The Flying Belgian — True Coffee in Motion
Also available as part of our complete 19th-century coffee experience. Explore The Lost Art of Coffee — The Quest for the Perfect Brew...
Some Voyages Cross Oceans. This One Begins With a Flame.
I strike a match, and a small flame flickers to life beneath polished metal. I draw my chair closer. On the table, glass and brass gleam in the lamplight, joined by a delicate balancing arm. It looks less like a coffee maker than an instrument brought back from some forgotten expedition.
A worn copy of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas rests beside me. I remember Captain Nemo guiding the Nautilus into the depths, trusting pressure, machinery, and his own understanding of nature to carry him through the unknown. When I first read Verne's 1870 adventure, I was fascinated by the idea that a machine could open an entire world most people would never see.
And now, here I am, watching a different kind of voyage begin.
The water starts to tremble. Tiny bubbles gather. Then, slowly, impossibly, it climbs through a narrow tube into the glass chamber above. I lean in. There's no cord, no digital display, no hidden motor. Just heat, pressure, and a machine doing something I know is perfectly explainable yet can barely believe I'm seeing.
I think about the 1800s, when balance siphon brewers first appeared. In that age of steam and bold invention, even coffee could become a spectacle. I can almost hear the conversation around a European drawing-room table: someone asking how it works, somebody else insisting it can't, until the rising water settles the argument.
The balance shifts. The flame goes out. I hear the slightest movement of metal as the brewer cools, and the dark coffee travels back into its vessel. The mechanism has finished its work without my touching a switch.
Captain Nemo had his Nautilus. I have The Flying Belgian — True Coffee in Motion, a modern homage to that same nineteenth-century fascination with forces you cannot see but can learn to command. In its gold or silver finish, every piece seems meant to be looked at, not hidden away. And watching it brew feels like finding a small, remarkable secret.
I pour the coffee. The room carries that freshly brewed aroma, but I don't reach for the cup right away. For the first time in ages, I don't have a reason to hurry. I want to watch every movement, even though I already know how the journey ends. I'm still thinking about the strange pleasure of doing something the modern world keeps telling me should take no thought at all.
I take my first sip, and smile. Somewhere, I suspect Captain Nemo would understand. 150 years later, coffee has never tasted better.
Coffee Maker Details
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Brewing Method: Traditional Belgian-style balance siphon system using heat, vapor pressure, and vacuum to brew coffee.
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Capacity: 600 mL (approximately 20.3 fluid ounces), suitable for multiple servings.
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Construction: Glass brewing chamber with an elegant metal framework and mechanical balancing mechanism.
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Available Finishes: Gold or Silver, featuring classic 19th-century-inspired styling.
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Mechanical Operation: Flame-powered brewing with a shifting balance mechanism that extinguishes the burner and allows the brewed coffee to return to its serving chamber.
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Coffee Grinder: Sold separately or available with The Flying Belgian as part of The Lost Art of Coffee — The Quest for the Perfect Brew collection.
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Please allow up to 3-5 weeks for delivery due to high demand! Items are shipped from our International warehouse & may ship separately in order to shorten delivery time.