Siphon Coffee set-up, flow, and precautions

After a bit of practice, I did a demonstration for my coworkers on siphon coffee. The point of which was to see what I expect of them if they were to do it themselves (which is the goal). The setup in the picture contains all the equipment I deem necessary to prepare the coffee. Everything is set up on this cart, rolled to the customers table, and prepared in front of them.

The grinder in the top left (Hario Cannister Hand Grinder) is something I ordered online from Amazon, and is a simple ceramic burr grinder. Grinding the beans this way is definitely the hardest part of the whole process. You need some flair, because 30g of beans takes 3~5 minutes to grind. Here are the issues/solutions presented with grinding coffee to order at the table:

• It’s tiring to hold down the base with enough force that it doesn’t rock around as you grind.

Deal with it, at least you’re not swinging a pick-axe for salt in the middle of a dessert

• It’s can be awkward to make conversation while keeping enough concentration for smooth uninterrupted grinding.

This is where personal flair and knowledge in what you’re doing are crucial. There are many things on this trolley to talk about, I’ve found it’s best to use these ‘props’ as fillers and basically just let the customers talk. Questions like “do you normally drink coffee?”, “what kind of coffee do you like?”, can link to a story about someones trip to Peru 3 years ago and all the wonderful coffee they had there. By the time they finish their story, you might be finished grinding, or if not, teach them about what’s going on.

• It can be awkward for the customer to have someone invade their personal space for this amount of time

This awkwardness can be avoided by simply asking if you being there is what they want. “Hi, I have a cart set up over there. I can certainly make your coffee out of sight, but if you’re interested, I’d love to prepare it in front of you.”

In our meeting we determined that this whole presentation had better be very fluid, without pauses. These are the steps which should be followed for Siphon Preparation. Steps 1-2 should be doable by anyone. Steps 3-17 done by the person preparing the coffee. Steps 18-20 by anyone.

1. Put cold water in the tetsubin
2. Bring cold water to a boil and prepare the cart with tools and required coffee
3. When water is boiling, approach the table with the cart
4. Greet the guests, explain what siphon coffee is, and basically how it works.
5. Pour boiling water from the tetsubin into the lower chamber of the siphon pot until the desired level
6. Light the chafing fuel with a lighter and place the flame under the lower chamber
7. Loosely sit the upper chamber on the lower chamber
8. Weigh the coffee with the scale
9. Fill the grinding chamber with the coffee beans, and start the show (you have approximately 3 minutes to kill before the water in the chamber hits rolling boil using a chafing fuel can)
10. As you’re grinding, some things you can talk about are the origin of the beans, merits of the brewing method, burr grinders vs blade grinders, what to expect in the flavor of the coffee, how light roasts may differ from medium and dark roasts, caffeine, our water, the tetsubin, iron for their health, halogen bulbs vs butane vs chafing fuel, or you might want to let them talk. Most of our guests are pretty well traveled people, ask them about their life. Keep an eye out for when the water hits rolling boil, because it’s that time when your grinding should be finished, and you move on to step 11
11. Create a seal between the upper and lower sections of the Siphon Pot, narrate the process of what’s going on to the customers.
12. Adjust the heat below the lower bulb so bubbles stop forming in the upper chamber, but the liquid stays.
13. Open the ground coffee cannister and scoop grounds into the upper chamber of the Siphon Pot.
14. Push around the grounds until there are no visible dry spots
15. Allow some time for infusion
16. Remove heat source from the lower chamber
17. As the coffee starts to fall down to the lower chamber, stir the top section in a circular motion (create a whirlpool sort of thing) this helps to distribute the grounds evenly as they descend towards the filter. Eventually the top portion will drain. Your job is essentially finished here, when it’s empty remove the top section and place on the stand.
18. Allow the coffee some time to relax. Go heat up cups, prepare the cream and sugar setting, heat up another glass carafe to transfer the coffee into)
19. Take the cream/sugar set to the table, along with the hot cups, and preheated carafe. Pour the coffee for the customer, and the rest of the coffee into the pre heated carafe.
20. Roll the cart away with all of the utensils, clean the siphon set and prepare it for its next use.

It’s an exciting start, but I don’t think this vac pot makes very good coffee in comparison to drip. Don’t get me wrong, it’s leaps and bounds better than the hot coffee flavored water we give to everyone currently. But the drip I make at home with our $5 kijiji piece of shit coffee machine is amazing. The next coffee related purchase should be Chem-X or Aero press. Leaning towards Chem-X though!