Working principle of siphon pot｜What is the structure and composition of siphon pot SIPHON? How to make coffee with a siphon pot? What are the details of making siphon coffee?

The siphon pot, which looks like an experimental device, is a coffee brewing tool that uses the pressure changes caused by steam and the siphon principle to extract coffee. First appearing in Europe, the trademark registration of the siphon pot is owned by a French woman, Marie Fanny Amelne Massot. The exquisite spherical design marks the classic status of the siphon pot and is widely used by coffee lovers around the world. Today, Front Street will start with the principle of coffee extraction in a siphon pot and introduce you to this magical coffee extraction device.

Introduction to siphon pot

The name of the siphon pot comes from the siphon principle it uses, which achieves extraction through the pressure difference caused by temperature changes!

The English name of the siphon pot is "SIPHON", so it is also called a wind-stopper pot. It uses the thermal expansion and contraction caused by the water vapor generated after heating the water. The hot water in the lower pot is pushed into the upper seat to fuse with the coffee powder. When the temperature drops, the water will flow back into the lower pot through the vacuum tube, thereby obtaining coffee liquid. Since the coffee extracted from the siphon pot has a round and balanced tone, it is recommended to use coffee beans such as Front Street Bird of Paradise, Front Street Diamond Hill, Front Street Geisha Village Chaka, Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1, and Front Street Queen's Manor. The siphon pot coffee made by Front Street has excellent aroma and taste.

Siphon pot structure

Appearance structure:

If we don’t want to have a mouth full of coffee grounds, we need a device to filter them out when brewing! The filter of the siphon pot is composed of a round iron piece connected to a chain with a spring. The iron piece will be wrapped with filter material before use. The most commonly used one is a specially shaped flannel filter cloth! After the lines on both sides shrink, the filter cloth will be wrapped with iron sheets (remember to tie it after tightening and cut off the excess lines) to form a complete filter system, which can be placed inside the upper pot.

Heating source:

The heating source of the siphon kettle is not limited. It can be a gas stove with an open flame, a safe light wave oven, or a scientific alcohol lamp. It all depends on what you want to use. The result is the same heating effect!

Grinding thickness of coffee powder:

The grinding degree of siphon coffee has been calculated by Front Street before. The grinding will be finer than that of hand brewing. The sieving rate of No. 20 sieve is 90%. (The sieving rate used in conventional hand brewing is 80~85%)

Pink to water ratio:

Usually the ratio of powder to water for making siphon coffee is in the range of 1:10~1:12. More people like to use the ratio of 1:12, while the commonly used parameter in Front Street is 1:11, using 20g of coffee powder and 220ml of water.

Polling node:

The point of adding powder to the siphon pot is a controversial matter: add the powder first, or wait for the water to rise from the lower pot before adding powder? The traditional group chose the former. Adding the powder first will make the flavor fuller; while most people believe that adding the powder first is prone to uneven extraction. When the water level rises, it will first contact a small part of the powder at the bottom of the bottle. As a result, this small part of the powder has already been extracted before stirring is started after the water level rises.

Therefore, many people choose to wait until the water level has risen before adding powder. Front Street believes that it would be a good choice for novices to vote later, which can reduce the occurrence of unstable factors.

Stirring method:

There will be three stirrings in the whole process: when the coffee powder is added to the water, when the soaking time is halfway through, and before turning off the heat at the end. There are many ways to stir: cross stirring method, Z-shaped stirring method, ∞-shaped stirring method, rotating stirring method, tapping method and so on! The method is not the only one, but for those who have just started and don’t have much mixing experience, Front Street recommends the beating method! It is easy to control and get started. You can beat the coffee powder layer along the example path in the picture below. The stirring rod uses the center as the fulcrum and moves back and forth while keeping the two ends misaligned.

Judgment end time:

Regarding when to turn off the heat of siphon coffee, some people like to judge by the aroma of the coffee. This is too much of a test for basic personal skills, so Front Street recommends novices to use the timing method. If the powder is added first, the timer will start when stirring begins. If the powder is added later, the timer will start when the powder is added. The time to turn off the fire source is approximately 50 to 70 seconds.

Practical part:

Preparation tools: siphon pot, coffee beans, alcohol lamp (other heating sources are acceptable), hot water, dry rag

Step 1: Set up the lower alcohol pot and alcohol lamp, and install the barbs of the upper pot filter cloth in advance (put the filter device into the upper pot, pull out the barbs from the bottom of the pipe and hang it at the end of the pipe)

Step 2: Pour 220ml of hot water.

Step 3: Dry the lower pot and turn on the heating source (dry the lower pot to prevent it from breaking when heated)

Step 4: Insert the upper pot obliquely into the lower pot, and the explosion-proof beads should touch the bottom of the lower pot

Step 5: When the lower pot begins to boil and water droplets appear, position the upper pot and press firmly, and wait for the water from the lower pot to be sucked into the upper pot.

Step 6: When the pot stops absorbing water, pour in the coffee powder and start timing. In the first step, use tapping to press the coffee powder into the water and start even extraction.

Step 7: In the second section, start at 25 seconds using the stirring method recommended by Front Street and shake evenly so that the coffee can be clearly separated into three layers: coffee foam, coffee liquid, and coffee powder.

Step 8: Stir clockwise for the last 50 seconds. When 60 seconds is reached, remove the fire source and wait for the coffee liquid to flow back into the pot. (After removing the fire source, wipe the lower pot with a dry rag to speed up the reflow time)

At this point, the siphon coffee is ready! Compared with the clean and thorough ​Pour over​(V60) coffee, the brewing method of the siphon pot has a more mellow taste!

No matter what approach one takes to brewing, it all leads to a cup of coffee that makes one feel comfortable. Good coffee is so simple and pure.

You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.

The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.

FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.

FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473