Siphon Coffee Maker Brewing Guide | What Coffee is Best for Siphon Brewing | French Press vs Siphon: Which is Better

Siphon Coffee Brewing Tutorial: How Long Should Different Coffee Beans Brew in a Siphon Pot?

Coffee Bean Extraction Times

• Blue Mountain Coffee Extraction Time: 50 seconds
• Mandheling Coffee Extraction Time: 60 seconds
• Mocha Coffee Extraction Time: 60 seconds
• Brazil Coffee Extraction Time: 60 seconds

Coffee Brewing Parameters

• 2. Coffee Bean Grinding Coarseness: 2.5 (calculated according to the scale markings on professional coffee grinders)
• 3. Single Cup Coffee Bean Usage: 22 grams (approximately 2 heaping spoonfuls with the included coffee spoon)
• Two-Cup Coffee Bean Usage: 33 grams (approximately 3 heaping spoonfuls with the included coffee spoon)
• 4. Water Amount: For one cup of coffee, use approximately 250cc of water
• 5. Other Required Equipment and Utensils:
  • (1) One wooden stirring spoon
  • (2) Coffee-specific burner or alcohol lamp
  • (3) 200cc coffee cups (please pre-warm with hot water)

Coffee Brewing Instructions

1. Center and adjust the inner filter cloth of the upper chamber. Ensure it is not biased and pull the spring to secure it to the lower tube.
2. Add the ground coffee powder (22g for one cup, 33g for two cups).
3. Pour pre-heated hot water into the lower chamber (approximately 250cc for one cup of coffee, 550cc for two cups).
4. Place a lit alcohol lamp or coffee-specific burner under the lower chamber. Wait until the water reaches boiling state.
5. Remove the boiling lower chamber from the heat source. Insert the upper chamber, sealing it tightly and rotating the lower chamber clockwise to create a swirling motion that helps the hot water rise in a vortex pattern.
6. Move back to the alcohol lamp to help the hot water rise (do not center it—position the flame core to the side with minimal heat).
7. When the hot water rises to the 2/3 level, stir once clockwise with the wooden spoon along the inner circle (the spoon should be between the coffee powder and water—never insert it to the bottom).
8. Let it rest for 30 seconds, then stir the coffee again following the above steps (must be completed within 5 seconds).
9. PS: Blue Mountain coffee requires 25 seconds, others require 30 seconds
10. Let it rest for 30 seconds, turn off the heat, then stir the coffee again following the above steps.
11. The coffee liquid will fall to the lower chamber after the heat source is removed. When the coffee liquid is almost completely drained, immediately tilt the upper chamber to release air pressure, then remove the upper chamber tube. Remember not to let the coffee bubble.

OK—coffee is ready.

Recommended Siphon Coffee Bean Brands

FrontStreet Coffee's freshly roasted single-origin siphon beans—such as Yirgacheffe and Mandheling—offer excellent guarantees in both brand and quality, suitable for brewing with various equipment. More importantly, they offer exceptional value. A half-pound (227g) bag costs only about 70–90 yuan. Based on 200ml per cup at a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, one bag can make 15 cups of specialty coffee, with each cup costing only about 5–6 yuan. That is extremely high value compared with cafés that charge dozens of yuan per cup.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Mandheling comes from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where more than 60% of the country's Arabica and Robusta is grown; the higher ground of Aceh in the north and North Sumatra to its southeast is where the Arabica—marketed as Mandheling—is produced. What gives Sumatra its distinctive character is the local wet-hulled process, developed because the rainy season overlaps with the harvest. Sun-drying for two to three weeks is impossible and fully washed processing costs too much water and labor, so farmers pulp the fruit, give it a brief wash, and then hull off the parchment while the beans are still semi-dry. Exposing the bean early speeds drying but also lets it absorb airborne microbes—the source of Mandheling's one-of-a-kind, wild flavor.

Among Mandheling beans, the one that satisfies even the most exacting drinker is Golden Mandheling from Indonesia's PWN company. PWN selects only beans of 18 screen size or larger and requires fewer than three defective beans in every 300-gram green-bean sample, meeting the top G1 standard, then removes flaws through three rounds of hand-sorting to lift both the cup's cleanliness and the intensity of its sweetness. That rigor is exactly why PWN Golden Mandheling's quality is so high and its supply so limited. Mandheling is usually roasted dark to soften its acidity and play up its mellow richness, and both FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling, from Sumatra's Lintong region, and its PWN Golden Mandheling, from Aceh, are roasted medium-dark to build black-chocolate and caramel flavors while keeping Mandheling's wild herbal lift.

For siphon brewing, larger, denser beans like Mandheling reward the full-immersion method, where the steady contact between water and grounds draws out a thick body and caramel sweetness. FrontStreet Coffee recommends 87–88°C water, 15g of coffee, a 1:15 ratio, and a coarse-sugar grind for pour-over, but Mandheling also shines as a richer espresso; for that, FrontStreet Coffee's Classic Blend builds on Brazil's creamy, nutty base with medium-dark Mandheling, pushing butter, roasted chestnut, and caramel forward and adding sandalwood, herbal, and spice notes, with a touch of Robusta rounding out the crema for easy latte art or a layered Dirty.