Yama 8 Cup Vac-Pot - Vacuum Pot Siphon Coffee Brewer
by Yama
Our Price: $43.87
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Kitchen
See more product details
Product Summary
Manufacturer: YamaBrand: Yama
Accessories:
- Yama Stovetop 5 Cup Vac-Pot - Vacuum Pot Siphon Coffee Brewer
- Yama Vacpot Replacement Cloth Vacuum Pot Filters (5)
- Yama Tabletop 3 Cup Vacpot Coffee Siphon & Vacuum Pot
- Butane Micro Burner - Vacpot Burner - Portable w/ Adjustable Flame and Electronic Ignition-OUT OF STOCK
- Bamboo Vacpot Stir Stick - Contoured Vacuum Coffee Brewer Stirrer
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Yama 8 Cup Vac-Pot - Vacuum Pot Siphon Coffee Brewer
Customer Review: Best coffee I've been able to make at home!
Summary: 5 Stars
OK, I have been trying to brew a great cup of coffee for a few years now. I got a Yama a few days ago and it does the best job so far.
THE GOOD POINTS:
The Yama's resulting coffee tastes great, is not bitter, is crystal clear, not muddy, and has *no* grit in the cup -- the filtering works great.
I think one of the secrets to this system might be that the fine particles are completely filtered out so when the brewing stops it REALLY stops. There are no fine coffee grounds continuing to over-extract in the pot and cup after the "official" brewing is over. Another factor is probably the maintenance of a proper brewing temperature.
Coffee prepared in the Yama even retains its good taste as it cools in the cup.
THINGS YOU MIGHT NEED TO GET USED TO:
Be prepared to have a more hands-on approach to coffee making and cleanup than with an automatic drip or even with a French Press. See TIPS below. Also, you don't want to leave water boiling unattended in a glass pot.
You will want, if not absolutely require, a decent burr grinder so you can fine tune and get a consistent grind that does not clog the filter.
QUALITY:
Overall, quality is quite high but I have already had to make two minor repairs/adjustments. Hardly worth mentioning, but here they are:
1) The chain used to hook the filter to the siphon tube came off. This is because I wasn't careful when setting the siphon in the holder that the upside down lid provides. I had to reattach the chain to the hook and squeeze the hook a little with pliers to firm up the connection.
2) The handle is held onto the pot by a metal collar that is attached with a screw. I had to tighten the screw.
COMPARED TO OTHERS:
This is my first siphon (aka vacuum pot) coffee maker so I can't give a first-hand comparison of its performance to others of its kind but it is reasonably priced, well made, and it works.
Up until now I have been using a Technivorm Moccamaster KBT-741 (auto drip) but found that the best way to use it required quite a bit of hand-tending anyway. Stirring and messing with the drip control on the filter basket was needed to keep the grounds properly exposed to the water. I use a "gold" filter instead of paper since that gives better flavor but it does leave grit in the cup, although not as much as French Press. The Technivorm cost over $200. The Yama makes better coffee for less than one fourth the price.
A French Press is about the same price as the Yama and almost as fussy to work with but, in my opinion, doesn't make coffee nearly as good.
TIPS:
(I ended up writing quite a bit here, but don't let all these details scare you off. They -- or your personal equivalents -- will become second nature after just a few brewing cycles. After all, this was the way most people made coffee 50+ years ago. We have traded good coffee for a very small bit of convenience. All this might make more sense after using your Yama once or twice.)
1. Bring the water to a near boil in the bottom section *before* attaching the top part (the siphon and filter assembly). This prevents water from seeping into the top before it is at a good brewing temperature.
2. You can grind the coffee, assemble the top section and fill it with the ground coffee while the water is coming to a near boil.
3. Once the water is up to temperature, turn the heat way down and insert the top section WITH LID IN PLACE. Water will rise to the top (in just a few seconds -- it's a little dramatic!). Now give it a quick stir to get a good water/grounds mixture. I use the handle of the spoon that comes with the Yama. It seems designed just for this.
4. Leave the heat on low while waiting the prescribed time for extraction to take place. This keeps a simmer in the small amount of water that, by design, is left in the bottom section. The simmering maintains the pressure that keeps the water up in the top section. It also keeps the mixture at the proper temperature and causes a little agitation to keep things well mixed. I give it about 70-75 seconds, setting a timer to 60 right after the quick stir mentioned above.
5. Remove the pot from the heat. I set it on a cutting board. Wait a few moments and the coffee will start to descend from the top to the bottom. What happens is that as the pot cools the water vapor in it reverts to a liquid form causing a partial vacuum that sucks the brewed coffee from the top to the bottom. It may take two or three minutes for the coffee to completely draw down. Nearly all liquid will be drawn from the top and eventually the coffee in the bottom pot will be almost to the level where it was originally filled. When this point is reached it will start "sucking air" resulting in foaming and bubbling in the pot with associated noises.
6. You can now remove the siphon assembly. Use a pot holder and wiggle it, being careful NOT TO BANG THE SIPHON TUBE. If you do this before the "sucking air" mentioned above the vacuum may make it a little more difficult to remove the siphon assembly.
7. The first adjustment you may need to make to your routine is the degree of grind you use. Too fine and it can clog the filter causing the draw-down to stall (but have a little patience with this). Too coarse and it will draw down very quickly. You want to use as fine a grind as you can while still having the draw-down complete in about two or three minutes. Finer grinds give better extraction. I started with what I use for automatic drip but ended one notch finer. Even so, this is near the coarse end of my grinder's scale.
8. Once you have the above paragraph worked out you can adjust the strength of your brew by the amount of coffee you grind and the time you let it simmer before removing it from the heat.
BONUS TIP!
When cleaning out the siphon assembly in the sink be careful not to let water and grounds shoot out the siphon tube at the bottom and get all over you and the floor!
MY BACKGROUND:
I grind my own beans and order them fresh-roasted from several sources but I don't go to the trouble to roast my own. I use softened, filtered, reverse-osmosis water -- not because I actively chose to do so but because that's what I have available and it seems good enough. Filtering and RO are supposed to make it OK to use softened water.
Description of Yama 8 Cup Vac-Pot - Vacuum Pot Siphon Coffee Brewer
8 cup vacuum pot coffee brewer. The Yama Vacuum Brewer ships with one filter cloth, the filter assembly, a measuring spoon, lid/stand, and vacuum brewer. Additional filters are available for an additional charge. "Cup" refers to Yama's idea of what a cup should be and equals about 3-4 ounces for each cup. Directions for use:Use a slightly finer grind of coffee, somewhere around "auto drip" however you may experiment to taste.Dropthe washable, reusable cloth covered filter into the infusion chamberwith the chain hanging down into the glass syphon tube. Pull the chaindown until you can hook it to the bottom of the siphon tube.Fill the bottom carafe to the 8 cup mark with hot water and place 8 measuring spoons of coffee mark in top chamber.Using the wire trivet between the coffee siphon and the burner place the coffee siphon on the burner and turn on to medium heat. DO NOT TURN THE BURNER ON HIGH As the water boils, it will be siphoned up to the top chamber where it will infuse with the ground coffee. A little water will always remain in the bottom water chamber.Let brew about 60 seconds, then remove the pot from the heat source. Oncethe coffee starts to cool the liquid is siphoned back down into thebottom carafe. Remove the top, placing it in its convertible lid/stand,and bring the pot to the table for serving.Gently rock the upper carafe back and forth until it can easily be removed and placed into it's stand.Serve and enjoy your fresh great tasting coffee.AlthoughIsopropyl (Rubbing) Alcohol which is available at all drug stores canbe used in the alcohol burner, Denatured Alcohol which can be purhcasedmost hardware stores will burn hotter and help heat the water quicker.Check out Old Timey Dave's (Dave W) Flickr feed to follow our EspressoParts adventure brewing with the Yama 5 Cup Tabletop Vacpot.For more information Mark Prince has provided an excellent FAQ on Coffee Vacpots on Coffeekid.comThe information below was taken from Wikipedia.HistoryThe device was inveVacuum Coffee Machines
Kitchen and Housewares
Bestsellers in Vacuum Coffee Machines
Yama 5 Cup Vacuum Brewer Upper Bowl Replacement - VACUUM POT REPLACEMENT ONLYYama; Yama; Kitchen
Best price: $19.85
Yama 8 Cup Vacuum Brewer Upper Bowl Replacement - VACUUM POT REPLACEMENT ONLYYama; Yama; Kitchen
Best price: $19.86
Butane Micro Burner - Vacpot Burner - Portable w/ Adjustable Flame and Electronic Ignitionespressoparts2; espressoparts2; Kitchen
Best price: $58.12
Bodum Electric Santos Vacuum Coffeemaker 3000 10 USABodum; Bodum; Kitchen
Price in other shops:
Yama Stovetop 5 Cup Vac-Pot - Vacuum Pot Siphon Coffee BrewerYama; Yama; Kitchen
Best price: $34.87
Mr. Coffee Black and Stainless Steel 12-Cup Programmable CoffeemakerMr. Coffee; Mr. Coffee; Kitchen
Best price: $39.99
Price in other shops:
Yama Tabletop 3 Cup Vacpot Coffee Siphon & Vacuum PotYama; Yama; Kitchen
Best price: $49.67
Yama 8 Cup Vac-Pot - Vacuum Pot Siphon Coffee BrewerYama; Yama; Kitchen
Best price: $43.87
Krups 324-42 DuoThek 10-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker, Stainless SteelKrups; Krups; Kitchen
Best price: $194.00
Price in other shops:
Thermos Nissan 34-Ounce Vacuum Insulated Stainless-Steel Gourmet Coffee PressThermos Nissan; Nissan; Kitchen
Best price: $26.75
Price in other shops:
Similar Kitchen and Housewares Products
AeroPress Coffee and Espresso MakerAerobie; Aerobie; Kitchen
Best price: $25.95
Price in other shops:
Replacement Filter & Screen for the Yama Vacpot (Coffee Siphon)Yama; Yama; Kitchen
Best price: $4.17
AeroPress Micro-Filters, Package of 350Aerobie; Aerobie; Kitchen
Best price: $1.50
Price in other shops:
Yama Vacpot Replacement Cloth Vacuum Pot Filters (5)Yama; Yama; Kitchen
Best price: $5.00