Great espresso maker that got a bad reputation.
As an ex-Seattle-ite of 12 years, I am pretty persnickity about my espresso. I found this microwave espresso maker at an upscale retail outlet for discontinued merchandise, in my new home city, and thought, what the heck, it is only $10, what do I have to lose? For ten bucks I got the microwave espresso maker and a frother, basically a beaker with plunger/beater for making steamed milk froth you see on a cappucinno.
After a few attempts, I found the proper setting on my microwave, to make excellent shots of espresso. I did have a couple of messes to clean up before I figured it out. I have a smallish GE microwave purchased in 1997, and don't remember the wattage, but running the microwave for 1 minute and 45 seconds yields almost a full shot of espresso. I empty the result into a cup and put the espresso maker back in the microwave for an additional 10 or 15 seconds which makes enough more to make a good sized shot when added to the first batch. I do this because one...
It was sitting on my shelf unopened....
.. and brand new; I decided to give it a whirl.
There was a little bit of leakage from the unit, but nothing unmanageable, and it did indeed make excellent espresso. Yes the metal cup (and plastic assembly) inside does get hot, but so do the parts from a "regular" espresso maker. A quick rinse in warm or cold water does the trick before fully disassembling. On my next attempt, I made the base tighter and voila! No leakage. Except that it only makes one shot, this is a very neat gadget. I guess it's too bad that it didn't catch on.
... Ok now that it's been here awhile...
Pain in the patootie to use, and the espresso is really not very good. Now I'm sure I know why it's discontinued.
Frother mystery
The product is OK, but when the frother comes apart, beware...no instructions and I have tried every which way to put it back together without success. Searched online and many others have same problem.
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