Meet the World's Wildest Coffee Maker:

On Friday night (after surviving the apocalypse) we touched down at Paul and Lisa's, had a beverage and headed out to help celebrate a birthday. Their friend Jim was hosting a birthday party featuring his favourite take-out Chinese food (which was indeed delicious).

But the real highlight of the evening was the coffee ritual following the meal. There were a number of science-types in attendance and we all sat around in awe as this contraption made a pot of yummy coffee through a fairly straightforward process of vacuum pressure (though it seemed so much more complex).

However, the apparatus bears a striking resemblance to something you might see in a head shop on Hastings Street. Yes, gentle reader. It sort of looks like a big ol' COFFEE BONG.

I am not going to pretend that I understand the physics involved. Suffice it to say that pressure builds up, and then the boiling water is thrust upwards into the chamber bearing coffee grounds, and then returned to the pot on the bottom. The whole process is miraculous. And it goes a little something like this.......

Birthday boy Jim lights the sterno under the pot of water. So far it's a bit like fondue. But wait. There's more!

The coffee is standing by in a vessel that is then delicately placed atop the pot of water on the boil. In the next photo, it may look like Jim is flipping me the bird because I'm taking so many dang pictures! But really, he's just explaining to me that the water is soon going to go UP.

And now we all sit around waiting with baited breath while Jim holds tight.....

...and peers around the corner. Inquiring minds want to know. (Jim is a mechanical engineer. I think that means he probably could have invented something like this. Who knows? Maybe he did!)

And then there was a bit of waiting. We were indeed watching the pot boil, and you know what they say about that!!

But LOOKIT what's happening now! Just like they SAID it would!

And presto! A pot of coffee was ready for consumption. The product is made by BODUM and just goes to show that those Danes have got it goin' on!! It was beyond nifty....

Stay tuned for the chocolate tour and a visit to Bedrock (and I'm not talking about the land of the Flinstones!) Seattle was fabulous, and then some.