I Tested Siphon Coffee Makers and Found Two I Recommend

When I was a barista at a busy downtown Chicago coffee bar, we offered three different, brewed-to-order styles: pour-over, Chemex, and siphon. The two siphon rigs framing either side of our pour-over bar were an instant draw: sell one siphon-brewed coffee, and the crowd gathered around your mysterious boiling water globes would likely order another.

Making coffee with a siphon takes experience and extra concentration (I'll get more into that below), but it can be a fun method for those who want to make science-fueled brews at home. To find the best siphon coffee maker, I evaluated four models by brewing coffee and rating them on their consistency, ease of use, and durability. I also spoke to an expert about the science behind siphons. All the siphons I tested made great coffee, but my favorite from Yama was easy to use, heated evenly, and felt stable (even on gas burners).

The Winners, at a Glance

The Best Coffee Siphon

Yama Glass 5-Cup Stovetop Coffee Siphon

$63 at Amazon View on Yama-glass.com

A flat base for faster, even heating, a wide mouth for easy filling, and a sturdy handle for moving on and off a heat source make the Yama 5-Cup Stovetop Siphon my top choice for at-home use, especially if you have a gas range.

Another Great Coffee Siphon

Hario "Next" Coffee Syphon 600ml

$105 at Amazon

This brewer uses a frame to hold the siphon over its own heat source—an alcohol lamp or butane burner—to heat the water. Its a little trickier to use than a stovetop version, but the coffee still comes out consistently flavorful.

The Tests

• Cold Water Test: I filled each siphon's bottom chamber with 600 grams of cold water, then timed how long it took to boil over medium heat (medium was the highest I could achieve without the burner flame going up the sides of the siphons' bases).
• Hot Water Test: To test my recommended brewing method (more on that later), I repeated the cold water test with 600 grams of just-boiling water and timed how long it took to come back to a boil over medium heat.
• Taste Test: I brewed coffee with each siphon using 30 grams of medium-fine ground beans and 500 grams of hot water. I let it brew for one minute and 15 seconds before taking it off the heat, then tasted the coffee once it had siphoned and cooled. I evaluated the coffee for sweetness, acidity, body, finish, and overall quality.
• Taste Test Two (Winners-Only): I used the best coffee siphons and adjusted multiple variables— including grind size, brew ratio, brew time, and temperature—to find the most effective (and delicious) brewing method.
• Usability Tests: Throughout testing, I noted each siphon's build quality, ease of operation and cleaning, and any quirks.

What Is a Siphon Coffee Brewer?

Introduced in 1915, the Silex coffee maker was the first mass-produced coffee siphon in the United States. It was quite popular—Silex even built a 7-foot tall glass siphon brewer to show off at the World’s Fair—until the coffee percolator became the go-to choice for most homes in the '40s and '50s. It's no big surprise that the siphon fell out of fashion when easier methods became available. It's a particularly finicky brewing process that requires the user to time the heating, check the brew temperature, remove and replace the top chamber, stir the coffee, and remove it from the heat source at the right point to trigger the vacuum action. It takes knowledge and focus, plus it all has to happen before one's first cup of coffee. Still, I think it's a worthy craft for those intrigued by the intricacies.

To use a siphon brewer, you must first understand what it even is. Generally, siphons have a two-chamber system: a bottom flask (which you fill with water) and a top chamber with a filter (where you add the coffee). As you boil the water in the bottom chamber, the rising pressure forces it up through the glass tube into the top chamber, where it saturates the coffee and steeps. Once you remove the heat source, it creates a vacuum that then sucks the brewed coffee back down through the filter, leaving the spent grounds in the top.

How to Use a Coffee Siphon (According to an Expert)

To appreciate the science of modern siphons better, I spoke to Christopher Hendon. He is an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon and has serious coffee credentials as the co-author of Water For Coffee (now out of print). He explained that the vapor pushing its way up can make the water in the top chamber look like it's boiling, even when it's not. If the chamber is sealed from the start of the heating process, water can start ascending to the coffee grounds when it's only about 150°F. This is a problem, since the ideal brewing temperature for coffee is between 195°F and 200°F.

Even though most coffee siphon manufacturers instruct users to fill the bottom with water, affix the top chamber immediately, then set it on a heat source, Hendon recommends waiting until the water is hot (or starting with hot water) before sealing to ensure consistent, ideal extraction. After that, “the real business happens when you pull it off the heat," says Hendon. As the lower chamber starts to cool down again, the pressure lowers and forms a partial vacuum which sucks the now-brewed coffee back down through the filter.

Most siphon brewers also recommend a steep time of around one to one-and-a-half minutes, which is considerably shorter than standard brew times. Even with the drawdown, the total coffee and water contact time would be limited to around two to two-and-a-half minutes, much shorter than the three- to four-minute recommended brew time for pour-over, or the five- to 10-minute brew time recommended for a French press.

Using the insights I gleaned from Hendon, here's the recommended method I developed for coffee siphon brewers:

• Add boiling water to the bottom chamber, then turn on the heat source to medium until the water travels to the top. Double-check that the brew temperature isn’t too hot or cold (an instant-read thermometer helps here). If it's below 190ºF, leave the heat source on until the temperature rises. If it's above 205ºF, stir the water with a paddle until it cools down.
• Add your ground coffee and gently stir 10 times in a zig-zag pattern, making sure to get the grounds fully saturated. Let the coffee steep for two minutes with the heat source on low.
• Remove the siphon from the heat source, and stir 10 more times in a zig-zag pattern.
• As it cools, the lower vessel will pull the brewed coffee through the filter attached between the two chambers.

What We Learned

Siphon-Brewed Coffee Was Delicious

While I don't feel comfortable stating that all coffee brewed on a siphon will taste a certain way, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed all the test brews I made. I was impressed by how every siphon seemed to highlight coffee's sparkling acidity, more so than the pour-over I made that morning. This might have something to do with the fact that a siphon is one of the only brew methods (when brewed per my adjusted instructions) that maintains the ideal brew temperature range of 200-205ºF during the entire brewing process.

How to Avoid Boil-Overs

During my water heating tests, I let the water in the Hario Next siphon hit a rolling boil with the butane burner as its heat source. To match the same amount of water as every other siphon, I nudged it past the max fill capacity just slightly, but that was enough for the boiling water to escape the bottom chamber and splash all over the counter. 

This can also happen if the water in the bottom chamber is superheated. Superheating occurs when water is heated beyond boiling in a smooth-sided vessel, like glass. Bubbles need nucleation sites, basically any sort of solid or imperfection to latch onto, for them to be able to form. Without one, it risks an extreme rapid boil over once a nucleation site is introduced. 

Because of this, you should never heat the bottom chamber of a siphon without the top chamber at least partially inserted. The dangling chain from the filter assembly can act as a nucleation site, allowing bubbles to form safely and cut down the risk of boiling over.

Water Temperature Was Crucial to Cup Quality

If the water reaches a boil in the bottom chamber, it is really, really hard to get it to cool down. As hot water travels up to the top chamber, it just keeps getting hotter from the boiling water that's sending steam up from the bottom chamber. I found that if I waited too long, the water in the top chamber would be between 204-210ºF—hotter than our ideal temperature range of 200-205ºF. 

The best way to manage water temperature is to boil it in a separate kettle and add it to the bottom chamber just before brewing. While this may seem finicky, it actually takes less work than boiling water directly in the siphon, which requires you to watch it the entire time in order to have precise temperature management. Boiling water in a separate kettle lets you multitask, setting up your siphon filter or grinding coffee, knowing the water temperature won’t get too hot. 

Water just off the boil poured into the bottom chamber will drop to around 180 to 190ºF. Since the water in the top chamber will continue to heat, you can affix the top chamber fully right away and get the siphon on its heating source. The water will start to travel up immediately, and from there, you can turn the heat source higher to gently raise the temperature in the top chamber to around 195ºF before adding the coffee.

Too Much Heat (or Agitation) Wasn't Good

Once the coffee is added to the top chamber, you must stir it to incorporate it fully. Any amount of agitation, however, can cause the coffee to extract at different rates. Think about making lemonade: the more you stir, the quicker the sugar dissolves. With coffee, the more agitation, the more it will extract. Any amount of stirring should be gentle and timed for consistency. I settled on 10 seconds in a soft zig-zag pattern, which allowed the coffee to be fully saturated in the brewing water. 

Rising bubbles from the bottom chamber can also cause excess agitation. If the heat is too high, large, aggressive bubbles can act like a powerful Jacuzzi jet and toss the coffee grounds around. It’s important to dial down the heat source to its lowest setting after the coffee is added so the grounds can form a crust. This will create an insulating layer and help maintain your ideal brew temperature.

The coffee should be stirred one more time after brewing to break up the crust and distribute the grounds into the water before it gets drawn down. Again, a gentle, zig-zag stirring pattern for 10 seconds will suffice.

Brew Times Were Flexible

Coffee siphons are a form of immersion brewing. That means that the coffee and water are allowed to saturate, in a mostly static environment, during the brew cycle. With immersion brews, the total brew time is more flexible, because you don’t have a constant influx of new brewing water rinsing the grounds like you do with drip coffee or pour-over brewing. While many siphon guides advocate for short steeps, I found that there wasn't a huge difference in the extraction of the coffee across a variety of brew times. Ultimately I settled on a 2-minute steep before killing the heat, which usually created a total contact time of around three-and-a-half minutes. I’m sure that one could create a recipe that works for longer or shorter steep times, but in all my testing, two minutes created a very repeatable brew process.

Brew Ratios Needed More Consideration

Like with a French press, coffee from siphon brewers tends to be better at stronger ratios. No matter what, the water remaining in the bottom chamber will dilute what comes through the filter from the top chamber. My first brew tests used a pour-over ratio closer to 1:16 coffee to water by weight, but I found the best-tasting results came from using a slightly stronger brewing ratio of 1:15.

Filter Style Mattered

The standard siphon filter is a cloth circle that’s tied securely around a spring-mounted metal disk. When you set it into the top chamber, you pull the spring downwards and latch it to the lower lip of the glass tube to secure the filter in place. Cloth filters are more porous than paper, so more of the coffee’s natural oils can travel through, enhancing the body of a brewed coffee. 

The porous nature of a cloth filter is also helpful for allowing water to move up and brewed coffee to move down. The Bodum model I tested came with a plastic disk adorned with multiple small ridges to serve as the filter. This let more grit into the bottom chamber, and it also choked and clogged during the drawdown, stalling out.

Siphons Needed to Be Sturdy

Aside from the faulty filter of the Bodum model, all of the siphons brewed coffee very similarly. What made some models stand out were small details in design and construction. All of them were made from heatproof borosilicate glass, but some models (like the Bodum) felt thin and brittle versus thick and sturdy (like the Yama). Because siphon brewing involves moving the brewer on and off a heat source, a sturdy handle that fits comfortably in your hand is key. So is the rubber gasket around the top chamber, which is crucial for achieving a seal. Some gaskets sealed fine but were flimsy enough to allow the top chamber to lean slightly.

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Coffee Siphon Brewer

A truly great coffee siphon should be made with sturdy glass, have a comfortable handle, and have an easily removable top chamber that also locks in place securely. A good siphon is easy to move from the stovetop to the counter and creates a consistent vacuum draw to filter the coffee, too.

Our Favorite Siphon Coffee Makers

The Best Coffee Siphon

Yama Glass 5-Cup Stovetop Coffee Siphon

$63 at Amazon View on Yama-glass.com

What we liked: The Yama 5-Cup Stovetop Siphon had a flat base, which made it feel more secure sitting on a burner and helped it heat up quicker than any other model tested. The handle was also sturdy and comfortable, which made it easy to move the hot siphon from the stove to the counter during the drawdown. The top chamber featured bumps on its rubber collar, helping to lock it in place more firmly than other models.

What we didn’t like: The main drawback with the Yama siphon was the bowl-shaped upper chamber. Because of how wide it was, the coffee grounds spread out pretty far and didn’t immediately saturate as evenly as a more narrow, cylindrical siphon chamber might have allowed.

Key Specs

• Filter type: Spring-loaded cloth filter
• Time to boil: 5 minutes, 28 seconds
• Heat source: Gas or electric stovetop; not induction compatible
• Care instructions: Hand-wash glass chambers; rinse cloth filter thoroughly between brews; replace filter every 5-10 brew cycles with a siphon cloth filter like these
  

Another Great Coffee Siphon

Hario "Next" Coffee Syphon 600ml

$105 at Amazon

What we liked: The Hario Next felt extremely high-quality and is modeled after a standard countertop-style siphon that I used to brew countless cups at the coffee bar. It performed well in my brew tests, and I enjoyed all the coffees I made with this model.

What we didn’t like: The main issue with a countertop siphon at home is the heat source. Home users are limited to the alcohol wick that comes with it (which was slow and didn't have any heat control) or a butane burner, which was tricky to dial in correctly. It's harder to use in general than stovetop models.

Key Specs

• Filter type: Choice between spring-loaded stainless steel or cloth filter
• Heat source: Open-flame alcohol lamp or butane burner
• Care instructions: Hand-wash glass chambers; rinse cloth filter, if using, thoroughly between brews; replace filter every 5-10 brew cycles with a siphon cloth filter like these

The Competition

• Bodum PEBO Siphon Coffee Maker: I was immediately struck by how thin this model's glass was and how flimsy and cheap the handle felt. The Bodum PEBO felt shaky and hard to manage, and its large size was clumsy and awkward to hold. The Bodum PEBO was also the only siphon that had a plastic filter disk instead of a spring-loaded cloth filter. The plastic disc cut off the flow rate so drastically that the siphon couldn’t finish brewing. Out of all the siphons tested, this is the only model I would recommend people stay far away from.
• Klarstein Syphon Vacuum Coffee Maker: This was a top pick, but it's been discontinued.

FAQs

How does a siphon coffee maker work?

A coffee siphon brews using a two-chamber system. The bottom chamber is filled with water, and the top is filled with ground coffee. When the bottom chamber is set over heat, the siphon creates a pressure differential that pulls the water into the upper chamber, saturating the coffee and starting the brewing process. When the siphon is removed from the heat, the water filters back down to the bottom chamber and is ready to drink.

How do you use a siphon coffee maker?

Coffee siphons function as immersion brewers with an added filter, and uses heated water to create atmospheric pressure to drive water from the bottom chamber to the top. When the heat source is removed, the decreasing pressure creates a vacuum that pulls the brewed coffee back into the bottom chamber.

Does siphon coffee taste better?

Different brew methods might accentuate certain flavor characteristics, but it comes down to personal preference. Siphon coffee makers combine immersion brewing with a filter, landing somewhere between a French press and pour-over method. They also usually use a cloth filter, which can let more of the coffee oils pass through than a paper filter while still filtering out all the solid particles. The siphons I tried particularly highlighted the acidity of the coffee I brewed in them.

How long does it take to make siphon coffee?

It can take up to 10 minutes to brew coffee using a siphon coffee maker. On average, heating water just to the boiling point alone can take five to six minutes, and the total brew process takes around four minutes. The best way to speed up the process is to boil the water separately in an electric kettle first, so that once that water is added to the bottom chamber, you can begin the brewing process sooner.

What grind size is best for siphon coffee?

A coffee siphon is a combination of an immersion brew method (like French press) and a filtered brew method (like pourover), which can make picking out the right grind size tricky. Because siphon brews are relatively quick (two to three minutes), a medium-fine grind usually brews excellent coffee, but some people might find more success with a slightly finer or coarser grind, depending on the coffee they're using.

Why We're the Experts

• Jesse Raub was a writer for Serious Eats. He previously worked in the specialty coffee industry for more than 15 years.
• For this review, Jesse brewed coffee with four popular siphon coffee makers. He also interviewed Christopher Hendon, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon.