21st Street Coffee and Tea

Ever since we started carrying coffee syphons, aka vacuum coffee makers, in our shop, we have been asked what the heck it is roughly 4-6 times per day.

Some joke that it resembles drug paraphernalia, but I wouldn’t know because I’m not into that sort of thing.  (As an aside, please do not make stupid jokes about our stuff and then get a glazed over/disinterested look when we make an honest effort to explain something to you in a friendly and helpful manner but you really didn’t care and wanted to be a funny guy- pet peeve).  Anyway, yes it looks cool and has a certain laboratory chic, but this type of coffee maker has been around since the 1830’s because it can be used to make great coffee.  Vacuum coffee makers had been popular in this country up until around 1960 or so, but faded into anonymity for a while.  With discerning customers demanding higher quality in the cup we’re also witnessing a renewed interest in time honored, manual brewing methods- like the French Press or Chemex.  The Syphon is making a comeback, but don’t call it a comeback…. it’s been here for years.

Any coffee maker can be broken down as to how it addresses the following variables: brewing time, water temperature, how the water contacts the coffee during the brew cycle, and finally how we extract the drinkable coffee from the brew.  The Syphon, along with a timer/temperature probe, can be carefully regulated to a precise brew time and temperature.  It uses total immersion brewing (coffee and water are together during the entire brew cycle) to get a thorough extraction, and uses a vacuum to quickly (and crystal-cleanly) extract your coffee from the brew chamber.  It’s definitely the most “engaging” coffee making experience around as it requires your total attention throughout the brew cycle, so this isn’t for the folks that want to set a timer the night before to turn on their Mr. Coffee.  If you want something good you’re just going to have to learn how it works and pay attention to the details… or pay us to make coffee for you.  Without knowing much about the development of the Clover, I’d have to say that the Syphon had a heavy influence on it’s design and there are many similarities between how we use the Clover at the shop and how I use my syphon at home.
The fine folks over at Barismo.com have posted an updated Syphon primer- a very detailed “how-to” based on Taiwanese Syphon Master Simon Hsieh’s techniques.  Most syphon coffee makers include the more traditional and time honoroed instructions as explained here in great detail, but after trying both I’ve become a big fan of Mr. Hsieh’s method.  I feel like I have much more control over the coffee/water contact time and there isn’t additional (& hard to quantify) brewing going on while we’re waiting for the water to ramp up or draw down.  I feel that I can affect the flavor profile of the coffee more precisely with this method- and bring out what I like best in a given coffee.  Your results may vary so pick one up, try both methods, and make up your own mind.  Oh yeah and watch this video…