Design: Object of Lust 5: Bodum Santos Vacuum Coffee Maker

I bought a decaffeinated coffee table. You can't even see a difference.  - Unknown

©Julius Schorzman (Wiki creative common license)

A friend of mine said she doesn't know why people drink decaffeinated coffee. I can't drink caffeinated past noon or I'm up all night. My tolerance for caffeine is very low, although I believe she's right.

One brew I can't resist is coffee made in our Bodum Santos. Sometimes called Bodum Pebo, it's a vacuum style coffee maker.  It was designed by a Dane, Peter Bodum, in the mid 1950s. At the time he felt that vacuum brewing was the preferable way to brew, but the coffee makers available at the time did expensive, yet unsatisfactory, results.

To quote the greenbeanery web site below: "With this in mind he set out to develop the first Bodum vacuum coffee maker in cooperation with one of Denmark's first product designers, the architect Kaas Klaeson. Their slogan, 'design should not be expensive,' is one that Bodum still stands for."

Essentially it looks, and works, like a chemistry experiment. Water goes in the lower bowl, and coffee in the top. There's a "filter" that holds the coffee in the top bowl. When the water heats, the pressure forces it to the top bowl and it simmers in the coffee grounds for five minutes. After it's taken from the heat, vacuum pressure sucks the brewed coffee down into the lower bowl.

I have had one in my possession for the last 15 years. Only a couple accidents, and wear, led to replacement.

You can purchase them locally at Cucina Moderna at City Centre Atlantic, and occasionally at Liquid in Park Lane. Parts, unfortunately, are further afield. You can purchase both online at the Greenbeanery in Vancouver. Click their name for the link.

Cost: $99.95, but maybe a little cheaper closer. Try it. You won't be disappointed.

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