FCUS Stovetop Espresso Maker, 12cup/600ml Grecas Coffee Maker Moka Pot, Stainless Steel Italian Classic Espresso Moka Pot, Induction Compatible

large coffee maker, great when serving guests

We first bought the 12-cup version. It was our fourth and largest (600ml) stainless steel stovetop espresso maker. All have the unreachable crevice in the bottom of the upper section that makes them difficult to clean, so I don’t know why Amazon is even asking about that.

The size of the 12-cup pot was great, but it was much fiddlier than the small ones (acquired separately from different brands). In particular, where the handles of our other pots are firmly fixed, this one wobbled about 2mm, making it hard to pour and making me worried that the handle would fall off. I wish the producers would consider using a fixed and stable handle as the makers of our other smaller pots have.

Our 12-cup pot was pretty inconsistent. I don’t know if that is a feature of the size or a quirk of this brand. Some days it produced a full pot of lovely strong espresso. About 30% of the time (we had it for two weeks, so probably 5 or 6 times in 15 days) it got stuck halfway through the brewing cycle and needed a quick rinse in cold water before more coffee will brew. Rinsing with cold water (which works always on our smallest pot) worked about half the time; on the other 3 or so occasions, this large pot would not brew any more and we ended up with half a pot of nice espresso and a lot of brown water in the base; thus it was only occasionally more convenient to brew coffee in this pot than to make two pots in our 6-cup coffeemaker.

After repeated issues, we returned the 12-cup pot and tried the 9-cup version instead. We have had it for a week now and it has produced a consistent pot of coffee every morning. The handle is attached correctly. I’m not sure why we had so many issues with the 12-cup pot and I would be interested in ordering another one to see if we acquired a fluke or if the whole batch is equally problematic.

With both pots I noticed that the edges of the steel were very sharp, as though they had been punched out but not refined in any way. Yesterday in the process of trying to clean the 9-cup pot I accidentally touched the edge of the filter and it sliced straight through my finger. The edge of the base is also sharp enough to cut flesh, though I’ve not cut myself yet. I would recommend disassembling your pot and trying to soften or sand all exposed edges as soon as you acquire it. We have used a lot of espresso pots and the two pots from this seller are the only two on which I’ve noticed this sharpness.

I’m very comfortable using moka pots.

My last moka made great coffee, but was too small.

This 12 cup just makes more great coffee.

Some insights:
– You should fill the coffee basket (I use 6 tablespoons) and tamp it lightly.
– I also pour a tiny bit of hot water over the coffee in the basket…to bloom the coffee.
– Brewing takes longer than claimed. Mine takes about 20 minutes.

It leaks. Handle nearly coming off. Too small coffee filter in relation to amount of water, so coffee becomes very weak. Bottom surface not even.
There is nothing good about this product. Such waste of money.

Convenience: It works well enough, and is reasonably easy to use and clean. It makes a pot of coffee very quickly (like 5-8 minutes heating up on a hot burner), but it seems unsafe to just turn it on and leave the room, so you must watch it while on the burner. It’s a decent buy, but I think I’ll usually stick to my automatic drip coffee machine for convenience since I can just turn it on in the morning before showering.

Flavor: The coffee was just okay… It didn’t form a proper crema, it seemed weak for espresso, it got some fine grounds/sludge in the coffee, and it tasted a bit more acrid than from the drip machine — I might need to adjust my coffee grind though (I’ll keep experimenting).

Build Quality: Regarding people saying it rusts, mine looks like it has some kind of enamel coating on the inside of the bottom piece, or maybe my hard water is actually creating a protective coating, but it doesn’t show signs of rusting so far. The top part seems to be quickly reacting with coffee to develop a greenish tinge (chromium oxide? I hope this thing is not poisoning me…). I wish the top part was made of glass/ceramic. The lip of the lid feels sharp/unpolished and I am worried it could cut my hand. So not great quality all in all.

Most of these percolators work great, including this one- the false advertising is in the size. Even the video is deceptive, it makes exactly one 8oz cup of at a time and not one drop more.