Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you read the reviews regarding this pot, you quickly realize that the positive reviews are from people with expectations that differ markedly from those who write the negative reviews. To decide if you want this pot, you have to decide what you want from a coffee pot. This review will (hopefully) help with that. HERE’S THE SHORT ANSWER – If you want the kind of EXCELLENT coffee that only a vacuum pot can provide (and don’t mind the little bit of extra clean-up that comes with that), this pot is a steal! If you want to do little more than put pre-ground supermarket coffee and water into a machine, push a switch the night before, and eventually stumble into the kitchen for something hot and brown that will wake you up; you won’t be happy with this pot. HERE’S THE LONG ANSWER – A History Lesson: This coffee maker is a type of coffee maker known as a vacuum pot (AKA a syphon pot). Originally, vacuum pots were complicated mechanisms made with balance beams, fragile blown-glass receptacles, alcohol burners, and the like that could only make 8 ounces or less of coffee at a time. Introduced in the 1830’s, they made excellent coffee. However, they were needlessly complex and didn’t become popular until heat resistant borosilicate glass allowed stove-top “double boiler” units to appear in the early 1920’s. Vacuum pots lasted until the 1950’s but were eventually completely replaced by the percolator due to the percolator’s more robust and (much less expensive) construction. Percolators made bitter coffee due to the continuous “boil, boil and then re-boil” brewing method it used. But, the pots were cheap and the poor quality of the pre-ground “convenience” coffee available in new-fangled “SUPER-MARKETS” beginning to dot the landscape, hid many of the differences between good and bad brewing methods. Percolators lasted through the 1970’s. That’s when the drip coffee maker could be made as cheaply as percolators while doing away with the worst bitterness associated with percolators. Besides, they were new and EVERYONE wanted one in in the 1970’s! Unfortunately, drip coffee makers almost never get hot enough to properly extract the best flavor. That wasn’t an issue with the not-very-flavorful robusta-type coffees (“Maxwell House,” “Folgers,” “Yuban” etc) available in the1970’s. However, with the growing availability of arabica coffees that were actually worth tasting in the 1980’s, people rediscovered the vacuum pot. Old pots from the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s began trading on the new-fangled “internet” and people began rediscovering the excellent flavors extracted with vacuum pots. The problem with old pots is that there’s only so many available and the gaskets were all made of rubber. Scarcity makes for high(er) prices. Rubber hardens, cracks, begins to fail as a seal, smells bad when it gets old and can affect the taste of the coffee. I have personally used vintage vacuum pots (after replacing the gaskets and other repairs) and am a fan of what they produce. That’s why I was so excited to try-out this newest version from Kitchen-Aid. Construction: First, for a glass coffee pot it’s built like a tank. Well, the bottom half is built like a tank. The top glass chamber is a bit thin (although actually thicker than most vintage pots or current coffee carafes). It could easily break if you strike it against the sink while cleaning it. A nylon “gasket” placed around the rim of the top vessel would have been a cheap addition providing a little added insurance against accidental breakage. That said, it’s unlikely you’ll break it if you wash carefully. The connecting tube between the upper and lower chambers is metal and that’s a good thing. The filter positively locks in place (although a little later I’m going to suggest something better than the provided filter for just a few bucks) and the two chambers fit together with a magnetic seal. This last part works brilliantly. However, you still have to make sure the two chambers are correctly together before you start brewing. The heating element is sealed the body of the lower pot. That means you can’t immerse the lower pot in water while cleaning it. It really doesn’t matter since you just need to rinse the lower pot when done and periodically descale with vinegar if you have hard water. All in all the construction, fit, and finish of this pot is top rate and does Kitchen-Aid proud. Operation: Anyone reading this far into a review has probably already seen several YouTube videos bout how to operate the pot. But, for those of you that haven’t; 1) Fill the lower pot with as much water as you want coffee, up to 40 ounces. (Please be aware that when a coffee pot says it makes 8 cups, those are 5 ounce cups!) You can make less, but I recommend not using less than 20 ounces of water. If you do, it may not function well or brew properly. 2) Place the filter into the top chamber and twist to lock into place. 3) Hold on to the handle of the upper chamber and place the upper chamber on top of the lower chamber. The metal tube will go into the lower chamber. As you place the upper pot, make sure its handle is a few degrees to the right or left of the handle on the lower chamber. The two should fit together snugly and the magnetic lock should then rotate the upper chamber until the handles are aligned. (Sounds complicated, but you’ll understand when you do it.) 4) Double check to make sure the filter is tight in the upper chamber and the upper chamber is sealed to the lower chamber. 5) Put the appropriate amount of ground coffee (regular, drip-coffee-maker grind is fine) 6) Put the lid on the upper pot. 7) Flip the switch on the lower pot and wait… The Spectacle: OK, this is the best part and the reason the pot is made of glass. When you flip the switch, the water in the bottom pot will start to boil. When that happens, the steam creates pressure. Since there is now more pressure in the lower pot than in the upper pot, that pressure forces the water in the lower pot up the metal tube and into the upper pot. This wets the grounds. When almost all of the water has left the lower pot, the small gap between the metal tube and the bottom of the lower pot is exposed. This allows steam to “boil” into the upper chamber mixing and further heating the ground coffee and water. When all the water has evaporated, the lower pot automatically turns off. Things just sit there for a little while. Then … WHOOSH. All of the liquid in the upper chamber is sucked back down into the lower chamber as the cooling steam condenses and creates a vacuum. (Thus the name, vacuum pot.) The filter captures all the grounds and the coffee is now in the lower pot. Twist off the upper chamber, place it in the handy-dandy “upper-chamber-rest-receptacle” so thoughtfully provided by Kitchen-Aid, remove the cover from the upper chamber and place it on the lower chamber. (You have to twist the lid front to about the 10 o’clock position to put it on and then turn it to the 12 o’clock position to lock it into place for pouring.) Pour yourself a cup of some of the finest coffee God has gifted to man. As you can see, it's a little more complicated than your average drip coffee maker, but the coffee it makes is far superior (in my opinion) to any other method including pour-over, drip, percolator, French press, etc. (NOTE: I'm speaking of "coffee" here and not espresso. The Coffee vs Espresso vs. Espresso-based drinks is a different question, altogether.) You get great coffee and a show! Cleaning: Come on, you know how to clean a coffee pot! Just don’t dunk the lower pot in water (because of the electronics in the base) and don’t bang the upper pot against the edge of the sink when you clean. Descale with white vinegar when necessary to remove mineral build-up inside the lower pot. Substitute a Cory Rod!!!: If you don’t know what a Cory Rod is, look it up on the internet. It’s the best coffee filtration device ever devised by man or beast. Can you use one in this pot instead of the filter provided by Kitchen-Aid? YES! It works much better than the steel or cloth filter provided by Kitchen-Aid and provides the best tasting brew. However, there are a few caveats. 1. This isn’t a Kitchen-Aid approved substitution. Using a Cory Rod will probably void your warranty and may lead to a catastrophic failure of your upper chamber. (That means if you use it wrong, it could cause the upper chamber to shatter and send extremely hot water and grounds where it will cause the most damage to you and your kitchen.) Having said that, I use a Cory Rod exclusively and have had no indication it will cause any problems. But, if you use one and it breaks your pot causing injury and death to you or those you love, don’t blame me. 2. Using a Cory Rod with very cold water will sometimes cause a very sloooooooow return of the brewed coffee back into the lower chamber. No biggie. Either preheat the water first by running a cycle with no grounds in the top pot, or push the switch again if the liquid in the upper chamber seems stuck up there for an unusually long time. 3. The bubbling in the upper chamber is more violent with a Cory Rod than with the filter provided by Kitchen-Aid. This actually makes for a much better mix of the water and grounds (thus, better coffee). However, if you make much more than 1/2 a pot, some of the hot water will jump out of the upper chamber from the pour spout on it's lid. No big deal, just a) put a towel over the lid to stop the water from coming out, OR b) don't worry about the water coming out because it isn't that much anyway, OR c) don't make much more than 1/2 a pot with a Cory Rod. 4. The "WHOOSH" isn't nearly as violent as with the more open Kitchen-Aid filter. This pot isn’t perfect, but nothing of this earth is. If I could give it 9 stars out of 10 I would. However, since I’m limited to the 5 star system, I give it 5 for my needs. YMMV. HAPPY COFFEE EVERYONE!