How to Make Coffee

I was doing some research for my thesis when I happened to stumble upon a full half page article in the New York Tribune from July 1918 about one of my favorite subjects: coffee. What really caught my eye was the image of a siphon coffee brewer, so I gave the article a read.

Imagine my surprise to find out that in 1918, a mainstream press article was recommending many of the same things CoffeeGeeks recommend for brewing good coffee!

There was solid advice about owning a grinder and only grinding fresh. This got me thinking: If experts have been recommending this for over 100 years, why hasn't this simple concept about great coffee caught on with the masses?

There was also some serious advice about why boiling coffee was bad, and why percolators are bad as well for good tasting coffee. But the really interesting part about this article for me at least was the focus on siphon coffee brewer - and specifically, siphon coffee makers in a US mainstream newspaper article almost 100 years ago.

I don't know too many people who know more about siphons and their history than Mark Prince - the guy running this website. He is so into siphons, he even did a two part podcast on the history of them. I asked him about when siphon brewers first came to America.

"The earliest reference I've found to the siphon coffee brewer in the US was an article in a New York newspaper talking about a 'double glass ball' coffee brewing device brought over from France. This was in the 1890s." Prince said. "Silex patented their safety glass and a design for the siphon coffee brewer around 1914, and I believe they had them for sale on the market around 1917, though with the Great War going on, they probably didn't make many of them."

This article I found dates back to July 1918, and I'm guessing siphons were a brand new thing for people. The latest high tech gizmo of its age.

One thing I noticed in the photographs with the article was something I don't think any siphon brewer today even has as a feature: the 1918 Silex siphon pictured can actually tilt sideways on its stand for pouring. What a cool feature!

All the advice in this article is great, save for one bit: they recommend that, for stronger after-dinner coffee, you can heat and reheat the siphon brewer - drawing the brewed coffee down, then reapplying heat to send the brew back up to the grounds. And repeat. Pretty bad advice! But otherwise, much of the advice doled out in 1918 is just as valuable advice today.

I've also included a sidebar this article had, featuring recommended prices and equipment to consider buying. I've included it for several notable reasons. First, notice all these appliances are made in the USA! It's almost impossible to think of a time when every appliance and machine you bought for your home and work was made in this country.

Secondly, notice the prices. When you think that a 1918 dollar is worth about sixteen of today's dollars, it puts some of these prices into perspective. Silex Siphons ran from $5 to $25 at the time, depending on the fanciness of the machine and if you bought an electric one or a alcohol-fuel one. $25 back then is about $400 today - I can't think of any siphon setups that cost that much today - which means today's siphon buys are a pretty good deal, all things considered!





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