Vacpots, Q's and A's

[BoldJava]

I'm not an 'expert" by any means...just a regular user of vacpots over the last 3 or so years 

FWIW, if you have a smooth-top electric stove, then you do not need to use a diffuser. I have used my little 20oz 5 cup Yama without any problems at all. I also collect usable vacpots from the '30's - 50's, and use the same stove with them. ...
Gary

My prep:
^  5 "cup" level,  runs just a hair over 22 oz (.65 L)
^  45g of PNG Kimel Peaberry
^  grind level, very fine pour over

NB:  Most important ingredient - water, needs to be Wisconsin spring water

Heat diffuser is not needed on gas.  I used it with a clean and rinsed (and very important - dry) coffee base.

Technique - needs some work

^  22 ounces of water in base.  Electric stove on Med plus (6.5 out of 10)
^  At 7:00 minutes, water began moving to top (dropped stove to Med - 5 out of 10)
^  Water on bottom began boiling and whooooooooooooosh, water moved to top.  Stirred bloom once.
^  B|Java panicked and immediately moved burner to Low, 2 out of 10
^  Bad move, a hair of water remains so pot was safe
^  Moving it to low caused vacuum to break and whooooooooooosh, water went to base at 8:30

Cup:
^  Tad underextracted by my tastes
^  Delicate, maybe refined catches it better?
^  Very clean, but not squeaky clean
^  Accentuates aspects of a cup

The PNG's marmalade exploded midway through the cup.  The cup seemed brighter than my usual KMB or Bodum pourover.  Too bright and fruity for the Czarina ... she apologized.  Very Midwestern bride (Scandihoovian roots).

Next run will be:
^  Put coffee in after the water is moving north more rapidly.  I think it pulled out acids and tons of caffeine at lower temps. 
^  Leave the burner at medium for a 120 second extraction.

Mechanics:
^  I have chaffy coffee from the Gene Cafe.  It appeared in the cup, along with some sludge, not unlike a press pot.  I may need to look at how I placed the filter in the pot, making sure it is a bit tighter.

Thoughts:
^  Delightful prep
^  Very tactile, hands on style - sensory ladened
^  Will be fun to see what the unit does with different aspects of origins
^  Will take the pot into the kitchen supply outfit in town and have them suggest a brush (vase brush?) to help rinse out the pot.

Would I buy it again?  Does the Episcopal church have problems?  Did the Dodgers play in Brooklyn?  Is Peter an old, stubborn German?

Great fun. 

B|Java

[Pics below, as I took my first run at the Yama this morning.]
1)  Yama with Navy cup for comparison
2)  Yama meets Kenmore (Irish and Hoklo 福佬  greetings exchanged)
3)  Yama gets baptised
4)  Retro colors for retro pot - "Whoosh"

[John F]

the AeroPress inverted double pump reverse lay up? 

Hahahahah!


Nothin' but net!   

[peter]

Who you callin' old?!

[BoldJava]

2nd run at Yolanda Yama

^  45g of finely ground pourover, Sumatran Gayo
^  6.5/10 electric stove with diffuser
^  Permit 2.5 cups of the 5 cups to move north before adding coffee (170 degrees in Northern waters)
^  12 seconds later, whoosh, rest moves north (did happy dance, mimicking 'whoosh' sound)
^  Left burner at 6.5; didn't touch it
^  At 1:45 after whoosh, coffee moved south on its own

Very, very clean.  Again, has an ability to accentuate a characteristic.  In this cup, it was the nicest nutty chocolates that hadn't made such a pronounced statement with a pourover, 3 days ago.

Made sure filter was seated better.  Hint sludge, no chaff.  Yes.

Closer, on the road to Nirvana.

B|Java

[BoldJava]

Filter cleaning tip.

Rinse under very hot water and scrub with the grouphead brush from your espresso setup.  Really cleaned it up.  (Gary mentions below that using the brush shortens the filter shelf life)

http://ourcoffeebarn.com/estore/product_info.php?products_id=1233

B|Java

[cfsheridan]

Filter cleaning tip.

[snip]

Use a glass rod

In all seriousness, I've been happy with my Cona glass rod that I'm using with the Yama 8-cup.  That said, it's had a tendency to stall, even when I wait until most of the water is up north before dumping in the grounds.  I recently got my mitts on a vintage Cory glass rod--problem solved.  I don't know how well the Cory or Cona rods work with the 5-cup Yama models, but I'll report back late this week when I've returned from my trip, and the DHL box has arrived.  I've roasted the following DP Ethiopians for the first round of testing:

Korate Natural Sidamo
Bagersh IMV
Ecafe Shilcho Natural Sidamo
DP Limu (from SM)
DP Golocha (from SM)

[John F]

I recently got my mitts on a vintage Cory glass rod--problem solved. 

BlJava, it would be a swell Christmas present if you would source approx 50 vintage Cory glass rods and do a group buy for us.

Hahahaha! 


But seriously,  do we store the filters in the fridge between uses, is that the general procedure?

John F

[headchange4u]

<snip>
 I don't know how well the Cory or Cona rods work with the 5-cup Yama models, but I'll report back late this week when I've returned from my trip, and the DHL box has arrived. 

Cory rods work great in my Yama 5 cup.

[headchange4u]

I have also found that there is less of a chance of stalling your vac pot if you mix the slurry by going back and forth instead of stirring in a circular motion. When you stir in a circular motion all the grounds go to the center and when the brew is being vacuumed back into the bottom pot, all the grounds get sucked right on top of the filter in a really thick layer, making it more prone to stalling. I have found the glass rods tend to stall more when I stir. When you mix the slurry by going back and forth the grounds are more evenly distributed when the pot vacuums down, and the grounds don't have the tendency to clog the filter like stirring can.

[staggerlee]

I use a cory rod in my 8c model and I stalled constantly, even with my fancy Anfim grinder. Someone gave me a cheapo Bodum antigua conical grinder and I haven't had one stalled roast since. The moral of the story is that the grind is critical, but I wont go so far as to recommend a particular grinder.

BTW, This is the grinder. (totally inappropriate for espresso, noisy, and somewhat messy)

[garybt3]

Cleaning afterwards is fairly simple.
I let the grounds 'set', for about 10 minutes by placing the top globe in the stand/cover, while I enjoy my coffee. I use a tablespoon to scoop out the grounds ( I compost them ) and then rinse it off with the cloth filter still attached, add a drop or two of dish detergent, and use a long handled kitchen scrub brush and gently scrub the filter. Remember, it's cloth and scrubbing like hell will cause it to wear down the fibers fairly quickly. Once thats done I take out the filter, rinse clean with hot water and dry it off with a lint free towel.

I have never put it in the dishwasher, nor do I allow my spouse to take care of it... Anyways...

I soak the filter in a half-glass of water in the fridge between uses, when it starts to darken I'll soak it in some Cafiza along with the vacpot for a couple of hours. Some people use Oxy clean, I happen to have a Livia 90S and lots of espresso machine cleaner, and it works well for me.

BTW, I normally get 4 to 6 months out of each filter.

Glass CORY rods work freakin' great!
Control the bounce... that is if you hear a glass ding ding sound...you are bouncing...and you will get sludge in your cup and probably a stall with it. Control the heat...

I wait until all the water is in the upper globe, and a moderate heat setting on the stove, wait until it stabilizes and is just barely bubbling before adding in your coffee.

Once you add in the coffee...your extraction time from the moment that you add in the grounds, until the final bubbles after the vacuum has happened should be no more or less than 4 minutes....

Otherwise, you need to control your grinder settings... about 1/2 way between drip / espresso is a good starting point...too fine, and the southern pull will take too long. You gotta work with what you have got, or get a better grinder... A typical southern pull should take about 1 to 1.5 minutes. You reverse the time it takes the pull to occur, ( say 1.5 minutes), and that tells you how long to leave the grounds in in this case 2.5 minutes)

BTW if anyone lacks patience...I'll offer to buy their vacpots from them for a discounted rate... of course 

[BoldJava]

I soak the filter in a half-glass of water in the fridge between uses, when it starts to darken I'll soak it in some Cafiza along with the vacpot for a couple of hours.

When JohnF mentioned it this morning, I thought he was making an oblique reference to another thread about some fine insects...thought he was busting chops.  Whoops, JohnF be in the know.

Glass CORY rods work freakin' great!

There are 5.75" (Cory Rod) and 6.5" (New Cory Rod) ones.  Will both work in a 5 cupper?

B|Java

[garybt3]

My Cory rods are 5.75"'s...
I pulled one out of it's original box.

I have spares..just in case

[headchange4u]

Mine is the 5.5".

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

I scored a Corey glass only vac pot in the dark basement corner of an antique store half way to Rockford, it seals on ground glass between the top and bottom...  had to get a filter rod on ebay but so far its working out pretty good.  I suspect the glass rod gives the cleanest taste with out loosing the oils in the filter....  I wonder if a filter made from the same stuff rasqual uses on his AP would allow the oil with out the glass??