After getting a Bialetti Moka Express moka pot (and loving the coffee brewed with it), I decided to experience some more and ended up purchasing this stove-top "espresso" maker.The CX-25 seems to "brew" slightly different tasting coffee (richer) with a bit thicker consistency than a moka pot. The physics behind this apparatus is pretty much like the moka pots, except you have control over how much pressure builds up before releasing the coffee. Whereas in a Bialetti Brikka, you are limited to however much pressure the release can withstand, with the CX-25, you can build up as much pressure as a 5 minute boil would produce (the manual suggests a 5 minute boil time for the steamer, not the coffee. Coffee, it says, can be boiled/steamed/pressurized for about 30-60 seconds before the user has to open up the valve and let the coffee drip out. I do not know if this is for safety, but the point is you CAN let the pressure build inside safely for upto 5 minutes, according to the manual). How much pressure a 5 minute boil results in, I do not know, as I purchased the one without the pressure gauge, but for coffee to be classified as true espresso, according to some espresso governing society...funny... it must be brewed/dripped under 10 bars of pressure, give or take.One core difference between this unit and a moka pot is that with the CX-25, it is instructed in the manual to "pack [the coffee] down and level it off" as you might do when using an actual espresso machine. In other words, you are to tamp it. This is the opposite of a moka pot (according to what I know from a fair amount of research), with which you are to just fill the funnel with coffee and NOT pack it down...perhaps the tamping is what's causing the difference in taste and consistency? Anyways, after trying a few different things, I've yet to produce crema with this, but I must say that the coffee definitely is good. NOTE: You cannot use a tamper due to the 3/4 inch cylinder that extends up in the center of the funnel.If I want a good, strong cup of black coffee, I would use the moka pot. If I wanted to make a __________ latte/cappuccino, I would use this, as the final product (after pouring the steamed milk) from this unit is a latte just as good, if not better than that of your typical coffee from that one place with all them green straws, granted you stock up on decent quality beans.The unit is quite ugly, kind of looks like a pressure deep-frier's bastard child, but you can always put it away in a cupboard when not in use, I guess. It is also pretty heavy and somewhat dangerous to use, since there's always some part you gotta touch, especially the handle and the bottom of the steamer valve knob, that gets exposed to flame/hot plate/coil, getting super hot. I suggest putting on an oven mitt on at least one of your hands that will be holding the handle. Also, make sure you have a wet rag handy to wipe off the steamer as soon as you finish steaming, otherwise the steamer gets so hot that it burns the milk foam that gets left on the outside of it.The Good:- Brews excellent tasting coffee, a lot closer to a shot of cafe espresso than what you may expect from a moka pot- The steamer works quite nicely, producing excellent cafe quality steamed milk & foam- Coffee brewed from it, in combination with the milk steamed with it results in an excellent tasting cup of latte or cappuccino. Add flavored syrup/powder/sauce to taste.- Fairly straight forward & easy to use BUT...The Bad- Difficult and cumbersome to handle. It is a lot heavier than a 6 cup moka pot.- The safety valve that releases steam when excess pressure has built up inside is located right where the handle meets the unit. You definitely would not want to have your hand on the handle if and when the valve releases the excess steam.- Difficult to clean. During brewing, liquid coffee (obviously) and a bit of the coffee grind gets into the nozzle. If you want to clean it CLEAN, you need to boil and "steam out" the water through the nozzle, at which point you will see that it wasn't fully clean...although this build up COULD, I guess, add to the flavor later on...or not (if you don't use it on a regular day-to-day basis- Takes a little while, on average of 7-10 minutes or so, to make a couple of cups of latte. Not for your morning cup of joe if you are like me and are always rushing out the door in a hurry in the morning. Good for after-dinner leisurely desserts.- As of right now, I wouldn't drink the "espresso" straight. I will keep practicing until I get it right.I would definitely recommend this unit. It is an excellent substitute for a proper, couple thousand dollar espresso machine. Definitely tastes better than any espresso machines under the $1,000 mark that I've tried, although recently I've been hearing a lot of good things about those capsule-based units. It will serve me well until I am able to afford a real, proper machine though.P.S. Don't bother wasting $80 for the model with the pressure gauge, unless you are super curious as to how much pressure actually builds up inside; the same amount of pressure will build in the two different models before the safety valve goes off.