Archive for February 23rd, 2009

One of my larger Japan purchases was a Siphon Coffee Maker, bought from a store adjacent to the Union Commerce store in Tokyo. For anyone

Pre-heating helps with the brewing time, although a good degree of patients is still required.

interested in coffee or general culinary implements, the district Union Commerce is located in (Kappabashi District I believe) is a must. At first I was planning on purchasing a chef’s knife, however after seeing the insane prices and realizing I would probably use the siphon coffee maker more anyways, I decided with the latter. I’m a coffee geek, and have been interested in trying a siphon coffee maker for quite a while. Some varieties are available on the internet however I was determined to get one made in Japan. The store had many different varieties some of which were quite massive and taller than myself. In fact part of the store looked as though it was filled with chemistry glassware, or was a meth lab in disguise. After finding someone who spoke some english, I chose the Hario 3 cup Coffee Siphon (TCA/50A). I got a few extra cloth filters, and the owner made some espresso as we waited for the bill to be totaled. The only thing I regret was purchasing the maker the second day I was in Japan, subsequently I had to lug the rather large and delicate glass instrument around for the rest of my 15 day Japan tour. In any case it was worth the pain, and amazingly I was able to carry it on the plane as it went through customs and two security checkpoints at the airport with no issue.

Although the siphon (or vacuum) method of brewing originated in France and Germany it seems Japan has, at least in recent history, taken the most interest in the brewing method. Coffee Geek has an excellent article summarizing how to brew with a siphon coffee maker, so I’ll forgo the brewing details in this post. It does take a while to brew compared to other methods, especially if your using an alcohol burner (as I am), but the result is wroth the wait, and watching the brewing process is half the fun. I’d say the finished product will be rather strong if your used to usual drip coffee, much like what you’ll get out of a French Press. The advantage from the siphon method, as far as I know, is the higher level of temperature stability along with the fact the grounds are "pre-infused" so to speak from the heated water vapor rising in the center column. My next step is to see about getting a butane burner to speed up the brewing process or perhaps getting another maker that uses the stove instead of another heat source. The maker I purchased is rather nice (and gold), so perhaps later on I can justify purchasing another one for more frequent use, after I get a decent grinder that is.