Author Topic: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model  (Read 20286 times)

Offline bekeld

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Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #45 on: October 14, 2012, 11:44:57 AM »
I'm not sure what I think about vacuum brewing overall.

Visually, the Yama is cute. Compact, brews enough for two big mugs--it's all good. The cup was clear, but I just didn't care for the cup. I thought that the fault was in the bean. I used a Kona that I roasted first. It was OK, but I felt the same way with this bean in my espresso preparation. So I got some roasted berrylusciousness from Compass Roasting to try. I felt that same way about the cup. The only thing I can think of is perhaps that I prefer a 'thicker' cup. I probably will get my own brewer and give it a longer try with different beans. I have had a vacuum siphon cup of coffee from my daughter-in-law, and I enjoyed that. She has a Bodum Santos with a cloth filter.

As to the process, it was easy with B|Yama's guiding from his CG evaluation. The instructions with the brewer were a bit lacking.

BoldJava

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #46 on: October 14, 2012, 01:43:39 PM »
I'm not sure what I think about vacuum brewing overall.

Visually, the Yama is cute. Compact, brews enough for two big mugs--it's all good. The cup was clear, but I just didn't care for the cup. I thought that the fault was in the bean. I used a Kona that I roasted first. It was OK, but I felt the same way with this bean in my espresso preparation...

I have found that the vacpot presents the clearest expression of a coffee (for me) about 90% of the time.  With the other 10%, a KONE pourover trumps a vacpot by a wide margin.  I don't know how to account for that difference.  There is no rhyme or reason to it; origin, elevation, processing, etc.

B|Java

Offline bekeld

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Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #47 on: October 14, 2012, 03:23:50 PM »
Is body in coffee dependent on the bean, roasting, preparation method, or some mixture of the previous?

BoldJava

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #48 on: October 14, 2012, 03:28:01 PM »
All of them.

Offline bekeld

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Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #49 on: October 14, 2012, 09:15:29 PM »
You're a lot of help.

Offline bekeld

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #50 on: October 17, 2012, 08:04:19 PM »
Should the coffee take @two minutes to travel from top to bottom? If the time is less--as much as 30 seconds-- would that result in a "thin bodied" cup?

BoldJava

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #51 on: October 18, 2012, 01:50:08 AM »
Should the coffee take @two minutes to travel from top to bottom? If the time is less--as much as 30 seconds-- would that result in a "thin bodied" cup?

Yes.  Should take minute and 3/4s or close to two to travel south.  It's in your grind.  The 5-cup runs faster than an 8-cup but 30 seconds would give you a thinner cup.  It also might have been your volume of coffee. I always use 40 grams in the 5-cup.

When I started with vacpots, I was in a hurry to get the water down.  I learned along the way that the time to descend is an integral part of the steep process and my wish for a past descent was way wrong.  Watch the grind and slow it down.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2012, 02:18:36 AM by BoldJava »

jbviau

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #52 on: October 22, 2012, 09:02:13 AM »
I have to apologize for holdings things up here. Blame the road show Brazen, which arrived the day after the Yama did! Long story short, I was supposed to ship the unit off to Cammie today, but I'll be a day late. Sorry for any inconvenience.

This siphon makes very good coffee. It did take me a while to move from the "experimenting with water" stage to the real deal, but once I did I feel like I almost nailed the brew (using Stumptown's Finca Kilimanjaro) on the first try.

B|Java, your review/walk-through on CG was a big help. Much-appreciated. I went with 42 g. of coffee, as recommended. Drawdown was exactly 2 min. with a grind setting of 18F on the Preciso.

There was one blip, namely that I let temp. in the upper globe get up to 207 at one point--a little higher than I'd planned somehow. Easily fixed by dialing back the gas, but not before a few drops of coffee spattered over the top lip and onto the stovetop. Will have to keep a closer eye on temp. later this afternoon when I go for round #2. There were no overextraction issues that my tongue could detect.

Speaking of temp., without question the coffee I brewed this morning was the hottest I've ever experienced immediately after decanting into a pre-heated mug. Had to give it a minute before sipping.

The glass rod fascinates me. I'm not even going to touch the cotton filter because that rod does such a great job of keeping fines out of the coffee below.

jbviau

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #53 on: October 24, 2012, 08:34:44 AM »
Enjoy, Cammie. I'm sad to see this go.

For the record, my second try went even more smoothly, as I was able to keep temp. in the upper globe right around 200 the entire time. Coarsened up the grind a touch to 20F and got a shorter drawdown of 90 sec. If I'd had more time to experiment, I suspect I would have ended up splitting the difference re: grind.

Clean-up wasn't as bad as I expected. A dish wand/bottle brush helps.

I wonder how big of a contribution the siphon's stable (or even rising if you're not careful!) temperature profile makes in the cup? Can't think of another full-immersion-style brewer aside from that ridiculous Blossom prototype that doesn't lose heat during the steep.

Speaking of brewers, my everyday gadget is a Bunn Trifecta MB. I was struck by how close the cup quality/character is between that and the Yama (at least when using the glass rod). If I didn't own a Trifecta already and knew what I know now, I'd probably just buy a Yama or similar instead. That's not to say, though, that the cups from both were equivalent; Trifecta brought out more fruit, and Yama made a cup with slightly better structure overall IMO.

Thanks for the opportunity, y'all.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2012, 08:36:16 AM by jbviau »

BoldJava

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #54 on: October 24, 2012, 08:45:00 AM »
Enjoy, Cammie. I'm sad to see this go.

...

Speaking of brewers, my everyday gadget is a Bunn Trifecta MB. I was struck by how close the cup quality/character is between that and the Yama (at least when using the glass rod). If I didn't own a Trifecta already and knew what I know now, I'd probably just buy a Yama ...

That is a huge statement.  $35 vs $2600. 549 (edit, thx). I love my Yamas even more after reading your post <grins>.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2012, 09:08:31 AM by BoldJava »

jbviau

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #55 on: October 24, 2012, 09:04:00 AM »
Well, the MB is the home version, so only $549. :o What you're paying for mostly with that machine is convenience and precise, repeatable turbulence settings. I'm not sure the Trifecta does anything that the Yama couldn't do given a patient, skilled operator. Maybe I'm just in the siphon honeymoon phase still...

jbviau

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #56 on: October 24, 2012, 02:19:19 PM »
^^^ Interesting. Yup, I'm all about the bubbles now. Re: brew temp., I'd really like to see someone measure the slurry in the Trifecta. I suspect the Trifecta's brew chamber is not quite as thermally stable as a siphon's upper globe, but then again it *is* covered (unlike the upper globe). In the cup, at least, siphon coffee is definitely hotter, though I suppose there could be other reasons for that.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2012, 02:42:31 PM by jbviau »

BoldJava

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #57 on: October 24, 2012, 02:53:44 PM »
Speaking of bubbles, this video shows you the water temp based on the bubbles and sound in your tea kettle... or siphon.


Mine is an electric stove (boo) with a heat diffuser.  I have octopus eyes @206* which sound like Peter's snore.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2012, 02:56:03 PM by BoldJava »

Offline peter

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #58 on: October 24, 2012, 09:01:40 PM »
Speaking of bubbles, this video shows you the water temp based on the bubbles and sound in your tea kettle... or siphon.


Mine is an electric stove (boo) with a heat diffuser.  I have octopus eyes @206* which sound like Peter's snore.

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Cammie

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Re: Closed: Traveling Road Show, Yama 5-cup Vacuum Pot, Stovetop Model
« Reply #59 on: November 05, 2012, 06:59:33 PM »
The vac pot is on the way to MMW.  I wish I could update this thread with my experiences and impressions.  But, the truth is that I sent the box on its way still unopened.  I did not have enough time last week to experiment.  Still, I am very interested in this method of preparation and have my own vac pot on the way.  I will post some thoughts later.