Bodum Santos Electric - Last Look?

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
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EricBNC
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#1: Post by EricBNC »

I found one of these on eBay for $50 and decided to find out what vacuum brewing is all about. Too bad these are out of production but I have wanted to play with one for a while now. Anyone have any tips for me?

:)

LMWDP #378
Author of "The Bell Curve: Instructions for Proper Herd Mentality"

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Marshall
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#2: Post by Marshall »

Yes. I have two of them (big and small size).

The best tip (originated with Mark Prince) is to put something under the deep side of the base to extend the "up" time of the brew. The heater shuts off when the heat rises to a certain point over a sensor in the base. Keeping some water over the sensor delays the shutoff.

You'll love it. It's a great machine.
Marshall
Los Angeles

keepitsimple
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#3: Post by keepitsimple »

These devices do seem to divide opinion radically.

Some folk think they are great, others (like me) think they are a load of.........

Mine brewed so violently (but only for about 40 seconds) that it was truly unsafe to use. Water coming over the top of the globe and spewing out from the vents in the lid.

Possibly the fact that it is the 230v version, and the voltage in my house is up towards the top of the allowable min/max range made it overheat quickly. Appliances designed for a nominal 230v are supposed to be capable of dealing with that though.

Threw it out. Wouldn't even give it away to anyone because of safety concerns.

Tip ? get a traditional glass vacuum brewer instead. Ironically, the Bodum ones are very good and not too expensive.

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Marshall
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#4: Post by Marshall »

I only had that problem on a few occasions when the larger model was near full capacity, and even then very little splashed out. Never happened at all on the smaller one. People pay a lot of money for high turbulence in a Bunn Trifecta (and the pending Steampunk), so it's worth at least trying.
Marshall
Los Angeles

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EricBNC (original poster)
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#5: Post by EricBNC (original poster) »

I tried a small (750ml) pot using 45g of the Panama Geisha beans I roasted from a recent distribution by Mike at Compass Coffee. The show is neat! Lots of agitation up top - I understand better the turbulence analogy in Marshall's post now. After a while the coffee gets sucked down into the lower end and the brewing is complete. There is some sediment in the bottom of the pot since the filter is a permanent mesh type (not metal though - might be nylon).

The coffee tastes nice - bright yet sweet and even sweeter as the cup cools. :D
LMWDP #378
Author of "The Bell Curve: Instructions for Proper Herd Mentality"

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yakster
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#6: Post by yakster »

While many vac pot users try to minimize the turbulence involved during the coffee extraction, I tend to take a middle ground, but too much turbulence may not necessarily be a good thing. The more turbulence involved, the shorter you want your contact time to be to prevent over-extraction.

I use a Yama 8 stovetop vac pot with a glass filter rod.
-Chris

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BravoRomeo
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#7: Post by BravoRomeo »

Ah, that brings back memories. Sadly, I just threw mine out. It served some ten years or so, originally branded as Starbucks Utopia. I was going to sell mine on eBay, but thought I should clean it out, first. Well, the brewer had the last laugh (more on that later).

The brew duration is set by an over-temp switch on the hotplate. As soon as most of the water boils off the hot plate, the over-temp limit switch shuts the main heater off and the vacuum portion of the cycle starts. As noted, you can prolong the brew time somewhat by placing a nickel under the deep end of the brewer base. A small warmer stays energized to keep the carafe warm for 90 minutes or so. As you can remove the unit from the power base for serving, the power base checks about every 10 minutes to see if the brewer is no longer in place. If so, it will automatically shut down the power base. Probably a safety feature.

Three lessons I learned about this unit over the years:

1. The nylon filter material is delicate. If you are tempted to stir or use a thermometer during the brew cycle (and be very careful if you try that, due to the potential scalding hazard), keep any such implements away from the filter. If you poke a hole in it, you will need a new filter, and they are no longer in production as far as I know.

2. Do not use Joe Glo to clean the coffee residues out. I learned the hard way this eats through whatever glue is used between the base and the lower carafe. Thus, I had to toss the unit... but it did look sparkly clean, despite leaking all over the counter.

3. Guests will be confounded by the machine. This is not something for the uninitiated and can lead to a coffee disaster as a groggy houseguest tries to separate the brew chamber from the carafe before consuming the caffeinated beverage contained within.

It is a fun machine to watch, though a bit noisy as the water comes to a boil, not unlike a jet engine spooling up soon followed by robust rumbling and gurgling. Who doesn't like a physics lesson followed by a cup of Joe. I found it sometimes made a remarkable brew very similar to a giant French press. More often-than-not, though, it made a disappointing brew. The duration of the brew cycle seemed completely random with the turbulent mixing lasting anywhere from 15 seconds to several minutes. The initial water entering the grounds was tepid at best. I don't think it regularly reached the magic 200 degrees before shutting the whole show off. Maybe mine had a sticky limit switch.

I only kept the machine around for entertaining. Otherwise, I make espressos and Aeropress coffee. Also, one more note of caution - there were no marking on mine for the type of plastic... I would hazard a guess it was polycarbonate due to the low heat conduction and crystal clear look. BPA is a common plasticizer in PC, and the entire unit is plastic, at that.