Anytime you leave coffee in the pot for a couple of hours, it usually tastes like stale crap. That’s why the Coffee Hourglass is so odd, as it promises great-tasting coffee that “brews” for up to 24 hours.
Using an unusual hourglass frame, the contraption is designed to coax pure, concentrated coffee from coarsely-ground beans over that time. As it uses no electricity, the whole process happens naturally and very…..very…..slowly.
Each Coffee Hourglass weighs just under 2lbs. It measures 14 inches tall, with a 5.75-inch diameter. According to the instructions, you’re supposed to combine 2.25 cups of ground coffee with 3.5 cups of water on the brewing chamber (one end of the hourglass). Leave the concoction to mix and soak between 12 to 24 hours (the longer you leave it, the better it’s supposed to taste). After that, you’ll need to turn the hourglass over to get to the 16 ounces of pure coffee extract, which drains into the other chamber.
I suppose you can drink the extract (if you’re feeling especially addicted to caffeine), though it’s probably healthier if you mix it with water to dilute the powerful flavor a bit. You can use it for either hot or cold coffee drinks – just measure how much you put in according to taste (they recommend using two ounces of the extract for each eight ounce cup).
The Coffee Hourglass comes with an included carafe, where you can store any of the unused extracts to keep it fresh. It costs $79.95 apiece and is supposed to do really, really good coffee. For making me wait 24 hours, that thing better be damn good.
[Hammacher via RGS]