Yes, another siphon brewer review.
Why, because it's damn good, brews a fine cup of coffee and is “oh-so-simple!” I must point out that I won this brewer at the MICE 2018, however Bodum did not ask me to review it, nor would I review it with any favour because I got it for free. Having said that, if I were on the market for a siphon brewer - or any filter brewer for that matter - and I wanted a device that could brew 1 to 4 cups in one unit, the $200 price tag of the Bodum would seem like good value to me. And it is!
My love affair with vac pots
My love affair with vac pots - or siphons, as they're also called started many years ago. The glass chambers, a basic heat source, and the combination of immersion and filter brewing fascinated me and looked like they were fun. When I received my first siphon, which was a Hario, I didn't know anything about brewing with them. But what was soon evident is that - (A) its difficult to get a siphon to the correct brewing temp, and, (B) the brew water is often above or below our desired window of 91-93 degrees celsius. Actually, you can watch me brew with the Hario siphon here. This is the one of the things the Bodum ePebo gets right. The wizards at Bodum have put a thermocouple in the base of the brewing device that is able to maintain this temp window, and the most genius of genius-ideas I've heard recently, is that this brewer notifies the user to the optimal temp with a delicate beep ... now that's a barista-friendly-brewer! It's no secret that I own the old Santos siphon by Bodum - two of them actually - and I have fond memories of the cups that it produced. The ePebo uses the same basic design with the identical filter, so I was pretty sure that this siphon would be a winner.
Watch me unbox and brew with it
I recently filmed a What Would Dom Do episode when I first unboxed and brewed with my prize. In the video I walk through, step-by-step, how to use it, and for your convenience after the video I've included a few brewing notes from the show.
Show notes: brewing on the ePebo
- Fill with filtered water to the 1 litre line, which is accurate cause I checked!
- Dose 60g of your favorites coffee, ground as fine as for espresso.
- Wait till the buzzer sounds.
- Dump the coffee on the hot water, in the top chamber.
- Allow to brew for 1 minute total, including agitation time.
- Stir until all the coffee is saturated, really concentrate on this.
- Turn off heat, and wait for vacuum to occur.
- When coffee has returned to bottom chamber, remove the top chamber carefully.
- Use the lid of the brewer to hold the brewing stem in (a thoughtful design feature of this brewer).
Enjoy your coffee Dom PS. And by the way, if you'd like to get our fresh roasted coffee delivered to your door, you can join here.
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