Coffee Tao

An article in the New York Times highlights the Blue Bottle Cafe in San Francisco and its interesting recent purchase–a $20,000 coffee brewing contraption imported from Japan.

Using halogen lamps for heat and enough glass bulbs to make any mad scientist proud, the “siphon bar” as its called uses a brewing principle similar to a stove-top espresso brewer or a Chemex:

A siphon pot has two stacked glass globes, and works a little like a macchinetta, that stove-top gadget wrongly called an espresso maker by generations of graduate students. As water vapor forces water into the upper globe the coffee grounds are stirred by hand with a bamboo paddle. (In Japan, siphon coffee masters carve their own paddles to fit the shape of their palms.)

The goal is to create a deep whirlpool in no more than four turns without touching the glass. Posture is important. So is timing: siphon coffee has a brewing cycle of 45 to 90 seconds.

James Freeman, owner of Blue Bottle and the importer of the siphon bar, claims that the resulting brew is delicate, “juicier”, and “almost moussey”. I’m intrigued and already considering a field trip…

See a slide show of the siphon bar in action on the New York Times’ site.