I'll catch plenty of heat (no pun intended) but I prefer the SVEA 123 stove; I've burned white gas and gasoline in mine. They are tricky at first, but last almost forever, have very few moving parts, and heat like crazy. They fit pretty well into a 32oz steel cup. I never used the fire paste stuff, just be careful and cover the area under the valve with fuel and watch it all burn until it builds enough pressure. I've used a blast match and a magnesium starter (mine has a part of a hacksaw blade tied to the mag block - just scrape it along the mag striker and it throws a lot more sparks than a knife).

Option 2 is a small alcohol stove (Swiss military?) that is contained in a mess kit. They dried up from the scene a year or so ago but have no moving parts, can burn 151 rum in a pinch (maybe less proof as well), and are quite compact. Mine has been on many trips and I'd take it over the esbit any day (I've played with a few of those too). One full charge of alcohol (1/2 to 1 oz maybe?) seems to boil a 32 oz cup of water pretty quick. It always seems to take a couple esbit tabs to do that. If all else fails - drink the rum and sleep off the emergency. :-)

My philosophy is to keep it as simple and sustainable as possible and get equipment you can use often to become adept.