kipling Senior Member Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Posts: 7 Location: westchester, new york Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: F!F! X1
Posted Sat May 17, 2008, 6:05am Subject: Vacuum Brewer Recommendations?
Hello folks!
I have had a Bodum Santos Electric brewer for the past 3-4 years (I have gone through about a machine a year...they crack and leak over time and eventually stop working). My last one is on the way out, and I am thinking of changing over to a regular Santos or Yama, and wanted to hear any suggestions people might have as to one over the other, or maybe neither. I wasn't surprised to hear that Bodum is no longer producing the Electric model, although it seems you can buy them for around $115.00. Being you can't wash the electric in a dishwasher, plus the fact of cracking, I think the glass is the way to go. The electric did have a timer though, which was handy in the mornings. Ah well, we all suffer a bit for our addictions.
The main reason I ask here is because I haven't seen any recent reviews on the vacuum makers and wanted to see if there was any current consensus. Thanks for any help!
Posted Sat May 17, 2008, 6:58am Subject: Re: Vacuum Brewer Recommendations?
I like my Yama 5 cup a lot. I've tried a lot of different filters with it (Yama cloth, Bodum Santos disc, Hario paper, Cona rod). All work well. My two favorites are the Santos disc (easy clean up, little sludge, pretty foolproof) and the Hario paper (easy clean up, very clean cup, just about totally foolproof). The Cona rod makes great coffee, but is more prone to let sludge through and to occasional slow drawdowns or stalls. The Yama cloth filter works great, but the whole cloth filter routine of rinsing it and keeping it in a container of water in the fridge doesn't appeal to me.
Although the vac pot works really well, I've found myself using it very little lately. When I want a larger pot, I tend to go the the Krups Moka Brew. And when I want a single mug, I've been using the Aeropress (I actually like the clarity of paper filtered coffee).
I got my Yama from Sweet Maria's, but it looks like Northwest Glass is the actual importer (the packaging from Sweet Maria's had a Northwest Glass insert). Below are the links for the coffee syphon page on the Northwest Glass main site, and the coffee syphon page from their dedicated coffee and tea pot site:
kipling Senior Member Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Posts: 7 Location: westchester, new york Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: F!F! X1
Posted Sat May 17, 2008, 7:26am Subject: Re: Vacuum Brewer Recommendations?
thank you for the direct links! do these go right on top of the stove? is there something i should know about timing how long the water stays up? i guess it won't go down until i shut off the stove? and does it have to stay up for a certain amount of time? the filters are interchangeable? i'm spoiled with the electric. thanks for the info!
Posted Sat May 17, 2008, 7:53am Subject: Re: Vacuum Brewer Recommendations?
kipling Said:
thank you for the direct links! do these go right on top of the stove? is there something i should know about timing how long the water stays up? i guess it won't go down until i shut off the stove? and does it have to stay up for a certain amount of time? the filters are interchangeable? i'm spoiled with the electric. thanks for the info!
There are two styles. One goes directly on the stove (the kind I have). The other is held in a stand above a freestanding alcohol or propane burner. Yama makes both types. The non-electric Santos is stovetop. Many people (including myself) like to heat water in an electric kettle before adding it to the pot, and putting the pot on the stove or over the burner.
If you do a search for vacuum or any of the vacuum brewer brand names, you will find a lot of posts about brewing methods, timing, etc. How long you leave the coffee up depends on the grind (finer grind=shorter brew time) and how strong you want the brew. I've seen people report good results with "up" times everywhere from 30 seconds to 4 minutes. People also measure their brewing time in different ways. Some count the drawdown time and some only until the start of the drawdown. Some start timing from the time the water starts to go up, and some only start timing when all the water is up. Yes, once you take the pot off the heat, the coffee will start to head south.
All the filters I mentioned above are interchangeable in the Yama. From the posts I've seen, almost every filter is compatible with almost every pot. Manual vacuum brewing is a lot of fun and makes great coffee, but there are definitely a lot more variables than an auto machine.
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