The Yama 3 Cup Tabletop Vac Pot Coffee Siphon includes alcohol burner/warmer used to boil the water and activate the brewing process. The Yama 3 Cup Tabletop Vac Pot is great for after dinner coffee brewed right at the table and is ideal for restaurant use as well. "Cup" refers to Yama's idea of what a cup should be and equals about 3-4 ounces for each cup.
Directions for use:
Although Isopropyl (Rubbing) Alcohol which is available at all drug stores can be used in the alcohol burner, Denatured Alcohol which can be purchased most hardware stores will burn hotter and help heat the water quicker.
Check out DaveW's Flickr feed to follow our EspressoParts adventure brewing with the Yama 5 Cup Tabletop Vacpot.
The information below was taken from Wikipedia.
The device was invented by Loeff of Berlin the 1830's and has since been used and manufactured in many parts of the world.
Design and composition of the Siphon Brewer varies but fundamentally it consists of two connectable chambers with a filter in between and requires a heat source to operate. The two connectable chambers made of either heat-proof glass, metal, or plastic. The filter can be a glass rod, cloth, paper or nylon screen.
The basic principles of vapor pressure and vacuum force are applied to extract more coffee flavor and less bitters resulting in what's typically described as a clean, crisp, rich, and smooth coffee.
A vertical styled Siphon pot is assembled by placing the open-tubed extended portion of the upper chamber into the mouth of lower chamber holding water. Ground coffee is added in the upper chamber over the filter. A heat source (open flame or electric plate/coil) under the lower chamber heats the water, the gas pressure builds forcing hot water to travel up the upper chamber's protrusion, through the filter, into the upper chamber and infuses with the ground coffee. After a predetermined time, the heat source is removed and the pressure reverses into a vacuum state and sucks the coffee down into the lower chamber leaving the spent coffee grounds on the upper chamber. The apparatus is usually disassembled to pour the coffee into cups.