A recent conversation in the kitchen of chez Cadmus…
“It’s cool!”
“It’s a mess.”
“It’s caffeinated performance art!”
“You’re cleaning it.”
“It’s good coffee, though…”
“Well… yes. But it’s a mess.”
We are of two minds — my wife and I — over the relative merits of the Bodum Santos electric vacuum coffee pot. I see an evocative design that’s equal parts mad-scientist chemistry set and Frank Gehry angular assemblage. Herself sees… a mess.
Granted, the eSantos doesn’t have the drop-dead convenience of one of those push-button pod machines. And it’s not the grinding, measuring and filling thing… we’re more than used to that. It’s the post-brew mess that herself frowns at.
Like a great many vacuum pots, the eSantos has a permanent filter. [Okay... semi permanent. Bodum recommends replacing it every so often.] This filter is a very fine mesh screen; it allows dissolved coffee solids and oils through, making for an exceptionally flavorful cup with lots of body, and it does so without choking on coffee finings, a problem that I nearly always experienced with my Vintage Cory glass vacuum pot and its permanent glass filter rod.
The net effect is — of course — a mess. No denying it. There’s no paper filter to toss in the trash bin [or compost heap, if you're of the composty ilk]. Instead, after the brewer has cooled it’s necessary to rinse the coffee grounds out of the brew globe, and then to wash it. Yes, wash it. By hand, no less. Matter of fact, if you’ve brewed especially fresh coffee that wasn’t roasted to death [and you are, aren't you?] you’ll find a lovely, oily frothy mess left behind.
Want convenience? Get one of those push-button things. But if you want really great coffee it’s hard to beat a vacuum pot. Bodum’s update on the classic vac is about as good as it gets.
August 2, 2004 at 3:56 pm
Rinsing and washing is hard and messy?
I do that with every pot I make, be it pressed, Turkish, or stovetop espresso.
That said, as soon as I see one of these for sale, I might have to buy it.
August 2, 2004 at 4:02 pm
i think we should consider swapping spouses, dougie. not to be kinky, but i hear ya on this one. i’m there almost every day.
mr. right: “coffee grounds are possibly the grossest things ever.” me: “funny you never say that when drinking your sunday white chocolate latte. . .”
may i recommend the fabulous baby bottle brush? so helpful in this situation. . .and only about US$1.25.
August 2, 2004 at 9:27 pm
Not hard to clean at all ['cept maybe for the funnel part, but Fortune's got the solution to that... ye ol' bottle brush.] Just messy. As compared to, say, tipping the paper filter out of the Bunn’s brew basket into the trash bin.
I believe herself’s greatest concern — and it’s not without a foundation — is that regardless of who made the pot of coffee, it is she that would end up cleaning it.
;)
September 30, 2004 at 11:14 pm
We’ve had one of those pots for almost 2 years. The coffee brewed in that pot is so superior to other coffee that we bought a 5-cup pot to take with us when we travel or go over to Mom’s for dinner.
But we also take a grinder and our whole bean coffee with us, too.
Santos rocks!
October 21, 2004 at 4:20 pm
We’ve also had one for about two years. It just broke and I’m looking for another one. Just two days of the old drip machine has me searching out deals for a new one.
As for cleaning (and I did think of this before committing to another one), try using a spoonula–or whatever those rounded spatulas are called. It’s quick to swipe around the bowl, dump it into the trash, then rinse out the bowl.
It’s worth it for the coffee.
January 24, 2005 at 10:36 am
Having bought just about every coffee maker on the market, this is the one we use every day. The best cup of coffee ever from an automated machine. The cleaning issue – it’s part of the ritual. Ritual is, after all, a part of the enjoyment! A big thumbs up and reccomend a try for sure.
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