Leah McCann Smith | Writer & Editor

“Better coffee is more important than fast coffee.” —Chemex

Couldn’t agree more.

In fact, I believe it so much, I we wanted to dig into some of the coolest, most intricate, most unusual brewing methods out there—all in the name of a glorious cup of coffee.

Check out these five unique brewing methods you may not know about. Unless, of course, you do know about them—in which case I say, “Cheers, friend.”

---

#1: Siphon or Vacuum Pot

Though it originated in the 1800s, the siphon (or syphon) brewing method is no piece of coffee cake. Brewing a la the siphon/vacuum pot is pretty fun to watch; if you make it through a viewing, you’ll find that this brew method produces a tea-like cup of coffee.

Source: Kenny Louie

Check out this ten-step preparation guide from Blue Bottle explaining the siphon brewing process. For purposes of this blog, I’ll skip right to step number 10: “Remove the hopper and serve.” To see it in action, watch this instructional video from Stumptown.

#2: Kyoto-Style Slow-Dripper

Is this a coffee shop or a mad science lab? Because the Kyoto-style slow-dripper, all of its moving parts working together in perfect coffee harmony, could pass for a chemistry setup. But that’s cool, because, well, Breaking Bad.

Source: Lisa Galanski

The device’s upper chamber is filled with ice, which melts and falls drop by drop onto the coffee grounds held in the middle container. The drip slowly filters down to the bottom to create a cup of brew. Read more about Kyoto-style brewing here.

#3: Steampunk

With the American-made Alpha Dominche Steampunk coming in at a whopping $15,000, that cup of coffee better be damn good.

The Steampunk can whip up a cup of coffee in place of any brewing process requiring human labor—such as a french press, siphon, or other pour-over technique.

Source: Travis Wise

It’s powered by steam and made of only high-quality materials that produce a high-quality cup. The machine is not designed to do espresso, but can quickly and repeatedly brew up to four coffees at once, to almost exact specifications, over and over. If we’re being specific, that’s 60 to 80 cups an hour (*mind blown*). Read more about the Steampunk here.

#4: AeroPress

With a bean-to-cup time of five minutes, the AeroPress is pretty tough to beat. Invented by engineer Alan Adler, it’s one of the best brewing devices for a quick but quality, single cup of coffee.

Source: Mykhailo Liapin

One of the best things about owning an AeroPress is you can pretty much take it anywhere—it’s portable and lightweight, so it can accompany you while camping, on a weekend road trip, or to your grandmother’s house for the holidays, because you know she still has her Black & Decker from the 1970s in the kitchen.

#5:  Hario V60

I’ll keep this one short: Everything you need to know about the Hario V60 can be found in this video.

Source: Stumptown

---

Coffee aficionados are constantly searching for the newest ways to make the perfect cup of coffee. What’s next, my babes?