Cona Rex Coffee Maker
From Object Wiki
| Cona Rex coffee maker | |
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| Manufacturer | Cona Coffee Company |
| Production years | 1950 |
| Production location | United Kingdom |
Abram Games was fascinated by household gadgets and became dissatisfied with the existing Cona coffee maker, considering it cumbersome and awkward to use. Using freely-available scrap materials, including recycled Spitfires, he tried out a number designs, eventually producing an elegant machine - this Cona Rex model - that could be used with one hand. The design was adopted by the company and displayed in the South Bank Exhibition, 1951.
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[edit] How it works
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Coffee grounds are added to hot water, then the essential oils are drawn out and infused into the water. This creates a refreshing, bitter-tasting drink high in caffeine, which is a stimulant drug.
[edit] Memories
My parents still use one of these for special occasions and I swear that it makes the best coffee that I've ever tasted (although that may be something to do with the fact that they grind beans immediately before use, rather than using pre-ground). The ritual of working it and watching it adds to the pleasure of drinking the results and you can never help but think about the science involved whenever you watch it.
— T Lane, London
we had one of the later stove top verisons in 1980's, I remember as a child my parents using it on a sunday morning. It involved an almost a performance like set up with water being added in the botton and the grounds placed in the top. It seems strange to say we where fascinated by it but it did have faintly risky air as the water boiled you half expected it to explode. When it reached the right temperature water would bubble up into the top bowl and the coffee would brew, when the heat was turned down, the coffee mnius the grinds would drip down into the jug. I can't remember why we moved on to a cafetiere I think the bulb cracked and we never replaced it. But until I saw expresso machines the cona was always the most scary coffe maker. P.S one advantage to it was that you could reheat the coffee in the jug.
— C Gittner.
I still use a Cona - stove-top type - to make coffee for friends. It makes good coffee and the jug holds a lot. People are fascinated by the process:the coffee doesn't just drip down. It seeps away quite quickly but then the exciting bit is at the end when all the coffee has descended; air escapes down the funnel and bubbles up with a fizz in the jug!
— A. Celnick
I will always remember this model as I use it every single day! I was not around when it first came out as I am a bit young but I did purchase it off a distant friend of the family! Since using it in the beginning, I have become totally addicted to it and even have started to use it for making smoothies and so on. It's not only a coffee maker you know!
— anon
it is a really good piece of work
— Anon
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Do you remember this coffee maker? Add your memories. |
[edit] In the Science Museum
Source: Naomi Games
L2008-4037
Audio Tour Call 020 7112 2020 when Prompted dial 908
This object is currently on display in the Dan Dare & the Birth of Hi-Tech Britain exhibition at the Science Museum, London.