Which vac pot for Christmas?!

[Lambo]

But brewed coffee's the only coffee! Kenyans!!!!!

Still haven't got to grips with espresso yet... But that's just probably cos I'm cr*p at them. SWTSMBO says they're OK - it saves her having to learn how to use the machine!

So when's the next competition Lukas?

[lukas]

Next week, I'm up on saturday, 9th feb, around 1pm... *shudder*.

[Lambo]

Good luck!

[lukas]

Thanks

[Navin]

As a fellow owner of the Hario Neldrip Bloom with some level of Japanese language knowledge, I will try to help out.

The basic operation of the device is pretty straight-forward (i.e., it is a pourover filter device, just with a cloth filter). The only instruction in the manual that I recall as being non-obvious was to store the cloth filter in the refrigerator in an air-tight container filled with clean water. This does seem to have some effect in terms of reducing the residual coffee smell on the filter between "heavy-duty" cleaning sessions.

As far as cleaning goes: after each session, I thoroughly rinse the filter in clean water and refill the storage container with fresh water before returning it to the fridge. Every two days or so, I boil the cloth filter in water; every week or two, I boil it in a cleaning solution of water with a tiny bit of Cafiza (and then rinse thoroughly). This schedule is adapted/synthesized from various Japanese websites and seems to work well enough.

I also found some videos online which give some possible techniques for the actual pour (this is a particularly interesting one, although the extraction timings shown in the video are much longer than what works for me). A search in Google (or Google video) for ネルドリップ ("Neldrip") or ドリップ　コーヒー　("drip coffee") gives other ideas; the product does seem to be fairly popular in Japan, as there is quite a bit of (Japanese language) information available about it on the web.

That is all I can think of right now; maybe someone with more experience has more to say.

Navin

[Lambo]

Thanks Navin - I'd never have thought if keeping the filter in water in a fridge!
I'm using the same sort of grind as I would use for a filter machine.

[Tinseljim]

I bought my Cona Kitchen model off of ebay for around £18 and am really happy with it. I found that a grind similar to FP works well and allows for a longer extraction time as you impress guests as you talk about it (if that's your thing!). The water stays at a similar temp. which can be controlled (depending on how long you wait before you add the top funnel). The larger grind also allows for a quicker suction time so that you get a more even extraction. I usually wait about 3min. 30sec. after adding coffee before i blow out the wick. the going south part takes around 30-40sec. so 4 min. in total though you can speed up the going south if you have a cold/icy cloth and wrap it over the glass (a la Mark Prince advice). i would only recommend this if you have a cona as I haven't tried it on other models!

I prefer my Cona now to my Yama (cloth filter) as the cloth filter is a bit of a fiddle to keep clean (but works using the above method) and retains some rancid oils still. the glass rod is really easy to clean.

The only complaint from the Cona is that the fumes from the wick are slightly annoying! though only for a while strangely...

James

[Neo]

James, if you get a gas burner which is used by campers that will help you to get a steady,controllable flame size and as well as free of the odour. Please be careful not to burn yourself after turning the burner off. A friend of mine had an accident using a burner .

[phil]

For me its like everything in life, you get what you pay for, the conas are expensive but you can tell with the final quality.

I have to say that I was quite struck by exactly that point only this morning.

I had some Gethumbwini available as the only bean I had enough of to make coffee for both Allyson and I this morning. I reached for one of my Conas and made a pot.

Now the point of this is that have a Santos which just stays in its box most of the time. We use it when travelling within the UK. I just stick it and the Macap in the back of the car when we're going anywhere (I got pissed off with the Zass for giving too uneven a grind and being too much like work). We'd been using the Gethumbwini whilst we were staying away at the IoW Jazz Festival last weekend, and I'd had a few brews in the Santos.

The difference between those brews and that from the Cona this morning was really quite marked. It may be that the 'bwini is more mature now, although it was roasted last Wednesday so I don't really think that's it.

Either way today it was full-on clear Kenyan, whilst over the weekend it wasn't so special.

I admit to being a little surprised, as previously I haven't noticed the differences quite so clearly.

I'll disappear for another few months now.

[zix]

What kind of camp burner will fit underneath the Cona?
I have a size C Cona, but the burner is crushed. Dropped it on a stone tile in front of the home entrance after a particularly successful coffee roasting course, and that was it for it.

[Neo]

zix, i am not particularly sure but you need to measure the distance between the table surface and the lower 'pot' then you need to check whether your burner will fit and leave about an inch so you wont burn the glass directly all the time.

[zix]

Hmmm... do such burners exist? Not a lot of room under the pot.
All the burners I have seen are either too tall, or need to sit in a stove (like the Primus/Trangia burner).

[Neo]

try 3" gas burners used for campings. i cant name the brand name but erm..it's an japanese brand.

[Beanie]

How about something like this with this?

Also, this is a really pretty vac pot

[Neo]

Maybe the burner can fit in without the stand. Actually you might not need an inch of space left. When the water goes up, it's better to leave some space between the flame and the glass because it's easier to attain the minimum flame size required to keep the water up there. An inch or not, I will try to measure if I happen to see others brewing.