What Is Vacuum Coffee?

In the last two decades, coffee has taken over the land! It seems on every corner or every city across the United States, there's a coffee stand selling every variety of caffeinated drink you could imagine! Not only has buying coffee drinks become popular, but so has in-home coffee preparation. Consumers have begun to demand better quality coffee from their supermarkets and they have also invested in better and better coffee makers. Espresso and cappuccino makers, French Press makers, and even Turkish coffee have become popular. But, there is another coffee maker that has not received the attention that it deserves: the vacuum coffee maker.

The term vacuum coffee appertains to a specific, increasingly popular coffee brewing process that utilizes a two-chamber system for brewing - a upper one and a lower one that seal together and are connected by a siphon. The lower chamber holds the water as it is heated to the boil, once the water starts to boil, you connect the upper chamber to the lower one and seal them together. The boiling of the water creates a vacuum which draws the water up through the connecting siphon and into the upper chamber, where the coffee grounds are. The result is a delicious and perfectly clean cup of coffee. While French Press coffee, another popular coffee-brewing process, makes a bolder cup of coffee than the vac pot, a common complaint is that there's frequently a layer of sediment that collects at the base of the cup.

As explained above, one of the benefits of vacuum coffee is that it is extremely clean ( no grounds or sediment in it ) and crisp. Frequently this sediment washes out of the cup with the last sip, making for a particularly upsetting end to an otherwise enjoyable cup o' joe!

With vacuum coffee, there is none of that. What's left in the bottom chamber, at the end of the brewing process, is extremely clear, terribly sediment-free coffee. The vac pot is held over an open flame, and the science of a vacuum is employed to push the water upwards, creating an effect that appears to be nothing short of anti-gravity wizardry. These all serve to seriously change the everyday task of "makin' joe" into an entertaining event.

Picture this: the bottom chamber is suspended from a stand, making it look like a beaker from mad scientist's lab. It would add an excellent touch to your after-dinner refreshments, the next time you hosted some friends.