Caffe d’bolla’s owners, John and Yiching Piquet, have created the perfect setting to enjoy what unquestionably is the most delicate, smooth, and subtle fresh cup of coffee one can get anywhere in Salt Lake City.

At the heart of their new bar is the siphon-brewing technique which The Selective Echo first mentioned here last winter. This technique, developed some 170 years ago in France and Germany and most recently perfected in Japan, is superior to others, including the vaulted French press-pot method. With the siphon brewer, there is no residue whatsoever in the cup and the complete portfolio of flavors, notes, and properties of the freshly-roasted single-origin, farm-specific coffee bean is expressed with memorable results.

Indeed, the newly constructed bar is the center stage for the coffee, the unquestioned star of this always-adventurous shop.

The brewer, made of glass, comprises a lower bulb-shaped chamber and an upper cylindrical chamber with a siphon tube that extends into the lower chamber. A cloth — or occasionally, glass — filter is secured in the upper chamber at the top of the siphon tube.

As the water is heated in the bottom chamber, vapor pressure expands, forcing the water to the upper chamber where the freshly ground coffee has been placed. The hot water mixes with the grounds, and, when the heat is removed, the vapor pressure contracts and the coffee flows to the lower chamber, leaving the grounds behind. A bamboo paddle also is used to create a whirlpool in the chamber. The siphon brewers at Caffe d’bolla rely on a halogen beam heater rather than the butane flame found at other shops offering siphon coffee. The halogen heater is cleaner, safer, and visually more appealing.

Sitting at the bar, one can readily see why the siphon brewing process is such an intensely sensory process and a great conversation starter. In fact, the process is beginning to enjoy a renaissance after being largely out of the public eye for the last 50 years, except in the case of die-hard coffee aficionados. In fact, many major manufacturers of small appliances routinely produced siphon coffeemakers before the process fell out of favor during the 1960s. Within the last decade, especially as the most talented and educated cuppers bring the world’s most incredible coffee beans to their customers, the siphon brewing method is being recognized as the best way to make a truly phenomenal cup of coffee.

Also, Caffe d’bolla is now offering exclusive espresso blends and other freshly roasted coffee beans at Tony Caputo’s Market and Deli.