20040801

rFaFi: the *electric* santos

for this first edition of reader's funky appliance fiesta, i wanted to really go all out and showcase some of my seriously funky funky but um, it's my first sunday after realising caffeine makes me crazy, so i've really cut back and now i can't think.

what were we talking about?

oh yeah, rFaFi. cute name. i hope it continues. anyway, due to the caffeine crisis and a seriously narcissistic streak that i have GOT to control, i could only think of my coffee maker, which is the bodum electric santos.


i'm a little coffeepot, short and stout....

based on a traditional vacuum brewer (also called santos), you put the water on the bottom, the grinds on the top, when the water heats up, a vacuum is created, it gets sucked up, and as the heat is removed, so is the vacuum, and the coffee drips through the filter back down. you then remove the top part (there is an ever so inconvenient holder on the hot plate base), and serve the coffee from the pot below.

anyway, it makes a lovely, full-bodied cuppa. i'm told the 'vac-pot' method, as is it known, is the best way to brew expensive beans like kona or blue mountain. i use chef sakai blend kona coffee mostly, but sometimes i use whatever's on sale and i get magnificent results either way.

besides the fact that it makes nice, i like that it is a modern updating on rather obsolete technology, mostly plastic, mostly inconvenient, quirky, a little difficult to master, and a lot like a science experiment gone awry. like me. whee.

8 comments:

Ouch it's the appliance that requires what you were going make with it to make the thing you wanted to make with it. It's a sardine can with the key on the inside.

>>insert dark scribble here<< i spin, too

I like it, it has no straight lines anywhere. umami

Iron Chef coffee - who knew?

I've seen some other really neat Bodum coffee making gadgets, but not this one. I've been tempted but have not yet succumbed. My coffee making equipment is limited to a Melita cone.

hi cathy

since i'm limiting my caffeine intake, i've actually stopped using this (i will drink a whole pot if it's there) and now just use a vietnamese coffee filter (fits directly over a cup), and my funky bodum electric water kettle....

I'll have to give that appliance an A+ for presentation...it looks really cool! But, I'm not a coffee connoisseur, so I'll take your word as to how it tastes.

Alice

Even six heaping tablespoons of expresso grounds per 750ml water yields a very enemic cup of coffee.

The thrill of watching the brew suddenly fill the lower pot - well, ok, kind of cool, but prefer "Prison Break" and "24" much more.

Back to the percolator ...

hi rob! really? i seem to recall i got a decent strong brew. i've cut my coffee consumption and just have a single, tiny french pressed cup now, so i could've just been completely caffeine addled.