Brewing the perfect cup of coffee is just as much about your final cup as it is about the experience of making it.
Everything from grinding the coffee, setting up my brewer of choice, and experiencing the awakening aromas of the coffee, to enjoying my cup of freshly brewed coffee is important to me.
That’s where the Yama 8-cup stovetop coffee maker comes in, giving you a great cup of coffee if you’re willing to tinker a bit. This full-immersion brewing system will give you a great cup of coffee with unmatched clarity.
Things to Consider before buying a Yama stovetop siphon brewer
While siphon coffee brewers are one of my favorite ways to brew coffee, given their “wow factor” and the great cup of coffee you can get, there are a few things to keep in mind if you’re buying your first one.
Stovetop
Since this is a stovetop coffee maker, your type of stovetop is important. While it won’t affect most people, this may not be the brewer for you if you find yourself with an older stove as I do, with thick and heavy cast-iron grates over the burners.
Unlike other brewing methods that use pre-heated water, a siphon brewer requires constant heat and some temperature control. Those cast iron grates are great for cooking since they retain so much heat, but they can make it difficult to keep the water from agitating your coffee a little too much and over-extract your coffee.
If you are careful and watch your Yama Siphon brewer, you can get a great cup of coffee. If you want a simpler brewer, you can use a different siphon coffee maker.
You can check out our rundown of the Best Siphon Coffee Makers for one that comes with an alcohol or butane burner.
Time and care
I love my Yama Siphon brewer, but sometimes you just need coffee to get yourself going.
The time and care that goes into making a good cup from a siphon brewer make this more of a day-off treat or special occasion brew. But you can get a great cup of coffee if you put in the work.
Let’s Meet the Yama 8-cup Siphon brewer
The siphon brewer is one of the oldest ways we still make coffee. The 1830s invention has remained relatively unchanged with a bottom and top chamber.
The bottom chamber is usually where the water is heated. Once the water begins to boil, a vacuum pulls the water to the top chamber where the ground coffee is added.
The Yama 8-Cup siphon brewer keeps that legacy alive, giving you enough coffee to share with a friend or a second cup for yourself.
Features and Benefits
The “Vacuum”
The siphon brewer is a two-part system, the water chamber and the coffee chamber. Because these chambers are separate and a vacuum is used to get the hot water from the bottom chamber to the upper glass brewing chamber, your final cup tends to be completely sediment-free.
Add in the included cloth filter to filter out most of the oils that you might get in something like a French Press, and you have yourself a quality coffee brewer that allows the coffee’s notes to sing.
While you can use whatever type of coffee you’d like, I personally tend to lean towards lighter roasts with more delicate tasting notes.
Hand-blown Borosilicate glass
Now I know what you’re saying to yourself, “what the heck is borosilicate glass, and why should I care?”
You want to ensure that the glass in direct contact with a heat source is safe. Borosilicate glass is the same kind of heat-resistant glass used in high-end restaurants and laboratories when they need something that won’t crack under extreme temperatures or when exposed to direct heat.
This was big for me, not only for safety but also for my brewing experience. Because I have an old stove, the temperatures can get out of hand quickly, but I’ve never had any issues with cracks or breaking.
It is also important to note that the glass is non-porous. I’ve had mine for about six months and haven’t had any issues with the taste of old coffee or anything chemically.
Cloth Filter
If you’ve never worked with a cloth filter, you may be surprised by the care they require.
They must be kept in water in an air-tight container in the refrigerator to protect them from getting moldy. They also need to be boiled to help cut down on staining; if they really need it, they can be cleaned and soaked in a coffee detergent.
Now, I know that sounds like a lot, and yeah, it kinda is, but if you take care of this little guy, you’ll have a great cup of coffee that isn’t oily, cuts down on the body, and preserves the tasting notes every time.
Simple Design
This brewer’s simple design and look are right at home on your counter when not in use. And that same simple design means there aren’t many moving parts, which isn’t bad. There isn’t much that can go wrong with the actual brewer. And if something does go wrong, Yama offers all the replacement parts you could ever need.
If you’ve ever used any Yama product, you know that they are built to last. This 8-cup coffee maker is no different, with heat-resistant borosilicate glass chambers giving the reassurance of professional hand-blown glass in the comfort of your home.
While the cloth filters take a little more care and attention, you won’t have to worry about replacing them for a while as long as you take care of them. You’ll get everything you need to start brewing right out of the box, and it’s just the right size for sharing coffee with a friend or pouring an added jolt for yourself.
The Yama 8-cup stovetop siphon brewer brings modern materials and processes to an old-timey invention to give you a great cup of coffee. If you like to experiment and tinker, this is the brewer for you. If you want a cup whose clarity can’t be matched, this is the brewer for you.
But if you want something fast, this might not be for you as the brewing process takes four minutes, and you need to be there watching it.
If you’re a coffee enthusiast like me and don’t have the time every day to make coffee with a siphon brewer and would rather save it for the weekend or when you have the time, why not take a look at the Aeropress?
An Aeropress may not have the same level of clarity as a siphon brewer, but you’ll get a consistent and much quicker cup of coffee. You can find our how to brew guide here.
Happy Caffeinating!
