Chemex

The iconic Chemex coffee maker is a design of beauty - both aesthetically and um, operationally. A manual pour-over style coffeemaker made from glass, fastened with a wood collar and tie. It was invented by German chemist Dr. Peter Schlumbohm back in 1941. 

Below is a guideline brew guide. The 36 g of coffee to 650 ml of water gives a brew ratio of about 1:18 which we love. Play around with this to suit your tastes.

#1 Setup

Place the Chemex filter into the top of the brewer and rinse it with hot water to remove the paper taste and warm all the components up. Pour the water out. Warm your coffee cup(s) with water. You will need 650 ml of water, so put at least 800 ml of water on to boil.

#2 Add Coffee

For a Chemex 6-cup brewer (which yields 2 coffee mugs), measure and grind 36 g of coffee. The grind size should be slightly coarser than medium. If you already have grounds then measure 36 g of coffee. Add the coffee into the filter paper within the Chemex brewer and shake it gently to let the grounds settle evenly. 

#3 Bloom

Let the boiled water cool for a minute before pouring 80 ml of water evenly over all of the grounds. Allow to bloom for 40 seconds and enjoy the wonderful aromas! 

#4 Brew

Once the 40 seconds is up in the bloom stage continue to pour in the rest of the water slowly (~570 ml) in a spiraling pattern. If the water level rises close to the rim, then pause for a moment to allow the coffee levels to lower before continuing. This brewing stage should take 3 minutes including the pouring.

#5 Drink and enjoy

Sit back and enjoy a special cup of coffee!

Handy notes:

• If the brewing stage took longer than 3.5 minutes the grind was probably too fine. If the brewing stage took shorter than 2.5 minutes the grind was probably too course.