Bellman CX-25P

I haven't mastered this gadget, maybe I never will.  It's just a fun contraption to make some strong coffee.  I've seen video on YouTube somewhat detailing what's the correct way to brew coffee out of this thingy but so far I am not able to replicate the result.  Perhaps it's my desire to do it my own way or my pure death instinct or my disability to follow any instructions.  The end result is the same.  The coffee doesn't come out right, too dark too bitter, too much sputtering.  For everyday coffee consumption I still use the no frill IKEA espresso pot which turns out to be very quick, very reliable despite the fact that the lid kind of falling apart from day one.  The milk frothing wand on the Bellman is a newer design with two nozzles but I could never get the milk frothed right.  On the other hand, again my IKEA battery frothing wand works pretty well as long as you got yourself a straight one.  I have another one that's ever slightly bended and it simply doesn't work all that well at all.

Regarding after sales, this Bellman is manufactured in Taiwan, I guess based on some old Italian make some time ago.  It's distributed by some Ng company in America.  I once wrote to them about the little pressure gauge and they never bother to write me back.  So I say lousy or questionable after sales service.

Cleaning is a bit involved with the Bellman as there are simply more parts to dissemble.  And because of the gauge, the handle, the top, the frothing wand, all the protruding parts, it's a bit hard to put on any dish rack to let it hang or sit dry, plus even if you were to flip the body upside down you won't be able to drip the water down because the design of the top opening.  But this doesn't bother me too much as I never ever bother to thoroughly clean the contraption, I just rinse it and all its parts with warm water.  Sometimes I don't get why people tend to clean everything with detergent, I mean is it oily or greasy?  No.  Any oil is coffee oil so I wouldn't bother to scrub or clean it with detergent at all.

Time to revisit YouTube again.