I have what appears to be the top portion of a Cory coffee maker. It is a globe-shaped funnel with a rubber seal and a glass insert called New Cory Rod, U.S. Pat. 1935587. Is there anyone who can assist me in locating the missing piece(s) and tell me anything about how it operates. Is the Cory Company still in business? I would appreciate any help you can provide.

-- Hugh H. Paschal (drhhp@aol.com), April 15, 2001

Answers

It's the top of a Cory Vacuum coffee maker. I don't think Cory is in business any more, but they were once very big. The part you need is the bottom pot (DRL) which you can certainly find on Ebay (if there's none this week, check back every week for a few weeks...there are many that pass through)--search on "cory coffee".

The way a vacuum pot works (also called a coffee syphon) is you boil water in the bottom, put ground coffee in the top, and the steam pressure in the bottom forces the water up into the top. After a minute or two you take it off the heat, and the steam/air in the bottom condenses, creating a vacuum that sucks the water back down into the bottom. Some kind of filter keeps the grounds up top. The Cory makers use a special glass filter rod. It's really just a glass rod with a knob in the middle. The knob blocks the hole but has tiny bumps that lets some water through around the edges. It sounds strange, but works well.

Many coffee connoisseurs swear by vacuum coffee pots. Makes better coffee than drip. Good luck, and enjoy!

-- Eric (ericjs@rcn.NOSPAMMAGEcom), April 19, 2002.

Go to:

www.oldcoffeeroasters.com

For ALL the info you could ever need about vacpots.

JimboJava

-- JimboJava (JimboJava@msn.com), September 30, 2002.

I have the same coffee pot from Cory. It's in excellent condition with the box & directions. Does anyone know what it might be worth? I have never used it. I just like to collect old coffee pots. I can't seem to find out much about them.

-- Laura Sutphin (rderacer@aol.com), August 10, 2003.

My favorite web treatise on vacuum pot history is

http://www.baharris.org/coffee/

which includes an extensive list of 20th century American manufacturers, photos of their products, patent listings & drawings, a lengthy history, textbook physics and instructions for use.

As for Cory, I think they became part of Aramark at some point. National yellow pages show listings for ARA-Cory or Aramark-Cory Refreshment Services. But the Cory line seems to be packaged coffee now, no longer an equipment line.

-- Stu Woodham (shwoodham@yahoo.com), August 13, 2003.

The coffie maker that you have inquired about was patented in July of 1934 by Henry Cory they can still be found in use in kitchens around the country. I found this information just by doing a search in yahoo. Hope this information will help. Enjoy...

-- Dave (docb969@yahoo.com), December 07, 2003.