YAMA Glass 3 Cup Tabletop Siphon Gravity Coffee Maker with Alcohol Burner

So right from the start let me just say 2 things. 1. Buy it, and don't buy a cheap one buy a nice Yama like this one or better. 2. Buy the butane tabletop burner. Amazon sells a really really nice one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002YP3AY2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It is totally worth it and honestly this is the bare minimum you need to really get full use out of this coffee maker. Doesn't go through butane nearly as fast as you think. That's coming from me who uses the burner to heat the water exclusively too, I don't preheat in a kettle first. So aside from those two things, you should buy this item if you are interested in the craft of coffee making. This thing is not going to be your go to 6am cup for A LOT of people. Its simply too involved and requires too much finesse too early in the morning. On the weekends though, you are going to love this thing. It does take a few tries to figure out how you like your brew. Don't listen to everyone about oh it should only take 25 seconds or 45 seconds etc etc. Yes use other people as a start point, but find your own flavor. I have toyed with my brews in this thing over and over and I like a really bold brew compared to most. I heat and hand grind coffee, cover and pour in the grinds and I actually stir 3 times in the whole process and let the beans extract for a full minute and a half to two minutes because I want that overpowering flavor. That's the nice thing about this item, you can brew it however you want changing whatever you want and its easy you just adjust your routine. I like it because I like doing things by hand and getting a real feel for what you are doing. My old lady hates this thing for the very same reason, she just wants to wake up and hit a button and be done. She is the first one to admit though, her favorite cup of coffee all week comes on Saturday when I fire this thing up because it really does make superb coffee once you get the hang of it. Read more

This is not a pot I would recommend to just anybody, but if you are a coffee lover or even a coffee liker who enjoys a bit of ritual I would ask you to take a good look at this pot. If you are the type of person that sets up their drip pot at night with a timer, may not be for you. Of course we seldom get to use this pot in the morning, it does take time. The coffee that this pot makes is excellent and it gets better with use. Small adjustments in the flame can tailor this coffee to your tastes. This is not an everyday pot for us. When we have the time to slow down for a bit this coffee makes us appreciate the time. The water sits over the flame in the bottom of the pot until it is heated enough to siphon up through coffee grounds in the top. Then you remove the flame and the coffee drains back down to bottom pot. There are lots of places where you can find good advice on how to use this pot, but seldom do people talk about the joy of taking some time out of your day to very purposely make a wonderful cup of coffee. We set a piece of marble down on our coffee table and make it in the living room where we are more comfortable. Though I do think it would be fine right on the table. We have been known to save a good conversation until we have time to sit and make a pot. It is delightful to watch, it makes excellent coffee and it makes us very aware of the time we are taking to slow down our lives for a short while. We always think of coffee as fitting into a busy day and it does, but the caffeine doesn't kick in until you have had the coffee anyway, so enjoy the coffee now while you can taste it! If this sort of ritual is already in your life, if you think you can benefit from this sort of time, or if you just want a great cup of coffee to help slow down your day a bit, then this pot is definitely for you. Read more

I've recently gone to Hawaii and purchased Kona coffee. With the coffee being so expensive, I figured I better find out how to make the best possible way to make a cup of coffee. After some research, many have said that Siphon/Vacuum was the best way. With my travels to Japan, I recall having coffee in this manner and remembered how good it was. After purchasing the Yama TCA-5D Siphon/ Vacuum coffee maker, it took a few trial and error cups before I mastered it. It sure was worth it though! Starbucks has nothing on the richness in flavor of the coffee that it brews. I would recommend this unit for people that have a few minutes to spare in their morning ritual. On a side note, I would also recommend getting a different burner. There are some butane burners that are available here that will do the job better than the one it came with and burns much cleaner. Read more