The headlining piece of last week's New York Times dining section brought new awareness to an old method of making coffee: the vacuum, or siphon brewer. (They are sometimes also called glass brewers or balance brewers.) Among some coffee aficionados, especially in Japan, the vacuum brewer is the way to make a cup of coffee. The coffee from a vacuum brewer is often described as pure, dramatic, and crisp. Good siphon coffee made us feel like we were really tasting coffee for the first time.
Vaccum brewing looks like something from a Victorian laboratory, and it has indeed been around since the 1840s when it was invented in France. It was popular in the United States around the middle of the 20th century, but compared to the new, easy drip and percolator coffee makers it was too time-consuming and precise of a method to take real hold. They continue to be very popular in Europe and Japan.
The vacuum pot is a pleasure to watch - it makes a showman's cup of coffee! It works on simple scientific principles that look like magic when in action. Water sits in a bottom container, with grounds in a top container. There is a siphon tube and filter between the top and bottom containers. As the water heats the vapor it creates forces it to rise up through the tube into the top chamber. The water mixes with the coffee grounds and extracts their flavor. It just so happens that the temperature at which enough water becomes vapor is the same temperature that makes for maximum and perfect coffee extraction.
Then the heat source is removed, and as the water and vapor cool, gravity sucks them both back down into the lower chamber. The grounds up top are completely sucked dry and all of your coffee is in the bottom chamber.
This leaves an incredibly delicious and satisfying cup - we get this whenever we can. Cafe Balcony in west Los Angeles is the only place we've been able to find it, but we're thinking about investing in our own brewer.
The gold standard of vacuum brewers is the Cona, which run about $200. More economical versions like the Yama and Bodum are about $30-$50. Some more expensive versions come with a built-in heat source or flame while others are made for use directly on a stove burner.
More on siphon brewing:
• Great pictorial guide to brewing at Sweet Maria's
• Complete siphon coffee FAQ at Coffee Kid
Copyright © 2007 Apartment Therapy
The vacuum brewer makes a constantly good cup of coffee, but I've found its nothing I cant make in a less expensive coffee maker. But I'll tell you one thing, they're really fun to watch in the morning!! My boyfriend's roommate took his (a bodum model) when me moved and I have to say I morned. Just be warned-- the two glass containers are joined by rubber gasket and they are prone to leak if your not careful. Even with that said Id buy another onel-- if just for the gravity defying spectacular!
view matt manfredini's profile
i can't say i've ever had vacuum brewed coffee but i'd try it just for the fact that i get to buy that cool looking pot.
view vertigo's profile
the new blue bottle coffee place in the sf mint building has siphons producing coffee for two. customers get their own personal siphon to serve themselves as they please.
unfortunately, with only three siphons going at a time, they don't brew nearly as fast as they should in order to fulfill all the customers that flocked there last saturday morning...i had to wait 40 minutes to get my own personal siphon. the coffee tasted fine, but no cup of coffee is worth that kind of wait...
view thedonna's profile
I like the Bodum vacuum brewer, but the glass is pretty fragile. I've had 2 friends break theirs. I hate handwashing dishes, so we gave our brand new to one of them as a replacement gift -- I'm sticking with our french press that I can throw in the dishwasher.
view ami's profile
I have one of these, the Bodum version, and adore it: the ritual, the spectacle, and the finished product, too. I've used it off and on for 15 years with no breakage and no signs of wear and tear.
My only problem with it has been that sometimes when I remove it from the heat source the coffee just doesn't swoosh down into the lower chamber as it should, and I am left with sludge in the top and only a tiny bit of drinkable coffee. This is particular annoying when guests have just been ooooohing over the gadget.
On the other hand, the risk of complete failure does add a certain level of suspense to the spectacle.
view viola's profile
Apparently a place called Funnel Mill in Santa Monica also serves siphon coffee. Planning to head over there today to check it out!
view chez shoes's profile