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A Vac Pot Primerby Mark Prince My first timeAbout six months before I purchased my first vac pot, I'd heard mention of it on the Internet, and I had vague recollections of my grandmother owning a Cory Vacuum Brewer. I heard claims it was the best coffee going, but like many claims about something I'm not familiar with, I was skeptical. Around April 1999, I was in a Starbucks and noticed they were selling off their supply of Bodum Santos' Vacuum Brewers for 40% off. I was too tempted to resist, so I bought one, and rushed home. I admit I was kind of excited by the prospect of brewing coffee with a method nearly unheard of among everybody I knew. I guess it is a tell-tale sign that I'm a complete coffee geek when I admit I was even giddy at the process I was about to witness. Just witnessing the process for the first time is hard to describe. Remember how cool (or secretly cool) you thought some of the little experiments were in your Grade 10 Physics class? Like when your teacher would do things that go contrary to conventional thought, made things happen that you didn't think would happen? A vac pot is like that. The very aspect of water traveling against gravity is hard for people to normally imagine. You always think about water traveling downstream, down a pipe, heading for lower ground. With a vac pot, water meets something stronger than gravity: pressure. This forces the "trip north" as I've coined it, up to the top globe. Then when heat is removed, the "trip south" occurs, but occurs with enough force that it literally vacuums your grounds dry. The grounds in the top vessel end up with little craters in them, which is kind of cool to see, and definitely indicates complete extraction of your precious brew. I think everyone's first time with a glass vacuum pot is a similar experience - they can't get over how cool it looks, forgetting for a moment that the just brewed probably the best coffee of their lives.
Vacuum Brewers Today and BeyondDuring the 1990s and beyond, vacuum brewers are enjoying a bit of a renaissance. Not enough to make them even faddish yet, but enough to make them relatively easy to find and add to your household. Companies like Bodum, Cona, Hario, Tayli and Yama all make vacuum brewers today, and some are pretty economical (Yama models can be had for $35 new, Bodum Santos models for $35-40). They come either ready for your stovetop, or self-contained with alcohol or gas burners. They come in a variety of sizes, from 1 cup models from Hario (that makes 8 ounces) to 8 cup models from Cona. And you can pick up some of the mid century Cory, Silex, Sunbeam, and GE models on eBay for reasonable prices, as long as you don't expect absolute mint quality (the rare mint ones can cost quite a bit). During the first decade of the 21st Century, I believe this renaissance will continue with either the revival of some long-defunct vacuum brewer makers, or new companies forming to manufacture and sell these unique brewing devices. You can thank (or blame) this primarily on Starbucks, which has played a huge part in waking middle America up to coffee that is at least better than the coin-op machine at the gas station. Quality coffee is seeing a full blown revival and I believe in some small way, vacuum brewing, which is arguably the best possible way to make brewed coffee, will ride the crest. About The AuthorMark Prince is the coffee guru behind the coffeekid.com web site. He works as a web developer for WebMotif Net Design Services. Images and words copyright ©2000 Mark Prince Referencescoffeekid.com/coffee/vacpots Tags: vac-pot |
