A variant of the category of

French drip coffee pot Drip coffee is made by pouring hot water onto ground coffee beans, allowing it to brew while seeping through. There are several methods for doing this, including using a filter. Terms used for the resulting coffee often reflect the method ...

s is the group of so-called Bohemian coffee pots, manual zero-bypass flat bottom coffee makers made out of

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

only, including Karlsbad coffee makers (1878), Bayreuth coffee makers (2007), the Walküre cup filter (2010) and the Walküre aroma-pot (2015). In contrast to French drip coffee pots, they all use a special double-layered

conical In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the ''apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, ...

ly cross-slitted strainer made from through- glazed porcelain as well as a water spreader with six (or, in the larger models, more) large round holes to ensure an even water distribution and reduce the agitation of the coffee bed, a method sometimes also called cake filtration. In particular before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, but still up to the advent of the

Espresso machine An espresso machine brews coffee by forcing pressurized water near boiling point through a "puck" of ground coffee and a filter in order to produce a thick, concentrated coffee called espresso. Multiple machine designs have been created to produ ...

in the 1950s, they were very popular in the

Viennese coffee house culture The Viennese coffee house (, ) is a typical institution of Vienna that played an important part in shaping Viennese culture. Since October 2011 the "Viennese Coffee House Culture" is listed as an "Intangible Cultural Heritage" in the Austrian ...

. The special kind of drip coffee they produce is called a (). In Vienna, the (confusingly also called or ), a black coffee without milk or sugar, was often prepared in Karlsbad coffee makers as well, hence they were sometimes incorrectly also called Vienna coffee-making machines. Once manufactured by many porcelain manufacturers, demand gradually dropped and eventually production stopped when electrical coffee makers became more and more common, so that Karlsbad coffee makers were only available on the used market for a couple of decades. However, experiencing a renaissance since about the millennium as part of the so-called third-wave of coffee one manufacturer restarted production of them. They are also used in

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s and by

connoisseur A connoisseur (French language, French Reforms of French orthography, traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge ...

coffee sommelier A ''sommelier'' ( , , ), ''chef de vin'' or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the ''s ...

coffee roaster Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process produces the characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to change in taste. Unroaste ...

s and in coffee tasting laboratories.

History

As a product of the

fin de siècle "''Fin de siècle''" () is a French term meaning , a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom '' turn of the century'' and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without co ...

the original so-called () was invented by factory Thun'sche Porzellanfabrik of (now ) near (now ), which patented a special cross-slitted filter sieve in 1878. Producing

lithophane A lithophane is a thin plaque of translucent material, normally porcelain, which has been moulded to varying thickness, such that when lit from behind the different thicknesses show as different shades, forming an image. Only when lit from b ...

s, the company, which was founded in 1793/1794, already had experience manufacturing very thin and fragile porcelain for decades. Karlsbad coffee makers were historically manufactured by many porcelain manufacturers including Porcelánka Thun (with porcelain mark "TK") ( Karlsbad), Altrohlauer Porzellan-Fabriken AG vorm. ("M Z") (), ("EPIAG D. F.") ( Dallwitz), & ("H. & C.") ( Schlaggenwald), Carl Tielsch ("C. T.") ( Altwasser), ("MCP") ( Poschetzau), ( Rodach, Germany), Hutschenreuther (

Selb Selb () is a town in the Wunsiedel (district), district of Wunsiedel, in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the Fichtel Mountains, on the border with the Czech Republic, 20 km northwest of Cheb and 23 km southeast of Ho ...

/ Bavaria, Germany), Rosenthal & Co. ("R. C.") (Bavaria, Germany) /

Rosenthal Rosenthal is a German and Jewish surname meaning "rose valley". The Lithuanized form is Rosenthalis. Notable people with the name include: A * Abe M. Rosenthal (1922–2006), ''New York Times'' editor and columnist * Albert Rosenthal (1863– ...

(Weiden/

Kronach Kronach (; ) is a Town#Germany, town in Upper Franconia, Germany, located in the Franconian Forest area. It is the capital of the Kronach (district), district Kronach. The town is equipped with a nearly complete city wall and Germany's biggest an ...

, Germany), ( Weiden, Germany), ("MEISSEN") (

Meißen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

, Germany),

Villeroy & Boch Villeroy & Boch (, ) is a French-German manufacturer of ceramics, with the company headquarters located in Mettlach, Saarland. History The company began in the tiny Lorraine village of Audun le Tiche, where the iron master François Boch set ...

("V. B.") (Luxemburg), (France), (France), and Siegmund Paul Meyer ("SPM") / Walküre (

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

, Germany) /

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

("FPM") (

Varel Varel () is a town in the district of Friesland, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Jade River and the Jade Bight, approximately south of Wilhelmshaven and north of Oldenburg. With a population of 23,984 (2020) it is the bigg ...

, Germany). Karlsbad coffee makers consist of four parts (a coffee pot, a coffee strainer/filter, a water spreader/distributor, and a lid) all made out of porcelain, and they exist in a number of different shapes of unknown origin. The original shape appears to have been a cylindrical filter with two squarish handles combined with a ball-shaped pot. Another early style featured a somewhat trapezoid shape known as (). In 1910, SPM incorporated the slitted Karlsbad filter into the design of a coffee maker with cylindrical filter (form 523). In 1913, SPM introduced the now classical somewhat pear-shaped rounded form (form 599). This design was copied by other porcelain manufacturers. Over the years it was available in various sizes ranging from 250 ml to 2.25 litre. In 2007, the so-called Bayreuth coffee makers were created by designer Daniel Eltner for Walküre. A somewhat

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

-reminiscing slick modernized style (form 699) following the same general four-piece porcelain construction principles as traditional Karlsbad coffee makers, the design received the " Good Design Award 2008" of the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and the "Coffee Innovations Award 2008" in the category "coffee machines and mills" at the domotechnica fair in Cologne. However, due to its non-symmetrical design it may be difficult to handle for left-handers. It has been available in two sizes (350 ml and 700 ml) produced by Walküre up to 2019, and since 2020 by Friesland (400 ml and 700 ml). , Friesland was the only remaining manufacturer of any of them; however, their Varel production site burnt down in a fire on 29 June 2023, pending its reconstruction.

Preparation

To avoid clogging, coarsely ground coffee with about salt- or sugar-sized grains (about

semolina Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...

-grade), evenly ground and without

fines Fines may refer to: *Fines, Andalusia, Spanish municipality *Fine (penalty) * Fine, a dated term for a Lease#Leases_of_land, premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term * Fines, ore or oth ...

or added coffee surrogates, has to be used. Walküre recommended to use

coffea arabica ''Coffea arabica'' (), also known as the Arabica coffee, is a species of flowering plant in the coffee and madder family Rubiaceae. It is believed to be the first species of coffee to have been cultivated and is the dominant cultivar, represe ...

, and either 16 g for the first two cups and 6 g for each further cup, or 8–10 g per cup in general.

Forms and sizes

Porzellanfabrik Siegmund Paul Meyer (1899–1920) (SPM) / Erste Bayreuther Porzellanfabrik Walküre Siegmund Paul Meyer GmbH (1920–2016) / Porzellanfabrik Walküre GmbH & Co. KG (2016–2019): * Form 523 (1910–1940) older cylinder-shaped Karlsbad coffee maker ** Form 523/1 (1910–1940): c. 150 mL (smallest) ** Form 523/2 (1910–1940): ? ** Form 523/3 (1910–1940): ? ** Form 523/4 (1910–1940): ? ** Form 523/5 (1910–1940): ? ** Form 523/6 (1910–1940): ? ** Form 523/7 (1910–1940): ? (largest) * Form 599 (1913–2019) pear-shaped Karlsbad coffee maker ** Form 599/0: c. 2.0 L (20? cups) (largest) ** Form 599/1 (1913–?): c. 1.6 L (old); Form 599/1 (?–1942) : c. 1.8 L (new) ** Form 599/2 (1913–1942): ? ** Form 599/3 (1913–1942): ? ** Form 599/4 (1913–1942): ? ** Form 599/5 (1913–1942): ? ** Form 599/6 (1913–1942): ? ** Form 599/7 (1913–1942): ? (smallest) ** Form 599-028 with rills (2009–2019): 280 mL ** Form 599-038 with rills (?/2004–2019): 380 mL (2 cups) ** Form 599-085 with rills (?/2004–2019): 850 mL (4–5 cups) ** Form 599-115 with rills (2012/2017?–2019): 1150 mL * Form 628 (1928–1942) newer cylinder-shaped Karlsbad coffee maker ** Form 628/45: c. 350–380 mL * Form 629 (1929–1942) cup filter ** Form 629 (1929–1942): ? * Form 699 (2007–2019) Bayreuth coffee maker, designed by Daniel Eltner ** Form 699-035 (2007–2019): 350 mL ** Form 699-070 (2007–2019): 700 mL * Form 799 (2010–2019) cup filter, designed by Daniel Eltner ** Form 799-020 (2010–2019): 200 mL * Form 800 (1957–1965) aroma pot ** Form 800 (1957–1965): ? * Form 890 (c. 2017) tea pot "Thea" without rills, designed by Daniel Eltner ** Form 890-050 (c. 2017): 500 mL ** Form 890-100 (c. 2017): 1000 mL * Form 899 (c. 2017) tea pot "Thea" with rills, designed by Daniel Eltner ** Form 899-050 (c. 2017): 500 mL ** Form 899-100 (c. 2017): 1000 mL * Form 999 (2015–2019) aroma pot, designed by Goran Huber and Daniel Eltner ** Form 999-035 (2015–2019): 350 mL Friesland Porzellan (FPM): * Form "599" (2020–2023) pear-shaped Karlsbad coffee maker ** Form "599" (2020–2021): 380 mL, 850 mL ** Form "599" (2021–2023): 250 mL, 350 mL, 800 mL, 1100 mL * Form "699" (2020–2023) Bayreuth coffee maker ** Form "699" (2020–2023): 400 mL, 700 mL * Form "799" (2020–2023) cup filter ** Form "799" (2020–2023): 200 mL

(similar to SPM/Walküre form "599" without rills): * Size 0: 2250 mL (12 cups) * Size 1: 1750 mL (8 cups) * Size 2: 1350 mL (6 cups) * Size 3: 1100 mL (5 cups) * Size 4: 800 mL (4 cups) * Size 5: 500 mL (3 cups) * Size 6: 350 mL (2 cups) * Cup filter: ? (1 cup) Bauscher Weiden (similar to SPM/Walküre): * Form 628 ** Form 628/8 Hutschenreuther (similar to SPM/Walküre form "599" without rills): * Size 5: 1.25 L (with filter), 1.4 L (pot only) * Size 7: ? * Size 8: 1.5? L & (H. & C.), Schlaggenwald: * Size 3 (1941): ? * Size 4 (1942): c. 850 mL * Size 5: c. 0.5 L TK Thun (Thun Karlovarsky): * Size 2: c. 1.5 L * Size 3: c. 1.0 Lor 1.3 L * Size 4: c. 950 mL or 1.0 L Unidentified: * Form "599" size 8: c. 1/8 L (1 cup) * Form "599" size 5½

Similar coffee makers

In the 1880s, Max Thürmer, a coffee roaster of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, Germany, founded in 1879, advertised Karlsbad coffee and somewhat later also coffee makers (of unknown type) in various newspapers. In the early 1900s, he marketed his own invention of a manual coffee maker (the so-called ), which, from its outer appearance, looked quite similar to cylindrical Karlsbad coffee makers but featured an air-tight joint (through a lid with a thin film of water) between the permanent filter part and the coffee pot below, and it came with a manual valving mechanism (by closing the of the coffee pot) to combine

steeping Steeping is the soaking of an organic solid, such as leaves, in a liquid (usually water) to extract flavours or to soften it. The specific process of teas being prepared for drinking by leaving the leaves in heated water to release the flavour ...

(full immersion) with drip-filtering (

percolation In physics, chemistry, and materials science, percolation () refers to the movement and filtration, filtering of fluids through porous materials. It is described by Darcy's law. Broader applications have since been developed that cover connecti ...

). The devices were manufactured by

for him. While the permanent filter in early of his devices still featured round drilled holes like in French drip coffee makers, later units used a double-layered cross-slitted filter construction similar to that found in Karlsbad coffee makers, but deliberately with a much coarser grid, with a large air gap between the layers, and using ceramics instead of porcelain. Around 1900, the Staatliche Porzellanmanufaktur Meißen of

, Germany, manufactured cup filters utilizing a double-layered radially slitted porcelain filter construction much coarser than in Karlsbad coffee makers. Since 1926, the idea to combine steeping with drip-filtering was also utilized by

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

-based coffee roaster Carl Artur Büttner in his invention of a manual coffee maker. While his construction was considerably different, it also featured a valving mechanism (through a rotatable

saucer A saucer is a type of small dishware. While in the Middle Ages a saucer was used for serving condiments and sauces, currently the term is used to denote a small plate or shallow bowl that supports a cup – usually one used to serve coffee t ...

), a through-glazed porcelain filter with triangularly-arranged slits and with an air space below. These so-called "System Büttner" coffee makers were available up into, at least, the 1940s as stand-alone devices for home use, but were also adopted by various other German coffee roasters as part of larger coffee machines produced by the porcelain manufacturer for heavy-duty batch use in

s and

canteen Canteen most often refers to: * Canteen (bottle), a water container * Cafeteria, a type of food service location within an institution in which there is little or no waiting staff table service * A complete set of cutlery comprising knives, forks, ...

s. Since c. 1952 (and up into the 1970s) the Neuerer Porzellanfabrik in

Oberkotzau Oberkotzau is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the nor ...

, Germany, the successor of Porzellanfabrik Greiner & Herda, manufactured

coffee percolator A coffee percolator is a type of pot used for the brewing of coffee by continually cycling the boiling or nearly boiling brew through the grounds (coffee), grounds using gravity until the required strength is reached. The grounds are held in a ...

s named Aromator, which featured double-layered cross-slitted porcelain filters similar to those used in Karlsbad coffee makers, and thus not requiring any paper filter rings. Modern manual coffee makers sometimes associated with Karlsbad-style coffee makers include Coffee Consulate's intense extraction cup filter ''RS16 GlasFilter'' by Steffen Schwarz (2015) and the

borosilicate Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with silicon dioxide, silica and boron trioxide as the main glass-forming constituents. Borosilicate glasses are known for having very low coefficient of thermal expansion, coefficients of thermal expansion ( ...

carafe coffee maker "''The Pure Over''" by glass artist Etai Rahmil (2020). However, whilst they are zero-bypass flat-bottom French drip coffee pots with permanent filters, they too cannot be counted as Karlsbad-style coffee makers because they do not feature a cross-slitted double-layered filter sieve and also because they are not made out of porcelain.

Notes

References

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20101222014426/http://walkuere-porzellan.de Archived Walküre web-site walkuere-porzellan.de (2010–2019)
Porzellanfabrik Walküre Jahre 1890-1910

Home - English

Karlsbader Kanne
(in German) {{Coffee Coffee preparation Coffee culture Coffee German porcelain Porcelain de:Karlsbader Kaffeemaschine cs:Karlovarský příbor