Blue Bottle Coffee Siphon

During my first visit to San Francisco's Blue Bottle Coffee Cafe, I was distracted by their coffee making technique's razzle dazzle and physics. When I made my second visit I was better able to appreciate the brightly flavored coffee they brew up with their glass coffee siphons.

It's fascinating to watch the staff members use the beautiful device. I was perplexed why this brewing technique is prevalent in Japan but virtually unknown in the US. The person making the coffee explained that there are Japanese competitions to determine who makes the best siphon coffee. In fact, one of these siphon champions traveled from Japan to San Francisco to share his knowledge with Blue Bottle's employees.

The staff members have now explained the brewing process to me twice, so I'm a bit more certain how it works. A powerful halogen light heats the glass orb that contains the water. When the water begins boiling it creates steam which forces the water up into the ground coffee where it brews. Once all the water has entered the upper chamber, the orb is removed from the heat. As the coffee cools it quickly returns down to the orb, which then serves as the carafe.

The resulting cup of coffee has a complex flavor with a variety of distinct notes, most of which I find too ephemeral to describe. Because the beans are lightly roasted, they create a coffee that's much different from coffees using dark roasted beans, which can have a smoky or almost charred flavor.