Less than a month ago, the newest Starbucks branch in the Philippines opened at Vista Mall Antipolo, which is a 10 minute walk from my house. It's one of the 3 branches in the Philippines which offers the coffee experience bar.
Four brewing methods are available in Starbucks Vista Mall Antipolo: the Pour Over, the Chemex, the Siphon and the Coffee Press. The coffee experience bar indeed looks like a science laboratory, with different gadgets to choose from.
The barista recommended the Guatemala Antigua coffee and I chose to try the siphon method. It uses the most interesting, geeky-looking and retro-looking contraption. It seems that the gadget uses halogen lights to produce heat to boil the water at the lower glass chamber.
The barista is a very friendly girl who patiently explained the siphoning process. Siphoning is a very old coffee making technique. The water is boiled in the lower chamber. The heat forces the boiling water to go up the upper chamber where it remained under the boiling point, which the barista says is ideal for brewing coffee. Coffee is then added in the upper chamber, while the hot air in the lower chamber pushes it to stay in the upper chamber. After a minute, the heat is removed. Vacuum is then created in the lower chamber, which then pulls down the brewed coffee through the filter. The barista explained that the process brings out the flavor in the coffee.
Viola! After the what seems to be a scientific process, I have a my very clean cup of flavorful coffee- sans the bitterness. The barista also taught me how to do coffee tasting- the proper way to smell it, and to taste it. I still need to perfect my coffee slurp ("The louder, the better"). Slurping sprays the coffee into your entire palate, which is the best way to taste coffee.
