Wanted one made of steel to be able to use it on any kind of stove top (including induction).At first, I was shopping for a 10 cups MUSA from Bialetti, but when I read the reviews, I saw a satisfied buyer overall, but he needed rubber strap wrenches to unscrew it once warm/hot because the tread expands on heat.After trying this Alessi from a friend with the easy lever to open, I decided to go for this one instead.** I saw for other BAD reviews, like it exploded, for both, Alessi and Bialetti or other, people don't read how to use these stove top coffee maker... NEVER EVER COMPRESS COFFEE OR FILL COMPLETELY, THIS IS NOT A MANUAL ELECTRIC ESPRESSO MACHINE. ONLY FILL AT ABOUT 2/3 - 3/4 OF THE COFFEE RECIPIENT AND LEAVE THE COFFEE GRIND LOOSE, UNCOMPRESSEDEnjoy your espresso !!Save yourself the money and doubt of wondering if there’s a better moka pot out there. Some get close but none perform better or look as cool. The wider base gets the water to temperature quicker and through the grounds before burning them. Always start with pre boiled water into the reservoir base never cold or room temp water. Careful not to burn yourself!After a mostly happy 10 years of using a standard 9 cup Bialetti moka pot, it was undeniably pitted, rusted, leaky and suboptimal. I decided to do a “quick” search to see what alternatives were out there. I only knew I wanted stainless steel. Many, many, way too many hours later I was mired it choices with a very wide price range that all claimed to be the best and all had similar ratings.What really made this pot the standout choice was the the “snap on” upper chamber. Being able to get rid of the “screw lid on tight - but not TOO tight” nonsense is a real bonus as I have small woman hands and little patience for it being my fault that my much needed morning coffee was ruined because I was half awake and didn’t screw on a lid with perfect precision. ....And then being forced to unscrew a blazing hot, very tight lid to try again. Another perk absent from many of the other brands is that the base is wider than my 9 cup Bialetti and therefore a better fit on my gas stove. I also found it visually appealing. Still, the $$$ was high and I was worried that I would just be spending an exorbitant amount of money (in my opinion) for coffee I could have made just as well for a third of the price.When it arrived last week I was immediately impressed with its elegance and beauty. I ran it through the trial brewings per the instructions using cheap, standard pre-ground coffee. I could not believe how well the pot performed on the very first run. The flow of liquid was silky smooth and the seal was perfect. I made the full 6 cups and then the 3 cups using the reducer filter. Both were equally successful. The handle got a bit hot making the 6 cup and I used a towel to pour. But it wasn’t hot enough to leave a burn or make me drop it so I don’t have a problem. I can see the issue others have mentioned with the inside bottom rim being hard to dry, but 30 seconds on the stove at very low heat takes care of it.After the 2 throwaway pots I used a burr grinder for my good beans, set on a coarse espresso size. Or notch 3 out of 12 with 12 being most coarse......and I suddenly found myself drinking the BEST cup of coffee I have ever made. I was so happy I texted my whole family pictures.And I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure the coffee is stronger. I am accustomed to drinking a full pot of the 9 cup Bialetti every day. Sometimes 2 pots. I drank a full 6 cup pot from this beauty and I FELT the caffeine. Same coffee beans at the same grind and I buzzed like I haven’t done since I was a teenager eating chocolate covered espresso beans. Totally different feeling. Now I use the reducer and just drink half a pot.In conclusion....Where has this beauty been all my life? Who knew wonderful coffee could be SO easy? And at the same time looking like a piece of art on my stove? What more can I say? I’m not just satisfied; I’m thrilled! - and a newly minted coffee snob. :-)The particular unit I received has a fabrication flaw (unless others purchasers experience the same flaw). When under pressure, the pressure escapes from the sealed interface shown in the images. This causes only part of the water from the reservoir to push up through the coffee into the coffee maker, effectively rendering the coffee maker useless. The reason is that their is not enough mechanical pressure pushing the top of the coffee maker onto the seal. The handle functions as a latch and when fully latched is supposed to push the top portion onto the bottom water reservoir. One of the images shows the handle fully latched, leaving a gap between the coffee reservoir and the bottom water reservoir. This causes pressure to escape. To highlight the issue, I added a second picture where the handle is only partially latched. In this partially latched state, the gap closes up and the coffee maker functions perfectly. Unfortunately, when partially latched, the coffee maker may "explode" because the handle flies open under pressure (because it isn't properly latched). I bought this just before we went on a long camping trip for the summer and more than 30 days past since I bought this. Now Amazon won't take it back. I am very disappointed. This also not easy to correct myself as the latch holing the handle is welded to the water reservoir.Update from 08-23/2021I contacted Alessi customer service directly since Amazon did not take my unit back. After exchanging pictures and a detailed description of the defect, Alessi USA customer service sent me a new coffee maker as replacement. The replacement unit works perfectly. I measured the latch location on the replacement coffee maker and indeed the latch is about 0.5mm lower ensuring proper sealing once fully latched. At the end I had initially received a coffee maker with a "tolerancing" issue and the replacement unit worked as advertised.I have used the same Alessi 9090 6 Cup stove top Expresso maker almost every day for the past 18 years! It has worked perfectly for this entire period and makes great coffee every time. I use lavazza coffee most of the time which is a good option for this type of Expresso maker. I’ve used it on either gas or AGA hot plates equally successfully. I have not even needed to replace the silicon seal during this period. Sadly the bottom water reservoir started leaking very recently and it’s not possible to buy this part alone so I’ve bought a whole new one exactly the same!I’ve attached a picture of the old and new ones side by side to show what 18 years of wear looks like! I don’t put it in a dishwasher and this is not advised but a gentle hand wash seem to do it.Although this is sold as a 6 cup model I find it’s just right for 2 decent sized Americano’s once you top up with hot water.The only reason I only gave it 4 stars for VFM is full price would be circa £150 which is not cheap but it is great design to look at and the simple latch system for locking and unlocking is much better that the screw mechanism so I’m happy to pay a bit more.I don’t often review items so hope this is useful as these are great items and I hope you enjoy them as I have if you purchase.I purchased the Alessi 9090 when my Bialetti Venus gave up the ghost after around 6 years of daily use and two gasket replacements.It is my belief this type of stovetop coffee maker is not well suited to induction stoves.I have been a Bialetti user for 30 years and only started to experience problems after switching from gas to an induction stove.I decided to purchase the Alessi after much research and in the hope I would be buying a product I would love and be able to use for for many years.The first thing I noted was a warning label attached to it stating a low to medium heat must be selected on the induction stove or the Alessi could be damaged. I had previously heated the Bialetti on full power! Maybe this contributed to its demise?The problem with heating it on low/medium is is takes forever to brew the coffee and the pressure never seems high enough to get a decent crema. In my experience this type of coffee maker will never produce a thick crema like you get from a proper espresso machine, but I previously had managed to get enough to use as a guide to know the when to remove the pot from the heat at least.I now pre-boil the water before adding it to the tank and this cuts down the time, but it’s still pretty slow.To be fair, when the coffee finally arrives it tastes fine.In my experience Bialettis are prone to leaking from the join between the top pot and the water tank even when the gaskets are sound, so my hope was that the Alessi would not, given the highly lauded method of sealing it. In practice, it is definitely better, but it has leaked a couple of times, which given the high price is a bit of a disappointment.The next point is the award winning design.It is a joy to look at and straight forward to use. Again to compare it to the stainless steel Bialetti it feels much more robust and well put together. However it is debatable if the difference in quality is proportionate to the difference in price.Now to my biggest grumble.Given the high price I am surprised at the lack of finishing. The top edge of the water tank where the coffee basket sits on is really sharp. I sliced my finger open on it the first time I washed it.The top edge of the coffee basket is equally dangerous and I cut myself on that as well.I don’t have particularly large hands, but find cleaning it difficult due to the narrow top on the water tank (along with the sharp edge) and the long narrow design of the top chamber. Even my wife who has quite small hands complains about it.In summary it is beautiful but flawed, makes a decent coffee but will make you bleed for it!Is it worth the asking price? On balance I don’t believe so.My advice, get a Bialetti instead.Desperately upset I bought this in April but am only just getting around to using it for various reasonsFirst time out steam is pouring from the base literally filling my kitchen and there’s a little leakage of actual coffee too !The whole point of this is you don’t have to screw on the base , which is where most machines have leakage problems if you don’t tighten it enough .It just looks so far removed from the shiny ornament it’s been to date , it’sOpening the machine it’s only half full?I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with this product .Tried getting a number /contact for Alessi but can’t find anything for advice .Insult to injury was the added vat only levied right at the end which made it more expensive than I imagined .Coffee als tastes a little bitter .It's a beautifully designed espresso coffee maker (5 stars for that). It's fairly small - purchased a 6 cup-size one and maybe you can make 6 cups but these will be an espresso size cups. Nevertheless, it is able to deliver 2 normal size cups of fairly strong coffee. The base fits nicely on the smallest ring of my electric hob (12.5cm).I have read some negative comments about the issues with the excessive steam coming out from the middle part of the pot. I've noticed that the first time when brewing coffee, but then I looked (properly) at the instructions, which say do not use the highest heat on your hob. I changed heat power from the highest 9 to mark 7 and since then no probs whatsoever. It takes a bit longer to brew coffee (11minutes instead of 8/9 minutes when on full heat power).So far so good and although it's a bit pricey for a coffee pot...well it makes nice coffee and looks absolutely stunning.