S4U® Coffee Master 5-Cup Syphon/Vacuum Glass Coffee Maker (5-Cup Coffee Maker)

The coffee maker is brilliant. It's very theatrical when you use it and a great piece to have to entertain guests. It also makes a good coffee. The glass feels good quality (the flask portion is thicker at the bottom so it always stands up). It is identical to the Hario version which is 3x the price - the only difference being the box and the small brand sticker on the glass which you can remove. You will need to buy some methanol to use it. The coffee looks quite weak when you make it but is surprisingly strong in flavour. I'd say the size is more 3 cups than 5 but it's not a problem. I would highly recommend this as a theatrical coffee maker but don't expect to use it to make your daily coffee. It's a slow process and the cleanup afterwards is lengthy.

I bought one of these for myself Christmas 2012 and have used it every day since then. Tried both the cloth and paper filters, latter avoid problem of keeping cloth in good condition but either method brings out the full flavour of gourmet coffee. Either is better at blocking grounds than the glass rod in a Cona machine. I replaced the spirit burner with a small butane burner -- much more control over the process, and bought a Hario hand grinder to complement the machine -- it's worth experimenting with the grind, and best to keep to low to mid-roast beans.. In response to earlier reviews, yes, there will always be a little water left in the base. This means that if you make a small amount of coffee you need to add proportionately more coffee to keep the strength up. I don't understand the remarks about 'boiled' flavour -- coffee in the upper part doesn't boil, the apparent boiling is steam passing through the coffee. Users may find it helpful to experiment with the length of time between (virtually) all the water passing into the upper part and removing the heat source. A great machine at a great price.

I think this is a nice little coffee brewer. Quality ground coffee beans will not be wasted on this little device. However, I found that instead of 5 standard cups of coffee it only gives me 2.5 cups. I use a standard-sized cup - the same size of cup used in any coffee house that I've been to. That does not take from the quality of this product, but I think the company should consider producing the same product for 10 or 12 cups. In my world, that's 5 or 6 cups (for coffee addicts or when sharing with others). Also, I found the recommendations regarding the amount of coffee to put into the top chamber to be insufficient. The first trial, going by their recommendations, produced very weak and watery coffee. I think they recommended a heaped teaspoon whereas I normally use 1 dessert spoon of strong ground-coffee per cup and, as stated, this little device only produced 2.5 cups for me. Each to their own. Also, after a few months of use the filter chain snapped and I had to source spare (correct-sized) filters from elsewhere. Anyway, it's a good little product and produces great coffee but requires the utmost of care as you're dealing with flame, methylated spirits and extremely hot glass.

We upgraded from a smaller siphon coffee maker to this, and I know it says '5 cups' but our experience is that means 2 good mugs or one very large novelty mug of coffee. The coffee siphons make is so much nicer than cafetiere (which was our previous method) - it is smooth with no niggly little grains. I would recommend a fine grind, pre-boiling the water in a kettle, and making sure you always have spare methylated spirits for rhe burner as it can run out quickly.

I bought the product and have been using it for 3 days. It is almost becoming a new morning ritual. Some people think science nerds will love it and boy are they right. The only down side of my purchase was not including the right kind of lighter fluid (of course for understandable world shipping policies and safety reasons). Don’t place camp fire fluid like I did. Otherwise, you’ll get the bottom chamber covered with soot. In total the product is an attractive piece for placing in your diner room table to hang around and start conversations.

I bought this model after buying the Hario version for £54.95. The differences in materials (as far as I can tell) are zero other than no brand marks, making this one an amazing bargain. Why buy two? Well its actually cheaper to buy this than spare parts for the Hario and I get to keep one at work. Well at least until I break something! Go ahead buy it, several of my work colleagues are after watching me use it and hearing the great price. It fun to use and it makes excellent coffee. I do know what I'm talking about(well about coffee anyway), I roast and grind my own coffee.

For making good tasting coffee a sound machine but just could be a little bigger, most people use mugs or large cups to drink from today.

I bought this for my sister for Christmas and she loves it. Not into real coffee myself but she put it together to show me how it made the perfect coffee for her and Dad. It's like a little junior scientist machine with a little heater underneath and the water all bubbles up to the top bit, then you put out the flame and slowly the water, now fresh coffee, goes back into the bottom bit and voila! you have your coffee ready to pour, nice and hot too. Not for me, too fiddly but she loves it and is more than happy with it - oh and then you put the coffee grounds onto your honeysuckle, they love it.