BKON’s Vacuum Brewer Aims for Perfect Coffee Extraction

If you’ve ever wondered how to get the fullest flavor and aroma from your coffee—without overcomplicating the brew—then you’ve thought about extraction. But traditional brewers often miss the mark, either pulling too little flavor or over-extracting bitter compounds. What if there were a way to pull everything out of the grounds—efficiently, precisely, and gently? That’s the challenge BKON set out to solve.

The BKON brewer, developed by Dean & Lou Vastardis, uses vacuum extraction and smart controls to brew coffee or tea in 60–90 seconds. Designed for precision, it can control water volume, temperature, pressure, cycle count, and more—all via app. First 100 units sold for $13,000 each and it won SCAA’s Best New Product award.

What Is the BKON Brewer?

The BKON brewer is an automated vacuum injection and extraction device built for high-end beverage preparation. Originally developed by Dean & Lou Vastardis, the company behind professional equipment for brands like Franke and Rishi, the BKON isn’t limited to tea—it works with any organic material. Its core innovation is a patented system that performs vacuum extraction in a transparent chamber, using what the company calls “reverse air pressure injection.” This approach maintains cellular integrity and avoids gas movement while mixing air and liquid evenly.

How Does Vacuum Extraction Work in Coffee Brewing?

Unlike conventional brewers that rely on gravity, pressure, or heat, the BKON uses a gentle method: lowering air pressure to enable natural, low-temperature boiling. This avoids harsh agitation and preserves delicate flavors. According to the manufacturer, where traditional methods may take around seven minutes, the BKON extracts full flavor and aroma in just 90 seconds—with no loss in quality.

The extraction process is managed through connected smart devices. Users control every variable remotely via app: brew duration, water amount, number of cycles, vessel type, water temperature, pressure, timing, and depth. In testing, the machine produced sweet, high-quality beverages across multiple tea types, and it’s also been used experimentally for oils and other liquids.

Who’s Using BKON, and Why Is It Significant?

The BKON brewer has attracted interest from major players in the specialty beverage space. Both the New York Coffee Center and two Starbucks concept stores have shown strong interest. At the SCAA show in Seattle, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz personally tested the machine. The brewer’s internal tech is equally advanced: it features multiple temperature probes for precise water control, a dedicated vacuum pump system for air regulation, and a ball valve spout to maintain full vacuum integrity.

It also includes custom-designed rotating filters for different types of coffee and tea, various cleaning modes, and a user interface for defining and saving beverage profiles. These profiles can be uploaded to the cloud and shared among users, allowing for community-driven experimentation and optimization.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the BKON brewer and how does it extract coffee?

The BKON brewer is an automated vacuum extraction machine that brews coffee or tea using controlled air pressure and temperature. It lowers the pressure in a transparent chamber to enable natural, low-temperature boiling, extracting flavor and aroma in 60–90 seconds without harsh agitation. It’s designed for precision and can control variables like water volume, temperature, pressure, and cycle counts via a connected app.

How much does the BKON brewer cost and who is it for?

The BKON brewer retails for $13,000 per unit. It’s aimed at specialty coffee shops, high-end beverage venues, and innovation-focused companies. The first 100 units were released starting June of the launch year and have been adopted by places like the New York Coffee Center and Starbucks concept stores.

What makes BKON’s vacuum extraction different from regular brewing?

BKON uses a method called “reverse air pressure injection” that creates a vacuum to gently extract flavors without using high pressure or heat. Traditional brewing might take 7 minutes, but BKON achieves full extraction in 90 seconds while preserving cellular structure and avoiding gas interference, leading to cleaner and more stable flavors.

Can the BKON brewer be used for anything besides coffee and tea?

Yes. While optimized for coffee and tea, the BKON system has also been tested with oils and other liquids. Its customizable controls and vacuum environment allow for a wide range of liquid extraction experiments beyond just hot beverage preparation.

Where was the BKON brewer first publicly demonstrated?

The BKON brewer was first publicly demonstrated at the SCAA exhibition in Seattle, where Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz tried the machine. It was later recognized as the Best New Product at the show, signaling strong industry interest in its innovation.

Recommended FrontStreet Beans for Vacuum-Brewed Coffee

For use with the BKON brewer or similar vacuum extraction systems, FrontStreet Coffee’s Ethiopia Humbera offers bright floral and citrus notes with a juicy body—perfect for highlighting clarity in vacuum brews. Their Yirgacheffe presents lavender and stone fruit tones ideal for showcasing subtle extraction nuance. Both beans are light to medium roast single origins that respond well to precision brewing. Freshly roasted within 5 days · Orders placed before 17:00 ship the same day · Next-day delivery across most of Guangdong Province.