Although the siphon pot is no longer a mainstream tool in coffee shops due to the trouble and time-consuming production, its ornamental value and the characteristics of the brewed coffee have always been a hot topic among coffee lovers.
"Compared to Pour over(V60) coffee, the coffee brewed with a siphon pot will be thicker and more fragrant." This is the common evaluation of siphon pot coffee. Then after some inquiries on Front Street Street, we found that everyone believed that the reason why siphon pot coffee tastes more fragrant is because of the special operation method of siphon pots.So is this really the case? Let’s review the process of making siphon coffee.The structure of the siphon pot can be roughly divided into three parts: the upper pot, the lower pot, and the bracket. The lower pot is not only the main carrier of liquid, but also the main part that receives heat during the extraction process, so its appearance is similar to a sphere in order to be heated evenly;The design of the upper pot is relatively unique. Its upper part is cylindrical, which is where the coffee powder comes into contact with the water, which can also be said to be the place where the coffee is extracted. The lower part has been shrunk, and a slender conduit has been extended. Its function is to guide water from the lower pot to the upper pot, and to guide the coffee liquid from the upper pot to the lower pot;The bracket plays a role of fixation and support. It will hold the lower pot in place, and then the lower pot will connect to the upper pot.The process of making siphon pot coffee is very simple: heat the hot water in the lower pot to generate a large amount of water vapor, and then use the upper pot to seal the lower pot so that the presence of water vapor can generate "pressure";At this time, the hot water in the lower pot will be pushed up to the upper pot due to the increase in pressure! When the hot water rises to the pot, we can start pouring in the coffee powder and start making coffee.When the extraction is almost complete, we can remove the fire source and lower the temperature of the lower pot, so that the coffee liquid will flow back to the lower pot, and we can declare that the coffee is finished.As you can see, although the operation of the siphon pot is very complicated and tedious, in fact, its coffee extraction method is "immersion type". It is a method of throwing the powder and water together, stirring and soaking, and then filtering out the coffee powder after the extraction is complete.In an article a few days ago, Front Street shared that because the coffee powder is all soaked in hot water, the substances dissolved in them are roughly the same. Compared with the rich layers of drip coffee, this extraction method will give the coffee a more balanced performance.But it’s not just the steeping that makes siphon pot coffee taste better, it’s also the way it’s filtered. There will be a filter with a boiling chain hanging in the upper pot of the siphon pot. The filter can be equipped with a flannel filter cloth or filter paper. Its function is to filter out the coffee grounds and prevent the coffee grounds from falling into the lower pot with the backflow of coffee.Traditional siphon pots use filter cloth. If you want easier cleaning or better filtration performance, you can choose to use filter paper. But no matter which one it is, because the filter is not completely covered, some substances other than coffee will still "sneak" out of the upper pot and fall into the lower pot.These substances are coffee lipids and extremely fine powders. Generally, when brewing coffee by hand, they will be filtered out by the extremely strong filtering performance of the filter paper. But they can bring a richer aroma and a more solid taste to coffee, because many aromas are oil-soluble substances, so the addition of oil can increase the aroma of coffee, which Front Street has shared before.So what are the specific differences between coffee made with a siphon pot and Pour over(V60) coffee? Below is a comparison made by Front Street using Front Street Jamaica·Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee in the coffee list. You can refer to it~(Since Front Street has already shared the making of siphon pot coffee in previous articles, I won’t go into details here. Interested friends can check it out by themselves.)The taste of Blue Mountain brewed by hand is very mellow and fragrant. It tastes soft and clean. The flavor is chocolate, hazelnut, cream, caramel, and has a long aftertaste. Blue Mountain coffee brewed in a siphon pot has a richer aroma, a more solid taste, and a longer aftertaste based on hand brewing. It's just that compared to hand brewing, its taste will not be as clean. Each has its own benefits.So everyone can know why the coffee brewed by the siphon pot is more fragrant. The reason is because it adds oil and coffee powder to the coffee. And this kind of taste is not impossible to copy. When we use a French press or any immersion coffee, as long as the coffee is not filtered so cleanly, we can get the same aroma and taste as the siphon coffee.But using a siphon pot to make coffee must not only focus on its taste, but also the ritual or experience brought by the entire production process. It is the cumbersome process and high ornamental value that add a lot of impression points to the taste of siphon pot coffee, making it feel different from the conventional one. But it is also because of this that in this fast-paced era of pursuit of efficiency, siphon pots will gradually break away from the mainstream and become a very niche coffee appliance.
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
