Cuisinox Venezia Espresso Coffeemaker

Having drunk expresso made with stove-top pots for over two decades, I can say that this is a wonderful expresso pot. The base is very heavy so it should withstand years of exposure to heat/flame. Very nice steel, soft buffed finish. This design has the elegant simplicity which was once common in Italy. Now the more gaudy chrome designs have taken over -- even among the Cuisinox line. I like the wide rim design: pours well even without lifting the lid. And the handle is the most simple yet functional design! The Venezia brews well. Part of the art of a stove-top pot is using the right ground of coffee. Fine, but not ultrafine. An ultrafine expresso or Turkish ground (especially an oily roast) will challenge any stove-top expresso pot (the water will have a hard time being expressed through the coffee); better to use just a normal fine-ground expresso -- even drip grind works well. Definitely steel is the way to go (vs. aluminum) because of health questions over long-term exposure to...Read more