The siphon, also called vacuum pot, was invented in Germany in the 1830s by Loeff of Berlin and refined into the familiar two-chamber glass brewer by French designer Marie Fanny Amelne Massot later that decade. It disappeared from most Western kitchens after electric drip coffee arrived, but survived as a specialty brewing method in Japan, where kissaten cafés turned it into ritual.
The device works by thermodynamics. Heat from a burner vaporises water in the lower bulb, forcing liquid up through a central tube into the upper chamber where it meets the ground coffee. When the heat source is removed, the lower bulb cools, vapour pressure drops, and atmospheric pressure pulls the brewed coffee back down through a cloth or paper filter. It is one of the few brewing methods that is mesmerising to watch.
A starting recipe: 20 g of coffee to 300 g of water (1:15), a medium grind finer than a V60 setting, full immersion in the upper chamber for 60 to 90 seconds with two gentle stirs, then let the vacuum pull everything down. The cup is vivid and aromatic — siphon tends to emphasise floral and citrus notes more than any filter method — with a clean body that sits somewhere between a pour-over and a Chemex. It rewards careful heat control above all else.