The Boneco Filter Coffee Maker

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

I found a box today while cleaning my computer fan's fins (a Zalman). It must have fell behind the case and was forgotten about judging from the dust build up. Someone bought this $9.99 retail item for half off, then forgot to use it, ditched it at Goodwill, and for two bucks it came home with me. Then I forgot to use it too - till now.



Inside the box is the 4 cup (1000mL) Boneco Filter coffee maker. Says this is licensed Switzerland and dates back to 1989 according to the marketing tags on the package. I have a smaller single cup version too, but the design is different.



Looks nice enough to me - it seems the manufacturer had global ambitions for this brewer judging from the many languages found in the instruction manual.



They could have just shown these pictures on a single card and called it a day but instead you get this recipe for perfection:



This filter is a lifelong stainless steel filter - wonder who is handling warranty and repairs for them?



So now to brew - 500 mL water brought to 205 F in the Bonavita PID Kettle along with 30g medium roast coffee ground on setting 26 in my Baratza Virtuoso Preciso conical burr grinder. The Brass Pe De Dienes mill is just eye candy. :D



The technique is simple - just fill it with water as fast as possible, give it a decent stir, and place the lid on the brew chamber. Brewing and draw down took around 3 minutes with some interesting results.



Bottom of the last cup - that is all of the leftover fines I get from my 30g of beans - I had to let the glass sit a couple minutes before there was enough accumulation to show up in a photo. Under normal circumstances this little bit remain in suspension and be consumed before it has time to settle out.



The filter sits on those plastic fins on the bottom of the clear brew chamber similar to the way a flat paper filter sits in the Kalita (Seattle Coffee Gear is carrying the Kalita now and has an introductory 15% off sale going on too!) resting above the filter holder bottom on little rails too.

Not sure what happened to Metro Marketing after 1989, but they sure hit one out of the park that year. I am stunned by how clean it brews as well as how easy these results are to achieve - might be the cleanest metal filter brew I have made to date.
LMWDP #378
Author of "The Bell Curve: Instructions for Proper Herd Mentality"

samuellaw178
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#2: Post by samuellaw178 »

Nice toy there Eric! Very clean indeed for a metal filter.

At this time of this hour over the States, shouldn't you be somewhere else?Had too much coffee from the Boneco I suppose? :P

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

I am a night owl fueled by caffeine!

It has been a while - I hope things are well with you. :D
LMWDP #378
Author of "The Bell Curve: Instructions for Proper Herd Mentality"

samuellaw178
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#4: Post by samuellaw178 »

Thanks! All is well here, except the lack of proper espresso machine! Currently a OE Lido :lol: is on its way from Idaho(current tracking status says it's in WA) and most likely, a Caravel will make its way here in a few weeks if everything goes smoothly. Heh. Now I just need to crack my head for which steamer to get down the road. Getting coffee toys was so much easier & cheaper (& choices were so much more) in the US, I miss those time, arghh.

To stay on topic :P , how easy/difficult was the cleaning process of the Boneco? It looks like it is easier to clean with the removable bottom. Cleaning was the only gripe I have against French press, unless I wash everything down the drain.

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

A Caravel! Nice! I wonder if a simple Krups steam espresso maker would work for small amounts of milk?

Cleaning the Boneco is easy thanks to the removable screen - less work than the press pot - similar to the clean up with an Aeropress and a permanent filter.
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Author of "The Bell Curve: Instructions for Proper Herd Mentality"

jbviau
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#6: Post by jbviau »

samuellaw178 wrote:Currently a OE Lido :lol: is on its way from Idaho (current tracking status says it's in WA) and most likely, a Caravel will make its way here in a few weeks if everything goes smoothly...
Glad to hear that all is well, Sam, and that you've begun your gear collection again in earnest! ;)
"It's not anecdotal evidence, it's artisanal data." -Matt Yglesias

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

I made a pot using 60g ground Ethiopian coffee roasted last week (#18 on the Preciso so much more fine than the first pot) and a liter of 203 F water from my Bonavita PID Kettle using this device. Once again this thing surprised me with the results:



What you see in the cup is the last sip from the last of the entire pot - I turned the carafe up hoping to capture all the fines - no careful pour at all. The filter on this thing is special.
LMWDP #378
Author of "The Bell Curve: Instructions for Proper Herd Mentality"

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Bob_McBob
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#8: Post by Bob_McBob »

This thing apparently got a mention in the LA Times in 1989:

http://articles.latimes.com/1989-08-17/ ... ee-filters
Chris

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

Thanks for the link and Wow!



2 million holes in the 18/8 steel filter - no wonder it leaves almost zero residue. I wonder how durable this filter will turn out to be in the long run. The filter material must be woven from a very thin gauge of wire strands.
LMWDP #378
Author of "The Bell Curve: Instructions for Proper Herd Mentality"