Coffee maker combining steeping with drip-filtering
"System Büttner" coffee makers (German: Büttner-Kaffeemaschine[1]) have been a type of manual and semi-automatic coffee makers combining
coffee steeping (infusion, full immersion) with
drip-filtering (
percolation).
Overview
The idea to combine steeping with drip-filtering was utilized by
Berlin-based
coffee roaster Carl Artur Büttner (also written as Carl Arthur Büttner)[nb 1] in his 1926 invention of a manual
zero-bypassflat bottom coffee maker consisting of four parts, all made out of
porcelain: a
filter pot (Filtergefäß / Oberteil, "O") with lid (Deckel, "D"),
saucer (Ablaufteller / Unterteil, "U") and coffee pot (Kaffeekanne, "K").[2][3][4][5][6][7] The filter pot featured a through-glazed porcelain filter with triangularly-arranged slits with some air space below. Steeping was achieved through a
valving mechanism stopping the flow through the filter through a specially designed rotatable saucer with a single hole,[8][9][10][11][12] which had to be positioned between the filter pot and the coffee pot so that the hole was initially closed and was opened, when the coffee had been steeping for three to five minutes.[2] Once
released, it then took between four to six minutes for the coffee to drip through the meanwhile settled
coffee bed into the coffee pot,[2] a method sometimes also called
cake filtration.
Marketed since spring 1927[5][6] and up into, at least, the 1940s, these coffee makers were available as stand-alone devices for home use, but were also adopted by various other German coffee roasters (including
Maschinenfabrik Bremen (
Bremen, Germany),[13][14] Georg Schrader & Co. aka Geschraco (Bremen, Germany),
Ferd + Eichhorn [
de] (
Braunschweig, Germany),
Heimbs & Sohn Co. [
de] (Braunschweig, Germany) and Columbus (Germany)) as part of larger coffee machines produced by the porcelain manufacturer
Bauscher [
de] (
Weiden, Germany) for heavy-duty semi-continuous
batch use in
restaurants and
canteens. The Büttner extraction method was boldly marketed claiming to be the world's best
moka and coffee filter ("Der beste Mokka- und Kaffeefilter der Welt").[2]
Full aroma, claimed to have up to 30% increased
extraction efficiency (also called "Kaffeesparmaschine"), thereby reducing costs
Reduced amount of oily components and
caffeine in finished coffee (will be floating on top of the water column in filter pot and claimed to be filtered out by settled coffee bed, a method sometimes called cake filtration)
Easy to clean by just washing out with water
Possibility to draw coffee from the coffee pot even before the
coffee preparation process has stopped (just by temporarily opening the valve to draw a cup of coffee and then closing it again)
May need preheating of the porcelain due to longer than normal extraction time
Thürmer coffee maker, an earlier type of coffee brewer combining steeping and drip-filtering utilizing a different type of slitted porcelain filter sieve
^The original company was founded in 1903 by Hugo Büttner (sen.) in
Halberstadt, Germany. In 1919, his brother Wilhelm "Willi" Büttner joined the company forming Gebrüder Büttner. Carl Artur Büttner (aka Carl Arthur Büttner), a relative, founded an independent
Berlin-based subsidiary of the company in December 1925. It was located at
Wittenbergplatz, Bayreuther Straße 34 in Berlin. In 1933, Rolf Büttner founded another subsidiary in
Halle, Germany. The company C. A. Büttner OHG was founded in 1934. During
World War II, the company site in Halberstadt was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1945. The Büttner Kaffee-Handelsgesellschaft mbH (now located in the
Western part of Berlin) filed for insolvency in 1961 after the erection of the
Berlin Wall and was taken over by the
Bremen-based Gebrüder Westhoff Kaffeerösterei [
de] between 1968 and 1974. In 1965, the Halle-based business was dissolved when Rolf Büttner joined his brother Hugo Büttner (jun.) trying to rebuild their father's company site in Halberstadt, however, Hugo Büttner (jun.) died in 1971 and the company was conviscated by the
GDR in 1972.
^
ab"Büttner Kaffee" [Büttner coffee]. museum-digital deutschland (in German). Berlin, Germany: Stefan Rohde-Enslin. 2020-06-07 [2019-02-10, 2012].
Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
[1][2]
^
abVelten, Tom (2018). "Historie der Gebrüder Büttnerkaffeeröstereien" [History of the Büttner brothers coffee roasters]. Written at Celle, Germany. Im Kalten Krieg [In the Cold War]. Bankgeflüster: Realitäten nahe gebracht (in German). Vol. 3 (1 ed.). Berlin, Germany: epubli. pp. 30–38.
ISBN978-3-746743-19-6. (251+3 pages)
^"Büttner Kaffee - Grossrösterei Thee Import - Berlin W 30 am Wittenbergplatz" [Büttner coffee - roastery & tea import - Berlin W 30 at Wittenbergplatz]. Allgemeine Fragen zur Geschichte Berlins (in German). Berlin, Germany: Die Geschichte Berlins - Verein für die Geschichte Berlins e.V., gegr. 1865. 2018-07-30 [2009-07-17].
Archived from the original on 2024-01-01. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
^Büttner, Carl Artur (1929-03-29) [1928-07-27, 1926-11-09].
"Coffee percolator". Berlin, Germany:
United States Patent Office. Patent No. 1706771. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
[3][4]> (4 pages) (NB. The patent erroneously classifies the Büttner coffee maker as a
coffee percolator, although it isn't working as a percolator.)
Coffee maker combining steeping with drip-filtering
"System Büttner" coffee makers (German: Büttner-Kaffeemaschine[1]) have been a type of manual and semi-automatic coffee makers combining
coffee steeping (infusion, full immersion) with
drip-filtering (
percolation).
Overview
The idea to combine steeping with drip-filtering was utilized by
Berlin-based
coffee roaster Carl Artur Büttner (also written as Carl Arthur Büttner)[nb 1] in his 1926 invention of a manual
zero-bypassflat bottom coffee maker consisting of four parts, all made out of
porcelain: a
filter pot (Filtergefäß / Oberteil, "O") with lid (Deckel, "D"),
saucer (Ablaufteller / Unterteil, "U") and coffee pot (Kaffeekanne, "K").[2][3][4][5][6][7] The filter pot featured a through-glazed porcelain filter with triangularly-arranged slits with some air space below. Steeping was achieved through a
valving mechanism stopping the flow through the filter through a specially designed rotatable saucer with a single hole,[8][9][10][11][12] which had to be positioned between the filter pot and the coffee pot so that the hole was initially closed and was opened, when the coffee had been steeping for three to five minutes.[2] Once
released, it then took between four to six minutes for the coffee to drip through the meanwhile settled
coffee bed into the coffee pot,[2] a method sometimes also called
cake filtration.
Marketed since spring 1927[5][6] and up into, at least, the 1940s, these coffee makers were available as stand-alone devices for home use, but were also adopted by various other German coffee roasters (including
Maschinenfabrik Bremen (
Bremen, Germany),[13][14] Georg Schrader & Co. aka Geschraco (Bremen, Germany),
Ferd + Eichhorn [
de] (
Braunschweig, Germany),
Heimbs & Sohn Co. [
de] (Braunschweig, Germany) and Columbus (Germany)) as part of larger coffee machines produced by the porcelain manufacturer
Bauscher [
de] (
Weiden, Germany) for heavy-duty semi-continuous
batch use in
restaurants and
canteens. The Büttner extraction method was boldly marketed claiming to be the world's best
moka and coffee filter ("Der beste Mokka- und Kaffeefilter der Welt").[2]
Full aroma, claimed to have up to 30% increased
extraction efficiency (also called "Kaffeesparmaschine"), thereby reducing costs
Reduced amount of oily components and
caffeine in finished coffee (will be floating on top of the water column in filter pot and claimed to be filtered out by settled coffee bed, a method sometimes called cake filtration)
Easy to clean by just washing out with water
Possibility to draw coffee from the coffee pot even before the
coffee preparation process has stopped (just by temporarily opening the valve to draw a cup of coffee and then closing it again)
May need preheating of the porcelain due to longer than normal extraction time
Thürmer coffee maker, an earlier type of coffee brewer combining steeping and drip-filtering utilizing a different type of slitted porcelain filter sieve
^The original company was founded in 1903 by Hugo Büttner (sen.) in
Halberstadt, Germany. In 1919, his brother Wilhelm "Willi" Büttner joined the company forming Gebrüder Büttner. Carl Artur Büttner (aka Carl Arthur Büttner), a relative, founded an independent
Berlin-based subsidiary of the company in December 1925. It was located at
Wittenbergplatz, Bayreuther Straße 34 in Berlin. In 1933, Rolf Büttner founded another subsidiary in
Halle, Germany. The company C. A. Büttner OHG was founded in 1934. During
World War II, the company site in Halberstadt was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1945. The Büttner Kaffee-Handelsgesellschaft mbH (now located in the
Western part of Berlin) filed for insolvency in 1961 after the erection of the
Berlin Wall and was taken over by the
Bremen-based Gebrüder Westhoff Kaffeerösterei [
de] between 1968 and 1974. In 1965, the Halle-based business was dissolved when Rolf Büttner joined his brother Hugo Büttner (jun.) trying to rebuild their father's company site in Halberstadt, however, Hugo Büttner (jun.) died in 1971 and the company was conviscated by the
GDR in 1972.
^
ab"Büttner Kaffee" [Büttner coffee]. museum-digital deutschland (in German). Berlin, Germany: Stefan Rohde-Enslin. 2020-06-07 [2019-02-10, 2012].
Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
[1][2]
^
abVelten, Tom (2018). "Historie der Gebrüder Büttnerkaffeeröstereien" [History of the Büttner brothers coffee roasters]. Written at Celle, Germany. Im Kalten Krieg [In the Cold War]. Bankgeflüster: Realitäten nahe gebracht (in German). Vol. 3 (1 ed.). Berlin, Germany: epubli. pp. 30–38.
ISBN978-3-746743-19-6. (251+3 pages)
^"Büttner Kaffee - Grossrösterei Thee Import - Berlin W 30 am Wittenbergplatz" [Büttner coffee - roastery & tea import - Berlin W 30 at Wittenbergplatz]. Allgemeine Fragen zur Geschichte Berlins (in German). Berlin, Germany: Die Geschichte Berlins - Verein für die Geschichte Berlins e.V., gegr. 1865. 2018-07-30 [2009-07-17].
Archived from the original on 2024-01-01. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
^Büttner, Carl Artur (1929-03-29) [1928-07-27, 1926-11-09].
"Coffee percolator". Berlin, Germany:
United States Patent Office. Patent No. 1706771. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
[3][4]> (4 pages) (NB. The patent erroneously classifies the Büttner coffee maker as a
coffee percolator, although it isn't working as a percolator.)