When you see vacuum coffee makers for the first time, you will think they are some laboratory device because they certainly look like it. However, a vacuum coffee maker is one of the purest brewing method ever developed, producing a smooth, clean tasting cup of coffee without bitterness and virtually no sediment. They were extremely popular during the 1930s to the 1950s prior to the advent of drip filter pots.
Also known as vac pot, siphon or syphon brewer/coffee maker, the vacuum coffee maker was invented by Loeff of Berlin in the 1830s. It brews coffee using two overlapped glass bowls or chambers, usually one on top of the other, that communicate through a syphon tube. The upper chamber has, at its bottom, a filter. It takes advantage of scientific principles to ensure optimum infusion temperature and rate for perfect extraction of the essential coffee oils and flavor while offering a fascinating presentation. Vapor pressure and vacuum produce coffee which is clean, crisp, rich, and smooth compared to other brewing methods. Design and composition of the vacuum coffee maker varies. The chamber material is Pyrex, metal, or plastic, and the filter can either be a glass rod, or a screen from metal, cloth, paper or nylon.
Water is placed in the bottom chamber while the ground coffee is placed in the upper chamber. The principle is to heat the water in the lower vessel of the brewer until the pressure from the water vapor forces the contents through a narrow tube into the upper vessel containing the coffee grounds. The complete brewing cycle lasts about 3 minutes. When the lower vessel has more or less emptied itself of the water and enough time has elapsed, the heat source is removed. The vapors cool off, turn back to liquid, and their volume contracts. The resulting vacuum will draw the brewed coffee through a strainer back into the lower chamber from which it can be decanted. The device must usually be taken apart to pour out the coffee.
Nowadays, there are only a few companies that still manufacture vacuum brewers. Get one from Bodum or Cona if you want to learn how to make coffee using vacuum coffee makers and impress your guests.
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Great information on vacuum coffee makers! I have been a coffee enthusiast for a long time and I have been really curious with this vacuum coffee maker. Thank you for sharing great information to your post, now I have more knowledge in my coffee arsenal. Kudos!
you are welcome. Glad I could help