VacOne Coffee Air Brewer - Hot Coffee & Fast Cold Brew Maker - Single Serve Coffee Maker 2-in-1 Battery Powered

I'm having my first cup of coffee from the VACone and I'm appropriately impressed. The designer had realized that the CO2 released from the grinds as you brew your coffee made it bitter so he designed a vacuum filter that will remove it. The design build is solid with a nice glass carafe where the extracted coffee goes and some thoughtful details such as a nice, well made stirring stick and a small rubber trivet to place under the carafe. The vacuum does not turn itself off and you need the stirring stick to break up the seal that the coffee grounds make.The coffee is strong and full-flavored, closer to the taste of a French press but without the bitterness. I normally use paper filters in the drip method and have never liked the bitter taste of coffee made from the French press or most other methods but I get the tasting notes allowed by the direct extraction--again without the bitterness. The designer is frankly a genius and a reminder of the sophistication in Colombian coffee culture.There are several factors the coffee connoisseur will want to attend to as with any other method, namely the variety and grind of the coffee, plus the extraction times with different water temperatures. It does not brew espresso or Cuban-style coffee, by the way, but you can control the strength of the brew through the water:coffee ratio and extraction time.

I am one of the original backers of the Kickstarter campaign that helped to launch this device into production.I've had it since December 2019 and it's been my daily brewer ever since.First thing first, it is an excellent brewer that makes a very nice cup that's somewhat in between Aeropress and a pourover, yet it's distinct enough that you can't replicate it with another type of brewer. It's bold, yet sweet at the same time.It has a pretty big capacity, resulting in up to roughly 350mm of the final brew.It's really easy to operate, and easy to clean. You don't even need to take the filter out.Here is what I think could still be improved:It has no indicator on the battery charge level or any kind of low charge warning, so theoretically it could stop working in the middle of the brewing process. In reality, it happened to me only once or twice in close to 3 years of using it, so it's not a major issue.The bigger problem is that battery is not really replaceable. It's hard-wired to the motherboard and would require full disassembly and soldering skills to replace. Even if you decide you want to try to fix it yourself, the type of battery it's using is impossible to find on your own (at last I couldn't), so when the battery starts to go, it's pretty much done, because you can't run this brewer while connected to the power supply either. I think it's a major design flaw since all the other parts can easily outlive the battery.That is the reason I can't give it 5 stars, even though I really love this brewer and just got a second one now that my original one is dying.

I am a coffee snob. I strive for the perfect cup of coffee and now I have found it with the help of this little device. I was reluctant to pay so much but it is worth every penny! I couldn't be more satisfied. The coffee is without any hint of bitterness now. Very smooth and the flavors come through unsullied by extraneous tastes of the bean's oil. It does take a few more minutes preparation but that delightful taste is worth it. I did not find it difficult to clean. When I couldn't take the yellow cap off to see the charging port underneath-- I called them and they answered immediately letting me know it unscrewed rather than prying off. Now I look forward every morning to my perfect cup of coffee!!!

First, I'm not an expert coffee brewer, nor am I even a daily drinker, but I try to ensure the coffee I do brew tastes as good as possible. I've invested in scales, an electric kettle that heats to a precise temperature, a burr coffee grinder that can grind to an exact grind size, and a Kalita Wave. I've studied different brew techniques and I've become able to make fairly good coffee (to my tastes anyway), but there's still a lot of variance in how the coffee I brew comes out. Again, I'm not an expert but a casual hobbyist.The VacOne takes all of the variance out of the process. You just put in 26g of grounds, fill it up with hot water to one of the lines, and then press the button. Almost every cup of coffee it brews tastes the same, and it tastes better than the drip coffee I can manage. The catch is the "almost," as after about 20 brews, I've had discard the results and try again twice so far. The first was because the hole the brewed coffee is supposed to pour through got clogged up with grounds. The second was because a very large amount of grounds got past the filter somehow and I ended up with muddy coffee.I should be able to avoid the first issue from now on by paying attention to that hole when cleaning the device, but the second issue is something I'm unsure of how it even happened. A large amount of air was being pushed up through that hole for some reason (resulting in a rush of bubbles), which may have lifted the metal filter up and allowed grounds to pass through. Either way, I'm displeased with the 10% failure rate so far, but the coffee is otherwise good enough for this to be forgivable. Maybe I'll be less forgiving if this keeps up.Other notes:--The effort involved in brewing a cup of coffee isn't any less than a drip coffee maker—it's just that the work is shifted from the brewing process to the cleanup process. There's no easy disposal of grounds, and you have to run the device under the faucet and rinse out the spent grounds every time. It's not too bad actually, but it's not as simple as some other brewing methods.--A very small amount of grounds end up in your coffee even when the process goes well. It's never enough to throw off the taste, and I don't actually mind the slightly stronger last few sips I get as a result.--This makes about 320ml of coffee, give or take some depending on how much water you use. That's close to perfect for me, but it may not be enough for some other people.Overall, I'm being maybe a little generous by giving this 4/5 stars, but I enjoy the coffee it makes. I do think there's a lot of room for improvement though, and it's a bit too rough around the edges for a $90 brewing device.------------------UPDATEAfter trying a wide variety of other brewers and techniques over the last few years, I'm downgrading my rating to three stars. I stand by what I said: it's very easy to brew with and consistently makes great coffee from great beans. But so does the Aeropress for a quarter of the price, with a much easier cleanup to boot. And so does the Clever Dripper, which again is much easier to clean as well. I'd also sooner reach for the French Press at this point. The style of coffee is actually very similar to both the Aeropress and Clever, but with a metal filter instead of paper (with the pros and cons that brings). When I think about what this offers that the Aeropress doesn't, its price becomes very difficult to justify. You're paying a hefty premium for the ability to press a button to finish your brew instead of having to press down on a plunger, and the cleanup is much more annoying. My VacOne has been sitting in a cupboard for the last year and I don't know when I'll be taking it out again.

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