time for a coffee break
January 2, 2009 – 12:49 pmI love coffee! There I said it. I am not one of those coffee fiends that drinks coffee all day long though. I typically drink a single Starbucks in the morning - along with a danish. My current drink of choice is a Tall Cappuccino with an extra shot. I also have a policy of not drinking coffee after 2 pm during the week - so usually my one cappuccino is all I have each day.
I also love to make coffee at home. I have four devices that I use to make coffee but really only use two of them regularly. I have a Saeco Super Automatic Espresso Machine, a Krups Drip Coffee Maker, A French Press and my newest apparatus - a Hario Siphon Coffee Maker (more about that later). I gave up making drip coffee over a year ago. I do not like drip coffee and prefer espresso based drinks or french press coffee. I find drip coffee too one dimensional and the quality is average at best compared to other brewing methods. I do not use my French Press very often anymore - it has been relegated to camping trips in our t@b trailer.
So this leaves only my awesome espresso machine and my new siphon machine. We bought the espresso machine for Christmas 2008. I got it online at Costco for half the list price at the time. It is so nice to wake up and hit a button that heats the water, grinds the beans and makes the prefect shot. It is like having a vending machine in your house that dispenses espresso shots!
My new obsession however is with the coffee siphon (it’s a game changer). It is very popular in places like Japan and even South America. I predict that you will see a lot more places offering siphon coffee in the next few years. So what makes it so great? Well, it looks really cool, it is fun to use and makes very clean (i.e. clear) great tasting coffee. Plus, look at that thing! It is like having my own coffee chemistry set.
The siphon works by heating the water in the coffee pot to boiling which creates gases that expand and push the water up into the brewing chamber. The water will remain in the brewing chamber until the heat source is removed. Once all the water is in the brewing chamber, I stir the coffee and then again every 30-45 seconds for two and a half minutes. Then I turn off the burner which allows the coffee pot to begin cooling and the coffee to flow back down into the pot. This takes another minute and a half. Then all you do is remove the top brewing chamber and serve the coffee.
The Hario coffee siphon comes with an alcohol burner but I never used it. Instead I bought a butane burner pictured above because it is faster and easier to control the heat. It is also easier to transport since the it is essentially a big lighter, whereas the alcohol burner is filled with flammable alcohol that looks like it could easily be spilled.
Something not easily seen is the filter. It uses a cloth filter that is pulled tight by a little chain that hangs down the tube and hooks to its bottom. In the picture above, the filter is visible under the coffee grounds. The chain is not hooked to the bottom of the tube so you can see the little hook that hold the filter tight to the bottom of the brewing chamber.
I got my coffee Siphon as a Christmas gift from my mother (thanks mom! - and thanks to my wife for telling her what to get me). I first discovered siphon coffee last Summer in Los Angeles at LaMill Coffee in Silverlake. I have heard that you can also get it at Blue Bottle in San Fransisco.
The machine is just one third of the equation. You also need water and coffee. I buy my coffee beans at either LaMill or at Peet’s Coffee. For my espresso machine, I buy whole beans since the machine grinds them to order each time I press the button for a shot. For the siphon machine, I have LaMill or Peet’s grind the beans for me. They have a burr grinder that does a much better job than the grinder I have a home. I plan on getting a high quality grinder soon so I can grind the beans to order for the siphon machine. You want to grind your beans not only for the brewing style but so the coffee is evenly ground. Some grinders - most notably the ubiquitous Krups blade grinder - are terrible and shouldn’t be used since they grind beans unevenly.
Currently, I am brewing LaMill’s Organic Ethiopian in my siphon machine. They descibe it as sweet with flavors of ripe stone fruit, apricot preserves, blueberry, and creme fraiche tartness. It really is delicious!
Water might be the most important ingredient for making great coffee. Unless you live in Vienna Austria, you do not want to use straight tap water until you have tested it or been told that it is suitable for making coffee (99% chance it isn’t). It is best to use filtered water. I have a dual filter system under my kitchen sink that removes most of the crap. You also don’t want to use bottled spring water because it has too many minerals and will create deposits in your machine.
The first time a had a sip of siphon coffee, I said; “this is like getting to drink wine with breakfast”. The coffee is very complex with a long finish (after taste). It is perfect black (I usually take a little cream).
Please feel free to leave a comment with your favorite coffee bean, brewing method or experience. Now I want to go home and make some coffee!
Here is a video I found on Youtube demonstrating the siphon method.
