How does the vacuum pot work? Is there some receptacle for the coffee at the place where the two spheres join-- similar to the moka pot principle?
The almost invisible etching is sweet on such an otherwise plain-Jane, utilitarian item.
I have a teapot for the hot water. Two french presses one quart sized and one cup sized. And an electric grinder. I use a quart insulated mug for when I’m leaving the house and my favorite cup when I’m at home.
To think I felt bad for owning two of them! I’ve got a Mr. Coffee drip, and a Keurig someone got me for Christmas. On one hand, that’s a lot of little cups. On the other, I can’t make coffee for balls. The Mr. Coffee is nothing but a shameful reminder.
Two french presses (two cup and a four cup) - used every work day.
An espresso machine - weekends! I’m working on the world’s best cafe con leche and getting close to perfection.
A mocha - used when travelling.
An ibrik - left over from coffee experimentation days. Actually i have four ibriks, one is genuine copper with a tin lining, it mades horrible coffee, tastes like metal. The other three a various sizes of the same thing. Turkish coffee is simple and one cup is enough for a long morning.
A vacuum pot missing the rubber seal ring - This makes the BEST coffee. Well it used to until the seal disintigrated. I’d love to find another seal, that coffee was so smoooooth.
A one-cup drip device - I rarely used this, coffee that goes through a paper filter tastes bad.
A tin percolator - never used this. I should try it.
Try it to see what it’s like but watching a show on the history of coffee makers the other day they said by far the worst way to make a good tasting cup of coffee is to rebrew the coffee over and over again through used grounds, exactly what a percolator does.
That’s why I’ve been hesitant.
I have a drip cone and a plain glass coffee pot with a Japanese pour-over dripper, which is what I use most of the time. I also have a DeLonghi espresso machine that I almost never use. It’s not even set up right now, actually. I use a decent hand grinder because the minimum cost for a good powered burr grinder is upwards of $100. The one or two I picked out for “someday” that have great features, reliability, and produce a good grind are about $200–250. I’ll stick with a couple of minutes of turning a crank every day at less than half the noise of a powered machine and a fraction of the price, thankyouverymuch. For now, I can’t justify buying a powered burr grinder.
The itty-bitty espresso machine just doesn’t pull a good shot. Short of spending ridiculous amounts (probably thousands) on a really good machine — any of which would be severe overkill for anything short of a mid-sized coffee shop — and spending lots and lots of time practicing, you’re not going to get better espresso at home than you can get at a decent commercial place. Honestly, even Starbucks tastes better than the results from my machine most of the time, and I’m using coffee beans that are way, way better than their burnt shit. The little boiler and pump just doesn’t get the right combination of temperature and pressure.
For great-tasting coffee with minimum expenditure, you really can’t beat the pour-over method. You don’t even need a specialized dripper with the long pour spout. It helps, because transferring the just-off-boiling water to the dripper and the long spout itself brings the temperature down to the ideal point for a good extraction, so you don’t even need a thermometer to check the water temp.
For set up, all you need is:
[ul]
[li] a pour cone; plastic is fine[/li][li] cone filter; preferably unbleached[/li][li] coffee pot[/li][li] a good grinder; mill or burr, NOT a blade grinder which produce a horribly inconsistent grind that’s half powder, half random-shaped chunks of beans[/li][li] a pour-over dripper, because it makes the process easier, takes most of the guess work out, and doesn’t require temperature measurements[/li][/ul]
You can use a regular kettle or even a saucepan if you don’t want to invest in a dripper, as long as you have a way to either check the temperature or approximate the temperature fall-off you’d get from a dedicated dripper. You can make do with a measuring cup (Pyrex recommended, DON’T rinse with cold water afterward unless you want to be cleaning up broken glass eventually) or other container with a lip or spout. Don’t pour directly from the kettle unless you have a thermometer, because the water will probably be too hot and produce a more bitter taste.
The most expensive piece was the grinder, next, the dripper. The cone and coffee pot were about $15 as a set. Everything all together was about $100 or so.
Really good coffee isn’t cheap, but the stuff I get from my roaster is reasonable. For the cost of two cups of commercial cappuccino, I can get enough beans for a week’s worth of coffee for two people. I’ve been hearing good things about a subscription service in the US called Tonx. Given that I don’t live in the US, I haven’t been able to try it, but even coffee snobs seem to think the beans are nice.
Prep is easy, though takes more time and effort than an automatic drip coffee machine. I put the kettle on, and while that’s heating I grind the coffee. I usually finish just before the water boils. Transfer water to the dripper, lightly wet the grinds and let them bloom. Then pour gradually until the coffee is done, never letting the water get too low. Pour the top 3/4 of the pot, but dump the dregs.
I find the manual process to be kind of meditative, and the results are really worth it. It tastes a hell of a lot better than anything I’ve ever gotten from an automatic machine. The main differences in taste with this method are lighter, sweeter notes and less bitterness. One reason the flavor profile is different is that you’re moving the coffee around, basically aerating it, while you pour. You’re also keeping the water temperature within a good range for optimal extraction of the good tastes, while avoiding a too-hot or too-cool range that would pick up the tannins and other components. It sounds complicated when written out, but set up to finish takes maybe 10 minutes.
Now I’ really thinking about buying myself a Chemex…
Do it, girl. It’s unhealthy to stifle such impulses.
I have just one. It’s an old-fashioned glass percolater, the kind with the stem up the center.
I’m so glad you posted. I got one of those that you use on the stove at a garage sale, but I don’t know how to measure or how to know when the coffee is done. I got it because my mother had one, but I never observed her method closely. Would you mind giving detailed instructions? (How much coffee/water-- or the ratio anyway. Heat level. How long to boil/percolate.) I want to try it out. Thanks.