What's the difference between siphon and French press? How to choose between siphon and French press?

When it comes to coffee brewing methods, FrontStreet Coffee has introduced hundreds of varieties—some popular, some simple, some niche, some full of ceremony, offering a complete array of options.

Looking at the steps involved, FrontStreet Coffee believes the French press is the simplest method. You just need the right coffee beans and grind size, and like brewing tea, you can easily get a mellow cup of black coffee in just a few minutes. Conversely, when FrontStreet Coffee uses a siphon to brew coffee, it's much more complicated than other methods because not only are the steps complex, but the operations before and after brewing are also very troublesome, which discourages many friends who want to try it. So, is there a big difference in taste between coffee brewed with these two extraction methods? Without further ado, FrontStreet Coffee will immediately compare them to find out.

What is a French Press and How to Use It?

Originating from France, it consists of a cylindrical container and a lid with a metal filter mesh in the middle that can be pulled up and down, used to separate coffee grounds from coffee liquid to control extraction.

The principle of the French press is just like brewing tea. After soaking coffee powder in hot water for a certain period, push the piston down to filter and obtain coffee liquid. Pour water into the ground coffee powder all at once, let the water penetrate into the coffee powder, wait for the flavor substances to release, and finally filter the coffee powder from the coffee liquid to get a cup of black coffee. The biggest advantage of immersion devices is that they don't require high-level brewing skills or any special accessories, making them easier to master than pour-over methods, hence they're also called "lazy coffee devices." Because the entire process involves immersion, French press coffee emphasizes a richer mouthfeel and relatively balanced flavors.

Unlike the complexity of pour-over coffee, the French press's "one-shot" water pouring method is simpler, which means there are only 4 factors affecting the coffee: coffee-to-water ratio, grind size, water temperature, and immersion time. Similar to cupping, extraction is relatively stable, and the coffee flavor better reflects the original taste.

Because the French press completes water pouring all at once, the extraction temperature will gradually decrease over time, so it needs to be slightly higher than pour-over water temperature. For brewing light to medium-roasted acidic coffee, you can use 92-94°C; for medium to dark-roasted bitter coffee, 89-90°C is recommended. During autumn and winter when room temperature is lower, we can preheat the French press with boiling water to reduce heat dissipation during extraction.

Time is a parameter that French press can freely adjust. Without human stirring factors, immersion time becomes one of the key factors affecting extraction rate. Under the same conditions, generally the longer the extraction time, the richer the taste, but it's also more prone to over-extraction leading to bitterness, astringency, and woody flavors. Paired with coarse grinding, FrontStreet Coffee suggests an immersion time of about 4 minutes for light to medium roast coffee. Medium to dark roast coffee more easily extracts bitter flavors, so 3 minutes and 30 seconds is sufficient. This time can fully release positive flavor substances while avoiding the bitter and miscellaneous taste from soaking too long.

What's the Principle of Brewing Coffee with a Siphon?

The English name for the siphon is "SIPHON," so it's also called a vacuum pot. It uses the thermal expansion and contraction caused by water vapor when water is heated to push hot water from the lower pot into the upper chamber to mix with coffee powder. When the temperature decreases, the water flows back to the lower pot through the vacuum tube, thereby obtaining coffee liquid.

Many friends might think that the extraction method for siphon coffee is "siphon-style," but that's not correct~ Although the siphon pot only uses the siphon principle to draw hot water to the upper pot, this is not used for coffee extraction.

When hot water is drawn to the upper pot, adding coffee powder for immersion is when extraction officially begins, so strictly speaking, the extraction method for siphon coffee should be "immersion-style." By immersing water and coffee powder, flavor substances from the powder are extracted.

Because immersion extraction uses all hot water to contact with coffee powder, when substances in the water reach a certain level, the dissolution rate will slow down, no longer extracting too many flavor substances from the coffee, which is what we often call reaching a saturated state. Therefore, siphon coffee tastes relatively balanced, with a relatively round mouthfeel, solid coffee aroma, but compared to pour-over coffee, the flavors won't be too prominent.

It's worth mentioning that compared to conventional immersion extraction, siphon immersion extraction is somewhat different. Because of the siphon principle, hot water will continuously heat during the coffee extraction process, giving the lower pot enough air to keep the hot water in the upper pot continuously. Therefore, siphon immersion extraction is completely constant temperature, while conventional immersion and drip extraction are both processes of continuous temperature loss, where water temperature gradually decreases over time. This leads to siphons having higher extraction rates, and with stirring, they can complete extraction in a shorter time.

Additionally, siphons mainly use flannel filter cloths as filtering devices. Although filter paper can also be used, because it cannot fully cover, it cannot form a "sealed" space like pour-over coffee. Fine powders, oils, and other substances can pass through gaps into the lower pot, joining the coffee liquid, so siphon coffee appears relatively turbid. Although oils and fine powders make the coffee liquid less clean, they can provide a richer mouthfeel to the coffee, which is why siphon coffee tastes more mellow.

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