The Cory glass filter is a major part of making good vacuum coffee. If you took my advice from a few months ago, and tried using a vacuum coffee maker, you might have been disappointed at the design of the so-called “filter,” a sorry afterthought that looks like it’s made from a spring, a keychain and a bent paperclip:
I suggested using a vintage Cory glass filter rod with the Hario for more luxury; how about trying it with the Bodum for just a little more luxury? There are always plenty of Cory filters on eBay, so like an impatient fool I bid higher than I should have for one that was New In Box. OK, glass can be easily made clean and sterile, so what difference does it make whether it’s new and now what am I going to do with the box? Keep it forever in case I need to sell it back on eBay? But I want to keep it! Anyway, here’s the picture:
To install, you take the old one out and put it somewhere (in the trash, hopefully) and just place the Cory glass filter rod in the opening in the top globe. Start heating the water in the lower globe by itself on the stove, and add the grounds around the filter. Nothing could be easier. Put the top globe on, wait for the water to expand into it and let it gurgle for a minute or two. The glass rod gives it even more of the desired mad chemist look:
Take it off the heat and the filter does its job of letting the freshly-brewed coffee surge back down, while keeping the grounds up where they belong. The special secret bonus advantage is in the ease of cleaning up. Put the top globe over the disposal (or the garbage or the compost pile), pull out the rod from the top and just rinse the grounds away.
No mess and you can’t do that with the cheap metal and plastic filter that came with it. All in all, the way to go and available on eBay for under ten bucks.
How about simply buy an all-glass Cona vac pot and skip the navel-gazing on how to put this together altogether?
An excellent suggestion, but the Bodum was a gift. Cona vac pots look beautiful but are also more expensive than the ones you see on the shelf at Williams-Sonoma. Thanks for the comment!
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Maxwell
http://affordableluxuryblog.com
Hi Maxwell,
Any idea what size your Cory filter is? I’ve read on Amazon.com that they come in an assortment of sizes. Any info on the filter’s box might come in handy if you can post it.
Hi Jason –
Thanks for the comment. There are the “new” and “old” Cory rods available. Original is 5.75″ long and new is 6.25″ long. Old Cory rod that just says Cory Rod, the new one will say New Cory Rod & be more slender. They seem to work equally well from what I’ve seen, but you can check out the threads on coffeegeek.com like this one that discusses them in great detail with pictures.
[email protected]
Maxwell
http://affordableluxuryblog.com
I have found a new cory rod u.s.pat.1927287
Great article, but cloth filters give a cleaner cup of java!!!
Thank you for the comment. It’s true that some sludge will get through.
Thanks for the post. I would have never thought to use the rod off my 1939 Cory pot that makes great coffee. I was considering getting the 20+ dollar reusable filter on Amazon for my 20 dollar used Hario .
Thanks again.
I have two that say Cory Filter Rod. One is Patent # 1927287 & the other Pat Des 114097. Are these old or new & I found in my mother’s things. Are they worth selling? No boxes. Do I just throw away? They look brand new.
I was looking through a suitcase of my grandmother’s things recently (she lived from 1891 to 1966 and I have had this suitcase for decades but never the time to go through it). I came across this glass “wand” and I immediately went back to my childhood when Grandmother lived with us. Our standard-issue black dial phone sat on top of the phone book on a tray on a stand. I remembered this thing that she used as a telephone dialer. She had nicely manicured nails, and not wishing to damage them by using them on the rotary dial, she used her makeshift “phone dialer”. When I pulled it from the suitcase, I asked my husband if he knew what it was. I finally told him that it was my grandmother’s phone dialer. Then I noticed that there was a patent number. I looked it up and nearly fell off the chair laughing. A coffee filter! Who knew?