What Coffee Beans Are Best for Siphon Brewing_Siphon Coffee Brewing Video Tutorial_How Much Does Siphon Coffee Cost

The History of Siphon Coffee

In 1840, a piece of laboratory glassware sparked the invention of the siphon coffee maker. An Englishman named Nabi used laboratory test tubes as his blueprint to build the first vacuum coffee maker. Two years later, Madame Bachin of France refined the design, giving birth to the familiar up-and-down convection siphon pot we know today. The brewer then lingered in France for decades without catching on widely. It was not until the mid-20th century, when it reached Denmark and Japan, that it finally found its audience.

The Japanese approached siphon brewing with meticulous precision, carefully mapping the relationships between grind size, water, and time to develop a standardized brewing method. The design-minded Danes, meanwhile, focused on function and form. In the mid-1950s, Peter Bodum - who imported siphon pots from France - found the French pots expensive and awkward to use. Working with architect Kaas Klaeson, he developed Bodum's first stylish siphon pot, sold under the name "Santos."

Main Components of a Siphon Pot

1. Upper chamber (holds the grounds; mixing and extraction happen here)
2. Lower chamber (holds the water and, later, the finished coffee)
3. Lower chamber stand
4. Upper chamber lid
5. Filter cloth (for filtering)
6. Alcohol lamp (the heat source)
7. Alcohol lamp protective cover
8. Coffee scoop / stirring rod

How a Siphon Pot Works

Siphon extraction runs on pressure difference. First the water in the lower chamber is heated to a boil, then the upper chamber is seated on top, sealing the lower chamber. The pressure gap between the two chambers drives the hot water up to meet the grounds in the upper chamber, where extraction takes place. Once extraction is complete, the heat is removed from below; the pressure difference collapses instantly, and gravity pulls the finished coffee back down into the lower chamber. To hurry the return flow along, wipe the lower chamber with a damp cloth - cooling it further shrinks the pressure difference and speeds the coffee on its way down.

Siphon Pot Measurement Standards

1. Water Measurement in the Lower Chamber

Siphon pots generally come in 2-person, 3-person, and 5-person sizes. A "cup" standard is 120ml: the 2-person size represents 2 cups with a maximum capacity of 240ml, the 3-person size 3 cups with each cup standard being 120ml and a maximum of 360ml, and the 5-person size 5 cups with each cup standard being 120ml and a maximum of 600ml. The markings on the pot indicate capacity: N markings mean N × 120ml of water.

2. Coffee Bean Measurement

Brewing one cup of coffee (120ml/cup) in a siphon pot generally takes about 15g of grounds. The matching coffee scoop holds about 10g per level scoop, so one cup needs roughly 1.5 scoops. Scale up for more cups: two cups means about 3 scoops, or 30g of grounds.

3. Summary

One cup: 120ml of water and 15g of grounds. Two cups: 240ml of water and 30g of grounds. You can adjust the dose per cup to taste, generally anywhere from 10-20g.

Siphon Pot Demonstration

First, a word on choosing a pot and the consumables you will need:

Siphon pots on the market fall into three broad categories - domestically made, Taiwanese, and Japanese - with prices rising in that order. There are too many domestic brands to list; Taiwanese options include YAMI, while the best-known Japanese brand is HARIO.

When choosing, check the glass first: it must be heat-resistant and able to handle sharp temperature swings. Then pick a capacity to suit your needs - the standard sizes are 2-person, 3-person, and 5-person. Prices run from 100-200 yuan.

Most standard-priced siphon coffee makers include an alcohol lamp, while some people buy a separate gas burner instead. Alcohol lamps cost about 10-20 yuan, and gas burners 80-100 yuan. Fuel alcohol is cheap and easy to find at pharmacies - just make sure it is high-purity; 95% purity is sufficient.

You should also pick up an hourglass or kitchen timer (your phone works too). Siphon brewing is strict about timing - running long or short changes the flavor. The main brewing phase takes 50-60 seconds, with more delicately flavored coffees needing the full 1 minute. A stirring rod is usually included with the pot. Buy extra filter cloths as well: they are made of thick cotton and will yellow with use or grow moldy if stored badly, so they need frequent replacement to stay clean. Keep one or two spare sets on hand - a pack of 10 generally costs under 20 yuan.

Fully assembled, the siphon pot looks uncannily like a chemistry-class setup, doesn't it?

Siphon Coffee Brewing Method

There are many ways to brew siphon coffee, and no individual or organization has ever codified the one "correct" method. What follows is my personal approach - it may not be 100% right, so seasoned coffee veterans, please be gentle. Corrections and suggestions in the comments are always welcome. Now, to brew:

1. Step 1: Fill the lower chamber with cold water - purified water is best. Wipe the outside of the pot completely dry, top and bottom, to keep the glass from cracking during heating.
2. Step 2: Set the filter cloth in the upper chamber, pull the little metal hook at its base through the tube opening to secure it, then set the upper chamber on the lower chamber at an angle - do not seat it vertically yet.
3. Step 3: Add grounds to the upper chamber according to the number of cups you plan to brew (see the measurement standards above).
4. Step 4: Light the alcohol lamp and slide it under the lower chamber. Adjust the height of the alcohol cotton before lighting so you are heating with the outer flame. Watch the lower chamber: when large bubbles start appearing - a sign it is about to boil - seat the upper chamber vertically and lock it in place.
5. Step 5: Once the water is at a full boil, straighten the upper chamber so it seals snugly onto the lower chamber. Heat and pressure will drive the hot water upward until more than 95% of it has moved into the upper chamber (the lower chamber always retains a little residual water). Leave the alcohol lamp burning as is, though you may shift it slightly off-center from the base of the lower chamber - mainly to prevent overheating, which could crack the glass once the water level there is low.
6. Step 6: Extraction. The whole cycle from mixing through extraction to return flow should stay within 1 minute. Once more than 1/3 of the water has risen, ease the flame back a little, then stir the grounds clockwise from the outside toward the center for about 10 seconds, making sure every particle is submerged. Start timing: after 45 seconds - this stage is usually called the "bloom" - stir the coffee counterclockwise for 5 seconds.
7. Step 7: At 55 seconds, cut the heat: remove the alcohol lamp and extinguish the flame. The coffee will begin flowing back down. Give it one gentle stir, then let it cool naturally as the coffee drains into the lower chamber.
8. Alternatively, during the return flow, wiping the lower chamber with a damp cloth cools it faster, dropping its temperature and pressure and speeding the coffee's descent.
9. Step 8: Remove the upper chamber. Do not pull it straight up - it will not come. Rock it gently from side to side with a slight twist to break the seal, and it will lift off easily.

There is far more to siphon pots than one article can hold; I will share more as experience accumulates. As you can see, the strengths and weaknesses of siphon brewing are plain. On the plus side, the process is great fun and shows off the flavors of specialty coffee beautifully. On the minus side, it is fiddly, detail-heavy, and awkward to clean.

Siphon Pot Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's freshly roasted single-origin siphon beans - Yirgacheffe and Mandheling among them - carry solid guarantees of brand and quality and suit many brewing methods. Better still, they are outstanding value: a half-pound (227g) bag costs only about 70-90 yuan. At 200ml per cup with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, one bag brews 15 cups of specialty coffee, working out to about 5-6 yuan a cup - a bargain next to café prices that often run dozens of yuan per cup.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The siphon pot flatters both delicate and bold coffees, and FrontStreet Coffee has you covered on both ends. For a bright, floral cup, try the washed Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Guodingding, with its gentle citrus-and-berry acidity and green-tea finish; for something rich and low in acidity, the FrontStreet PWN Indonesia Golden Mandheling delivers a thick, herbaceous body layered with dark chocolate - a classic pairing for immersion-style siphon extraction.