I was looking for a new french press and ran into this little guy. Has anyone used one, do they do anything any better than a french press? They look really cool but for 90 bucks it better make a damn good cup of joe.

PEBO vacuum coffee maker

I've been using one for about a year and absolutely love it.  I got it here though:



http://www.amazon.com/Northwest-Glass-SY-8-40-Ounce-Stovetop/dp/B002CVTKW4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317660392&sr=8-1



It's a much better price.  I use a Cory glass filter rod, they are easy to come by on ebay and it requires very little cleanup.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Glass-Cory-Filter-Rod-PAT-DES-114079-Excellect-Condition-1930-40s-/230678347810?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b5804022

I have a Yama like the above poster, but a smaller version.  It makes fantastic coffee, but you'll have to practice a little to get the timing and grind correct.



Since you are already used to the french press you'll be fine with handling the cleanup that is naturally a little messier with these.

I have one but only bring it out when I have company. It's just a WAY cool show to brew coffee. The coffee is delish but I rarely have bad coffee that I make at home.

How do you keep it hot after it's brewed?








 

If you want to keep it hot you need to put it in a thermos.  You don't heat the water for it, you put the whole contraption on your stove.  If you have a gas stove a trivet is useful.  It's different because the water isn't so hot when it contacts the coffee grounds, and because there is no paper filter sucking all the oils (where the flavor is) out of the coffee.  It's pretty much like an automated french press.



 

I make all my coffee with a buchner funnel, sidearm flask and an aspirator pump.

All of Organic Chem 240 just came back to me.

Cory Corp. also made stainless steel versions; they were the only pots my parents would use.
Mom wasn't as focused as she could have been, consequently we toasted several of those big soft gaskets over the years.

I have that exact coffee maker.



It makes good coffee, but it is not a set and forget.  



It more of a special occasion, or weekend thing.



It will plug up if you use French Market coffee & chicory, so if you do that, you have to modify the plastic "filter".



Otherwise, it works good.

 

That's stupid.

Making coffee overconcentrated and then diluting it back out isn't a good way to make a good cup of joe.

You're better off with a Chemex, 205 degree water, 16.5:1 water to coffee ratio, and a correct grind.  Nice plume (although unnecessary) will help you get to your 3:45 brew time and rather tasty coffee.

But, this is from a guy that thinks most coffee is roasted until it the smoke turns blue, and thus, shitty.



As a side note, it's always cracks me up when guys thump their chest about how rare they like their steak, but how burnt they like their coffee.

You don't understand how it works.  It doesn't over concentrate and dilute back out.  It works pretty much like a Chemex in the amount of control you have, but without the paper filter.  You control the temperature of the water by heating it on the stove to 198 or 205 or whatever you want.  Then you put the top in with the coffee.  The water enters the top due to the vapor pressure pushing it up there.  Only a very small amount of water remains in the bottom.  You can control how long the coffee is exposed to the hot water at top with a timer.  You remove the heat and the bottom cools quickly and sucks the coffee from the top to the bottom pretty quickly.  I usually leave it on the heat for 3 minutes which means the total brew time including pull down is remarkably similar to your brew time.
 

I guess I should watch that movie.



 

OK.  Well, I guess I don't understand it like I should then.

If you're not over concentrating it and then diluting it back out, why does it appear that 1/4 - 1/3 of the water doesn't make it to the top chamber?

When you say the water goes to the upper chamber from vapor pressure pushing it up there, is that steam?  Is the steam then hotter than the 198-205 temp that you want?  Does it stay hotter than 'boiling' the whole time its in the upper chamber, only dropping below boiling when the heat source is removed and the bottom chamber has cooled enough?

Additionally, I seen no real difference between paper and screen filtering, as far as taste goes, but do like the clean up of paper better.  So, this method seems to really be no different than putting a bunch of coffee grounds in a pot of boiling water, and then passing it through a filter.  It's a clever way to do it, but in the end you've really just boiled the grounds, right?

I have a collection of over a hundred antique vacuum coffee makers.



They make the best coffee for sure.



But for everyday use I use a auto drip 4 cup, it's easier, quicker and clean up is simple.

They are highly regarded as a great method of brewing coffee, just be sure to use great beans.

When I use mine, I pour 24 oz of water into the bottom and heat it to the upper 190's.  I put the top with the coffee in it, usually about 39 grams that I just ground.  All the water goes to the top except a small amount.  Nothing like 1/4, more like just a little bit of water covering the bottom.  The water at the top pretty much stays at the temperature it had when you put the top in because it is no longer heated by the burner as it is so far away.  I've measured the temperature of the water in the lower section and the temperature in the upper section and the temperature is pretty much the same, with maybe a few degrees of rise.  





The vapor pressure of water will push the liquid to the top before it boils.  Once the enters the top section, the water in the bottom section may boil, but the top section doesn't really get any hotter.  The hot vapor from the bottom section will cause bubbling like it is boiling the coffee in the top, but it is no hotter than 205 from the measurements I have taken.  The bubbling mixes the coffee and water thouroughly like stirring would do.





There is no paper filter or a screen.  The "filter" is just plastic with little groves molded in it.  If you grind coffee too fine it will plug up and your coffee won't go back down to the bottom.  I grind my own and most store bought coffee is ground coarse enough that this doesn't happen.  The exception is chicory coffee. Chicory unlike coffee has about 60% soluble solids and it will plug the filter.





I like using it because it makes great coffee, but I doubt that the coffee is any better than a Chemex.  It is definitely not something I would screw with every day when I am in a hurry.  It does give you complete control over the temperature and time and there is no filter to have to replace.  (Bodum Santos, doesn't use a filter, some types do)





The main thing I like is that I get great coffee without screwing with a damn filter.  I hate paper filters.





It's also kind of neat to use and has a little drama about it if you are entertaining.





The Japanese use them in coffee bars and use lights to heat them with and turn it into some kind of fantastic Japanese Benihana version of making coffee.





They call them Siphon bars.





Video of a Siphon bar:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHz-NIPTvf0





Notice how almost all the water goes to the top?  There's maybe an 1/8 of a cup left.  If the dip tube is not pushed down far enough, it might leave a lot of water in the bottom, but that would be somebody who doesn't know what they are doing.  Again the upper portion does not gain temperature except for a few degrees.  The guy cools the lower pot with a wet towel.  I never do that. It cools fast enough on it's own.   His took longer because I think it is pulling through a taller collumn of coffee grounds.   I also find stirring unnecssary but you can give it a twirl if you like.





The biggest advantage is you can make one cup of coffee as well as 4 cups of coffee.  Most drip coffee makers are made to make a whole pot well but don't work so great if you only want a cup or two.





 

My coffee pot brews great coffee, was a heck of a lot less expensive, is easier to clean up, and can be set to start brewing at a certain time.

To each their own, of course.  There are some people out there that prefer their Folgers crystals or Sanka... and there are some people who actually enjoy drinking coffee.