups, DeLonghi, etc, stainless steel.

Since the dimensions are not clear, to let anyone interested that this is the exact size of the regular small glass carafes and will fit perfectly. It pours without dribling or spilling a drop. It does not have a lid but that is not a concern with my situation. It is also very easy to clean.

The workmanship is very good with a strong handle firmly secured but the gauge of the metal could be heavier as it sits flimsly on the counter and could fall and get dented and I took one star away for that.

Overall it is a great substitute for the glass carafes that can break and cause injury with glass splinters.

Love that I can't break this. Marks inside let you know how much water. Good for frothing too. I store my expresso machine in a Lazy Susan, so I have broken the glasd too often.

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After breaking toe glass carafes, I had to upgrade. This was the perfect solution. Fits most espresso makers I think.

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I got this because I broke my carafe for the second time, so this would be less expensive since I cannot break it. I love it and it stays and looks like new all the time even after using it so much for my expresso

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Its nice to have a carafe that will not break. I was pleasantly surprised that it had serving sizes written inside to give the proper measurements.