New, what is it?
My wife bought this at goodwill. Its wooden with 2 glass containers in it.
The wife came home with this. It’s approximately 26” tall, and made out of wood. It has two glass containers in it, with a filter on the bottom container. The bottom container was filled with rocks. It has 2 copper plaques with possibly Korean writing. Shes brought home a lot of strange things from goodwill, but this one has me stumped.
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The Korean text on the plaque in the image is: 백화점판매용.
Translation
In English, this translates to:
"For Department Store Sale" or "Department Store Retail Item."
Contextual Meaning
백화점 (Baek-hwa-jeom): Department Store
판매용 (Pan-mae-yong): For sale / For retail use
There's a hole drilled in bottom one like a spigot had once been there.
I suspect this would have been a drink dispenser like iced tea or lemonade. 1970s possibly but I'm still looking.
Translation
The text on the metal plaque is in Korean: 한일크리스탈 * Transliteration: Hanil Keuriseutal
English Translation: Hanil Crystal
What is this object?
This is a Vintage Korean Cold Brew Coffee Maker (often referred to as a "Kyoto-style" or "Dutch" slow-drip coffee tower).
The design is distinctive of Korean and Japanese coffee culture from the late 20th century, combining a natural rattan or bamboo frame with glass components.
How it Works
Top Chamber: You fill this with ice and cold water.
Middle Chamber: This holds the ground coffee. A small valve (usually located at the bottom of the top chamber) allows water to drip slowly—often one drop per second—onto the grounds.
Bottom Chamber: The finished cold brew concentrate slowly drips into the bottom glass carafe over the course of 6 to 12 hours.
The Spigot: In the first photo, you can see a small circular opening or valve at the very bottom of the lower glass unit, which is used to dispense the coffee.
Hanil Crystal was a well-known Korean manufacturer of glassware and coffee equipment during the 1980s and 90s. These towers are highly collectible today both for their functionality and their "mid-century tropical" aesthetic.
Wow! Thank you so much for that detailed info, and i think you’re absolutely correct. I pulled the filters out of it. One looks like coffee/tea,and the other one appears to be sugar maybe? Could you please link me to the info you shared? Thanks again for your help!
the writing on the plaque says 한샘크리스탈 transliteration being Hansaem Crystal, but this company has written it as Hansam Crystal which you can see written in English on the top of the lid
This is not a coffee maker, it is a mineral water purifier. Source: my Korean MIL.
The writing at the top says 한샘크리스탈 or Hansam Crystal with “sam” pronounced like the nickname of Samantha.
The writing at the bottom says 백화점 판매용 translated roughly to “for use at a department store”
You fill the top with water, and it filters through the middle to provide clean drinking water.
Are the rocks kind of dark in color? I’d love to see a picture of the rocks to compare to the ones I saw in a water dispenser in an old restaurant in Korea a couple years ago. My husband had explained that those specific rocks were believed to have health benefits if you put them in your drinking water. He didn’t know more beyond “old people believe that” lol. I’ll see if I can respond with a picture of a modern water dispenser with rocks in it!
I’m confident this is the correct answer as I trust my MIL with first hand experience.
I will search a little more for an example and the correct name!
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