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New Life to Siphon Brewer
allenb
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Posted on 11/03/2012 10:27 PM
The purpose of this post is to introduce an often overlooked but fabulous vintage siphon brewer that can be had on Ebay for much less than one would shell out for a good drip brewer and in addition to re-introduce a replacement siphon brewer gasket source that David (dja) brought to our attention a while back.

The brewer was made by a company in Chicago (Nicro Stainless) back in the days when most cafe's were using them as the brewer of choice before the auto drip machines took over. In side by side brewing/cupping tests with the Yama and Cona brewers I've found it to produce equally remarkable brews. While the stainless steel doesn't allow viewing the show it has an advantage of not shattering to pieces when it slips out of your hands into the sink.

You will more than likely want to replace the gasket as most of these go back to time of manufacture and give off a not so pleasant smell of burnt tires when up to brewing temps. I recently purchased a reproduction gasket made by a company called Dayseal who David (dja) recommended

http://www.daysea...index.html

Removed the old one and slipped on the new one, no more tire odors and perfect seal. Cost is around $25.00 for the gasket. It's made of silicone rubber so should last a lifetime.
allenb attached the following image:
1-nicrogasket10-3-2012_001.jpg
Edited by allenb on 11/04/2012 12:16 AM
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
allenb
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Posted on 11/03/2012 10:29 PM
Here's another photo showing the gasket on the upper unit next to the old original.
allenb attached the following image:
1-nicrogasket10-3-2012_004.jpg
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
Dan
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Posted on 11/04/2012 5:39 AM
My mom had one of these when I was growing up. She used it to make coffee on Sunday. She used the percolator the other days because it too less time. She swore that it made the best tasting coffee, but then she was probably brewing Maxwell House...
 
Web
ginny
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Posted on 11/04/2012 6:57 AM
my grandmother had one and it is around someplace -
very cool.

-g

cross fingers
 
JackH
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Posted on 11/04/2012 8:52 AM
Allen, I have been looking at the Vac brewers. Is this the same principle but uses stainless steel instead of glass?

--Jack
---Jack

KKTO Roaster.
 
snwcmpr
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Posted on 11/04/2012 9:26 AM
I found a similar Sunbeam one at Goodwill, but the element didn't work, so I donated it to my local roaster, he has it on display.
They are pretty!!

Ken in NC
--------------
Backwoods Roaster
"I wish I could taste as well as I wish I could roast."

As Abraham Lincoln said "Do not trust everything you read on the internet".
 
allenb
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Posted on 11/04/2012 9:48 AM

Quote

JackH wrote:

Allen, I have been looking at the Vac brewers. Is this the same principle but uses stainless steel instead of glass?

--Jack


Yes, same principle as the glass ones. This is a stovetop heated brewer. One nice feature of the Nicro is it's filter. It has a very simple two part filter that's composed of two stainless discs with opposing openings which causes the brew to have to squeeze through the micro gap. You get a very clean brew with almost no fines. I've never encountered a stall during draw-down with the Nicro which occurred now and then with my Cona.

One needs to be careful when buying one to ensure the filter is included. A lot of folks selling them have no idea how it works.

Allen
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
yamhill
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Posted on 11/04/2012 11:50 AM
Sometimes if the filters are missing the glass rod is a good option. The filter for my Yama unit never left the box. I use a Cona glass rod instead. The glass rods work for fine with my vintage Cory models too.
Quest M3 w/ Artisan via ESP32 emulating TC4. Previous roasters include: IMEX digirosto 1500, various popcorn popper roasters, and Behmor. Espresso: Quick Mill Vetrano; previous espresso PIDed Rancilio Silvia. Also Chemex, Hario, and Melitta drip; Cory and Yama vacuum/siphon; bodum French press; aeropress; Mazzer Major, Hario mini, and PeDe Dienes grinders.
 
allenb
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Posted on 11/04/2012 12:14 PM
Excellent point. I successfully used the cory rod with the Starbucks/bodum plastic siphon brewer but required me to use a variac to keep the rod from popping up far enough to prematurely draw down. Variac was too much trouble so I only use the bodum lower pot for heating water.

Allen
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
JETROASTER
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Posted on 11/06/2012 10:57 AM
Based on a photo, Mr Rockwell added a vac-pot to the painting.
Interesting that Amercans had such a great brewer, and some of the worst coffee....simultaneously.
-Scott
JETROASTER attached the following image:
vac_pot.jpg
 
seedlings
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Posted on 11/06/2012 11:20 AM
I have a vintage Cory with NO GASKET - built during WWII probably. Anywhoo- the glass-glass gasket fails often enough to be frustrating. Love that huge and glorious gasket.

CHAD
Roaster: CoffeeAir II 2# DIY air roaster
Grinder: Vintage Grindmaster 500
Brewers: Vintage Cory DCU DCL, Aeropress, Press, Osaka Titanium pourover
 
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