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Permalink Reply by Rich Westerfield on February 28, 2008 at 10:18pm

I am told it is the quality of the glass. A Yama will (supposedly) shatter if exposed to a cool rag while the bottom chamber is still hot if that is a method you use to achieve temperature stability. A Hario - and likely a Cona - will not shatter. Then again, I've never tested this on our Yamas.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Guglielmino on March 1, 2008 at 11:42am

I have been using the Yama TCA-5 for the last six months. While the Yama does not get super frequent use, i do use the cool rag method and have yet to have an issue with it. Rich, what kind of brew protocols are you using?

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Permalink Reply by Rich Westerfield on March 8, 2008 at 6:39am

We're still experimenting. We've had solid results at 14-16 g per 5oz cup at a fairly fine grind a bit short of espresso. We had been using 12g, but that wasn't working for Centrals or non-natural processed Africans. We're not using our bar grinders for the vac pot - it's either a Bunn bulk (one dot short of espresso) or a cheap home Leilo Ariete (one notch from finest). When we go into full production with a tasting bar, we'll use a dedicated grinder, probably a Mazzer Mini or similar.

Drawdown - no towel, about a minute. Temp profile is something we haven't had solid control on yet, so there may yet be more improvement on the cup, but the cups being produced are already very good.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on March 11, 2008 at 5:03am

Another difference is the inclusion of the glass "filter" rod. My Yama shipped with a cloth filter (stretched over a steel disk) that is held in place with a spring. The Cona ships with the glass rod "filter".

That being said, the Yama is supposed to work with the Cona's rod, which can be purchased separately (for almost as much as the Yama brewer). Have you guys done this? What was the effect in the cup?

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Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on March 11, 2008 at 9:03am

I have a Cory glass filter rod and a Hario with the same cloth filter as is included with the Yama. The cloth takes more maintenance, but it produces a cleaner cup, in my opinion.

The glass filter is a nice idea, and if it filtered as well as cloth, and if it didn't jut so far up into the dwell chamber, I might prefer it.

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Permalink Reply by Brendon Parsons on March 21, 2008 at 9:10am

Just a caution Brady, according to Sweet Maria's, where I purchase my Yama 5-cup tabletop, the Cona rod filter will not fit the Yama. Personally, though, I am loving the clean cup that is the result of the cloth filter. It is the complete opposite of a French Press, you can actually pass light through a cup of cloth-filtered coffee!

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