Nav: Home > Coffee >

French Press vs Siphon vs Pour-Over: Differences and How to Use a French Press

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). Pour-over coffee can be described as an art, a philosophy, a practice, and a journey of self-discovery. Friends who are serious and particular about coffee will surely have this experience: the taste of coffee brewed each day will vary. What exactly is different in the process? Each time, different...

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

The Art of Pour-Over Coffee

Pour-over coffee can be described as an art, philosophy, practice, and a journey of self-discovery. For friends who are serious and particular about coffee, you likely have this experience: the taste of coffee brewed each day varies, so which step was different? Thus, every time you record and study different situations, striving to produce coffee with consistent taste and stable quality.

Friends who are more casual can approach it with ease, enjoying the meditative feeling of brewing coffee. Yes, operating coffee equipment is a form of enjoyment and play. If you find it troublesome and stressful, then pour-over coffee might not be your "cup of coffee."

French Press

The French press is relatively easy to master. As long as the coffee beans are ground to medium particles, the water temperature is correct, and you wait 2-3 minutes after adding water, a cup of coffee is complete. Therefore, most baristas recommend the French press as an entry point for offices or friends new to pour-over coffee. Many years ago, I found the French press operation dull and not very stylish, so I gave away all my French presses. Earlier this year, someone gifted me a Bodum Chambord, and after using it again, I feel it's simple, convenient, easy to operate, and stable—somewhat falling in love with it again.

Pour Over

The pour-over kettle and conical filter cup should be paired as good companions. They're not expensive, and you might inadvertently end up buying several. The long, narrow spout design of the pour-over kettle is meant to improve control over speed and force when pouring water, while the conical filter cup is responsible for controlling the hot water extraction process of coffee—both are indispensable.

Among conical filter cups, products from Hario, Kalita, and Kono are very popular. These brands have also invested considerable effort in research and development. For pour-over kettles, products from Kalita, Gevalia, and Noda enamel are most widely recognized. The former is made of copper, while the latter two are enamel (also known as porcelain). The feel in hand shows respectively crisp and warm sensations, both quite intriguing.

The pour-over kettle can be considered an extraction tool suitable for both beginners and experts. First, it has a relatively large margin for error, so even if your technique isn't polished, you won't completely ruin a cup of coffee. At the same time, it can bring out many subtle aspects of coffee, fully expressing the smoothness, aroma, and various flavors. The popular light-roast coffee beans in recent years are also very suitable for pour-over filter kettles.

Syphon

The siphon coffee maker originated in Germany, featuring a construction of upper and lower pots and a unique siphon-style coffee maker as the brewing tool. Hario is a popular brand in Hong Kong, widely adopted by both local coffee shops and coffee enthusiasts at home. The siphon pot looks elegant and is particularly eye-catching during operation. Watching coffee move up and down between the two pots like magic, and being able to provide many conversation topics—all these factors add to its unique flavor and charm.

Perhaps for this reason, everyone has particularly many formal requirements for the siphon pot. For example, the gesture of adding water, the action of stirring coffee powder, etc., have all sparked extensive discussions among coffee enthusiasts. I love how the siphon pot can concretely and minutely present the true face of coffee, but I feel discouraged about not easily achieving stable results. Moreover, operating and cleaning the tools takes quite a bit of time, so I can only take it out to play on weekends and holidays.