Siphon

A siphon (or vacuum pot) looks like a little science experiment ⚗️. Heating the bottom glass bowl pushes the water up into the top bowl, where it meets the coffee. When you take away the heat, the cooling bottom bowl pulls the brewed coffee back down through a filter. It's mesmerizing to watch, and it makes a remarkably clean, sweet, aromatic cup. A bit of a ritual, a lot of fun.

Grind: Medium, like coarse sand

Pick your kind

Your first siphon brewHeat, let the water rise, stir in the coffee, steep about a minute, and watch it drain back down.15 min · takes practice

Words you'll hear

Lower bowl: The round bottom glass chamber that holds the water and later receives the finished coffee.
Upper bowl: The top chamber with a glass tube. The water rises into it and the coffee brews here.
Filter: A cloth, paper or metal disc that sits at the bottom of the upper bowl and holds back the grounds.
Drawdown: When the heat is removed and the coffee is pulled back into the lower bowl. Should take about 30–60 seconds.
Vacuum: As the lower bowl cools, the vapor inside condenses and lowers the pressure, which sucks the coffee back down.
Ratio: Water weight divided by coffee weight. 1:15 means 20 g of coffee to 300 g of water.
Extraction: How much flavor the water pulls from the grounds. Under-extracted tastes sour and thin; over-extracted tastes bitter and dry.