No, I’m not talking about my better-than-your-crappy-Dyson Oreck XL21 Titanium vacuum. I’m talking about the latest reception gift we got in today. It’s the Bodum Santos Stovetop Glass Vacuum 34-Ounce Coffee Maker. It’s kinda big and pretty awkward, but it is the coolest way to make coffee. Even better than watching a spazoid coworker do an AeroPress.

The process is fairly simple. Take the top bowl off the bottom pot. I filled the bottom pot about halfway with water. I used 2.5 AP scoops of Guatemalan decaf (since it’s evening!) at a coarse grind (like a French Press). Put the grounds in the top and cap it. Then put the top bowl back on and put it all on the stove. Turn the stove on high and let it boil until there’s about 1/4 of the original water left. Turn off the stove eye and remove it from the heat. It’s hot, so don’t put it on anything heat-sensitive! Take the cap off the top bowl (to help it cool) and let everything cool for a bit until you can handle it safely; the heat of the glass or the steam can burn! It comes with a stand for the top bowl and tube, so you can just set it there. Then pour the coffee!

It’s not the best coffee I’ve ever had, but it’s pretty darn good. I don’t know if it was because the bean is 2 months old or what, but when I have the time to let water boil, I’ll definitely be using this as my preferred method.

The best part about it is the show. It’s cool to see the grounds in the top bowl start to get soggy from out of nowhere! After a while, the water in the top bowl will start to boil too. And when you remove it from the heat and the coffee in the top bowl starts its way back down, the water in the bottom pot starts to boil again! I wonder if the coffee increases the boiling point of the water so that when the coffee water meets the water in the bottom, it causes it to boil again.

Here’s some pictures as things progressed. No, the eye is not purple, but the iPhone 3G camera would have you believe so!