Belgian Belgium Luxury Royal Family Balance Syphon Coffee Maker Classic Double Column Top Grade, Classic and Elegant Design (Golden)

This is truly a quirky machine. It has brought us much enjoyment and love the ingenious of it. It is definitely a centre piece for the table and such a talking point. The coffee tastes lovely from it too, which is a bonus, it does not leave the bitter after taste that you can often get when using other coffee machines Something to treasure.

It looks magnificent. It was someone's best ever idea. It is fantastically silly but also, which I like, shiny. It gets dangerously hot. It is unstable and the little tap is far too stiff. It makes terrible, terrible coffee because the balancer kicks in straightaway so there is no steeping time. And yet, I love it.

This looks good and works well. It's best if you use hot water as it can be a bit slow to brew but you'll enjoy watching it if you've got some spare time.

Nicely made. This has turned my coffee making experience into a lovely ritual. The coffee is good and a nice change from my usual espresso based coffee.

Diese Kaffeemaschine habe ich vor etwa 16 Jahren am Niederrhein in einem Restaurant gesehen und war begeistert. Die Wirtin wollte mir nicht verraten wo man sie beschaffen kann. Nun habe ich sie endlich bei Amazon entdeckt und sofort bestellt. Die Lieferung kam aus USA und war schon nach 7 Tagen bei uns. Wir haben sie bisher erst zweimal benutzt und sind begeistert -unsere Gäste waren hin und weg- . Wir müssen noch den richtigen Kaffee finden damit das Gebräu etwas stärker ausfällt, aber Daumen hoch.

The item took awhile to get here (delivery date clearly stated no rush delivery and gave an estimated shipping time of nearly a month, I believe - and it was shipped in a lovely box which was delivered to me within the specified time frame and he received in very fine condition. The pieces of thus item are made prey well. I would not say it was made with precision in every detail of design and finish but got the price i would say it is very good quality. The pieces are kind of delicate and it needs to be handled with a bit of care so not to break the hurricane glass. It is easy to use and delivers a smooth tasting coffee. If you do not prefer particularly strong and robust cups of coffee then you will appreciate this machine/device even more so. It is a worthy display for home libraries, offices, Coffee Bar, breakfast area, and kitchens. It does not take up a large space, easy to clean, and serves as a really cool novelty item that is just as practical to use.? I recommend having an electric kettle to preheat the water in a library or coffee bar and it is a terrific novelty piece for conversations. By all means USE it for conversation starters because it is easy to use and fun to watch work and easy to clean.

Okay, 5-stars seems a bit much at first blush. However, when one considered that a real Belgian Balance costs well over ten thousand dollars, this one is a bargain. Sure, it is only a copy and clearly not crafted with as much care as a 'real' one. But, it is well made for the price and does not look 'cheap'. We bought it as an ornament for the top shelf of our home espresso bar, but could not resist brewing a cup of coffee in it. Surprise! It actually works and turns out a decent cup of coffee...make that two cups as long as one does not use big mugs. From a cold start it takes about 15-minutes to run; but by preheating the water to a near boil the time is cut down to about 5-minutes. This also improves the steep time (much too long using cold water). Of course, it's a bit fussy to clean, but who cares...that is not the point. It arrived very quickly from China...almost as quickly as some domestic items ordered from Amazon. It was well packaged with all components set into form-fitting holes in a Styrofoam 'clam shell', which was in a sturdy plastic bag, which was in a decent cardboard box, and the entire thing was wrapped in bubble pad and tape. We can hardly wait until our next dinner party to show this thing off. The only potential down-side we can see from actually using this is the finish on the metal boiler will probably darken due to the flame from the alcohol burner.

This coffee maker is just darn good looking. Oh yeah, it actually works. It takes a little extra time and it is not a push-a-button. The coffee is superb. It is also quite interesting to watch. Who knew, stepping back in time, coffee could taste so good. The alcohol burner has an odd smell when it is working, so be ready for that. But man, the coffee. Can't get this from an automatic. It is a great gift item.

Item was received promptly. It corresponded to the pictures and surprising enough it made a quite respectable coffee. After observing the process in YouTube video it was very easy to operate and the results were satisfactory.