The Krups Moka Brew makes the best coffee that I have ever personally brewed. The coffee is rich and full-bodied. It reminds me of the excellent coffee that I had when I visited Belgium.

It's somewhat fussy to set up. It's pretty easy to spill water when filling the reservoir and requires careful attention to grind. It takes a long time to brew a full pot, which is only about 36 ounces. This makes it a poor choice to use when entertaining more than a few coffee-drinking friends.  As others have noted, the filters are difficult to find.

I started shopping for the Krups Moka Brew almost immediately after reading Mark Prince’s Quickshot review of it. My wife was somewhat skeptical, but had to admit that it looked very cool sitting on our kitchen counter. It also has an impressively small footprint. The first time that I ran it (with no coffee), I didn’t get the reservoir cover on properly and water and steam came spurting out. I shut the machine off, released the pressure and reseated the cover. I haven’t had the problem since.

The KMB has become our weekend coffee-maker-of-choice. We find that it’s too slow for everyday use. We have two sons who disagree and say that it’s worth the wait and the extra time. Interestingly, both sons got their own KMB after having coffee at our house and independently telling us that it was the best coffee they ever had.

We’ve discovered that brewing a full pot from the KMB requires a coarser grind than when we brew a partial pot. When we brewed a full 36-counce pot using the same grind that we use for a 24-ounce pot, it took forever and tasted awful. When my wife and I are brewing coffee for just the two of us, we brew a 24-ounce pot; just enough to fill two generous mugs. We hate coffee that’s been sitting on a burner. If we want another cup, we brew another partial pot.

I’ve read some complaints on this forum about the long learning curve to get really good coffee from the KMB. With the one exception mentioned above, we have not had any problems. The coffee has always been good and it usually excellent. We lightly tamp the coffee in the filter basket and follow Krups’ advice and place a second filter on top for the partial pots.

I solved the filter problem by purchasing a Fiskars circle cutter for $12 and cutting two KMB filters from a single #4 cone filter. In just a few minutes, I can cut enough filters to last for several weeks.

I bought our KMB from an eBay seller. She gave me an excellent buy-it-now price (shipped). When the unit arrived, the top cover had a really nasty scratch. I contacted the seller via e-mail, explained the problem, and she contacted Krups for me. Less than a week later, I receive a whole new carafe, filter basket, and lid directly from Krups.