Ilsa Stainless Steel 6 Cup Stovetop Espresso Maker

What a great little stovetop coffee maker this is. First off it is actually made in Italy! Yes I said Italy and not China, which is primarily one of the reasons why I purchased it (I’m of a UK/Europe made loyalty mindset these days). The metal and build quality is very robust. In fact the Amazon delivery driver had hurled it (in its cardboard box with no padding) over our 8ft high garden gate onto concrete with not a mark on it. This thing really is built like a tank with good thick stainless steel. On the subject of it being steel it provides a cleaner taste to the coffee compared to aluminium, and it is very easy to clean with just warm water. Despite what another reviewer put it works very quickly if you do the following:• Fill the water chamber to just underneath the safety valve with boiling water from the kettle.• Insert the coffee basket and fill (don’t squash down) to about 1 or 2 mm from the top• Screw the top on tight being careful not to scald your hand on the bottom with the boiling water inside (I use a tea towel to protect my hand).• Place on a low flame/heat and the coffee will come through within a minute.• When it sputters a little take it off the heat quickly.I like to drink my coffee out of a mug, the 3 cup fills a decent mug size to about 2/3 full so I top up with kettle water and milk to make an americano. Cleaning is easy as previously mentioned with just hot water and a clean dish cloth. I usually throw the coffee grinds into the garden to enrich the soil too. Final point to make is this is not suitable for induction hobs. Really pleased with my purchase and would highly recommend.

A sturdy, well made and well designed coffee maker - better, in my opinion, than some of the better known Italian brands. Unlike many percolators, the lid's hinge is reasonably robust and the steel handle - surprisingly - doesn't overheat while the pot is on the hob.

Purchased this as a replacement of our old aluminium macchinetta. Easy to use but the coffees is tend to weaker, so we changed different kind of beans now. Satisfied.

Forget the negative reviews can only be from those who haven't had an espresso pot before. Great quality and design. Better than any other pot I've used before some which cost 3X as much. Highly recommended.

Has been excellent so far, handle does get hot but it's easy to use a pan handle cover.Seems to be well made, solid, lids a bit flappy but it's supposed to be. It pours really well unlike our old aluminum one, which the plastic handle fell off!

This is my favorite moka pot. It can't compete with a true espresso maker, but it can make a black Americano that competes with the professionals.

I got this to replace my Bialetti Aluminum Mokka pot. Anyway I have reverted back to the Bialetti Aluminum Mokka! The Ilsa one is so slow it's ridiculous and sometimes it makes a strangely weak coffee...too inconsistent for me so it's in the back of the storecupboard!

doesnt fit on even a small gas ring, at this price i would not have expected to have to fiddle with buying additional equipment so it will stand up!

Eigentlich bezieht sich diese Rezension auf meinen letzten Ilsa Espressokocher. Er war das gleiche Modell und hat nach 14 Jahren mehrmals täglichen Gebrauchs auf dem Gasherd einen winzigen Riss im Wassertank. Ich habe einmal den Dichtungsring getauscht. Er wurde nicht nur liebevoll behandelt, ist auch ein paar Mal auf den Kachelboden gefallen, aber er hat sich als unzerstörbar erwiesen. Und der Kaffee gelingt immer perfekt. Definitiv ein hochwertiges Produkt.

Es realmente de acero inoxidable, lo que me costado mucho de conseguir incluso en primeras marcas. No se oxida (al menos yo hace cerca de 3 meses que la uso casi a diario). La manija no se calienta, si la pones con un fuego de tamaño adecuado. Hay que estar atento al momento de sacarla del fuego, usar una café bueno, una molienda adecuada. Pero vamos, lo normal para una cafetera italiana. Volvería a comprarla. Hecha en Italia. Deben ser unos 250/300 ml. Entre dos o tres tazas grandes, o 4/5 expresos.

Super cafetière, made in Italy, matériau solide et fiable. Pour avoir fait des recherches avant, je pense que c'est l'une des meilleures cafetières que l'on puisse trouver !

I love this espresso pot.I had an aluminum one for a few months and was never really satisfied. The coffee was often too weak and after reducing the water to brew an acceptably strong enough coffee the yield was so small it wasn't worth the effort, especially as it didn't have the rich flavor I was looking for.This one makes delicious coffee but I've had to experiment to get what I want. I use a good dark roast, "espresso grind" (ground at the store) and the result is rich and chocolatey, much more flavorful than the aluminum moka would brew. I've experimented with water amounts and have settled on this: 1/3 cup water when using the reducer plate (fabulous addition!) and then half as much more when doing a full pot. I actually use a 1/3 cup measure (filled about one and a half times) every time I brew a pot so I don't have to guess and then be aggravated by a weaker brew. So play with water amounts to see what you prefer.Some reviewers complain that it takes too long to brew and it's hard to know when it's done. I've discovered that my tendency to overfill (and tamp down) the coffee is the culprit. When I overpack it, it takes forever to brew and sometimes I would have to pour it and return it to the burner to get it to finish. Now I fill it with the coffee grounds and resist the temptation to add just a little more, and I only very lightly tap them down.Having a good seal is another important detail and I think overpacking the coffee might interfere with it sealing properly. Even when you pack it properly you have to give it a really good twist (but not with the handle!!) to get a good seal. That part's no fun because I have small hands that hurt in the morning, but I'm motivated to make that morning cuppa! I grab the top with a dish towel in one hand (the design is such that it's really unpleasant to try to do this without the dish towel because the metal will dig into your hand) and the other hand on the bottom. Make sure your hand is dry so you get a good grip on the bottom. I've also used one of those rubber jar openers to help with gripping.Lastly, I played around with the burner heat to find a setting that seems just right, about a medium-high heat. Make sure you don't have the handle over the burner or it will get hot. I don't and have no trouble picking it up without a hotpad.It does take a bit more effort than a drip pot but I don't mind because it's so delicious. Happy brewing!

Bella caffettiera, per design, spessore dell'acciaio, sapore del caffè! Ho cercato a lungo una caffettiera di acciaio che non fosse scura all'interno della base (dove si mette l'acqua) e finalmente l'ho trovata. Tutte le altre erano di acciaio lucido sia dentro che fuori solo nella parte superiore e nel filtro, ma la base era di acciaio lucido solo all'esterno, forse fatte in quel modo per poter funzionare sui fornelli a induzione ma io ho un fornello a gas e la volevo tutta di acciaio 18/10. Non ho riscontrato ciò che ho letto in una recensione e cioè che il bordo della parte superiore è tagliente, quella che ho ricevuto ha i bordi levigati. E dulcis in fundo, è facile da pulire, la parte dove va il caffè non presenta sul fondo quella scanalatura che rende la pulizia un pò laboriosa e che non so perchè c'è in tutte le altre caffettiere di acciaio che ho visto. Dettaglio non trascurabile, è fatta in Italia, è scritto sulla confezione e marcato sul fondo insieme alla dicitura "Acciaio inox 18/10" . Con queste caratteristiche il prezzo è ottimo!