Excellent coffee pot for making italian coffee that is very close to espresso from coffeehouses.  Makes very good coffee as long as you use good coffee at a fairly fine grind.

A bit loud for early mornings, may wake the household.  May be difficult for some to figure out.  But if directions are followed it works quite well.  You have to make sure you use medium heat, keep coffee off the gasket, and check the valve for sticking before brewing. Also its good to leave lid open when brewing because the steam inside will dissipate the crema.

I picked one of these up in Italy because of my Italian friends suggestions.  I fell in love with the coffee in Italy and they told me this pot would make it fairly close to that made in coffeehouses in Italy.  I have been using it for 2 years with wonderful results.  My son loves watching the pot waiting for it to release the coffee with its characteristic loud sound.  This pot if used with fairly fine coffee, almost espresso grind, mounded slightly without tamping, produces very good Italian coffee with great crema.  I also use this to make mocha's for my wife and I.  All I do is heat milk and cocoa in a pan and make the coffee in the brikka.  At about the same time they are both ready to be mixed in the mug with a topping of whipped cream.  Very easy, and very good!  Some complain that the 2 cup only makes one shot, wrong.  In Italy, espresso shots don't even go halfway up a demitasse cup.  In America we make much larger...watered down shots.  Same amount of coffee grounds but more water...weaker...not as good.

A friend helped me buy it in a shop near Avezzano Italy. Very inexpensive.