How To Make The Perfect Chemex Coffee

The most stylish of brewing methods

It's no doubt that a chemex of coffee looks wonderful on your desk or counter top. Invented in 1941 it has been called "one of the best designed products of our times", and is included in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

You Will Need

• Freshly Roasted Black Creek Coffee
• Chemex Brewer
• Chemex Paper Filter
• Pour Over Kettle
• Digital Scale
• Grinder
• Hot Water

Step 1 - Brew Parameters

Start by boiling your water, and weighing your beans. For this method we're going to use 30g of coffee and 500g of water, giving a brewing ratio of 16.7. I'm using a Baratza Encore set to 18, which is very slightly coarser than for a V60. Check out our grind size article here. 

Step 2 - Rinse

With your water boiled, put the paper filter in the Chemex with the triple layer covering the spout, and rinse with hot water. This removes any papery taste from the filter and also warms the Chemex. Leave for 1 min.

Discard the water by holding the wet filter carefully in place, and pour the water out of the spout. 

Step 3 - Add Coffee

Add your 30g of medium/coarse coffee to the chemex, tare (zero) the scale.

Step 4 - Bloom

Start the timer on your scale, and add two times the amount of water to pre-infuse the coffee, so about 60g. This 'bloom' stage will remove air pockets and allow all of the coffee grounds to get wet, which will make for a more uniform extraction (better taste).

Step 5 - Main Pour

After 45 seconds of blooming, begin your main pour. Add 300g of water from your kettle, in a circular motion. Once this has drawn down (about 2:30 mins), add the remaining water (140g) to get to 500g of water in total. The entire process and draw down should take around 6 minutes.

Step 6 - Drink!

Once the coffee has drawn down, discard the filter and grounds, and pour into your favourite cup!

The Chemex bonded filters are generally thicker than most other pour over methods, and remove most of the oils from the coffee, so it produces a very clean cup. This can be a benefit, or can take away a little of the flavour/texture, depending on your preference.

Summary

Like the Hario V60, the Chemex brew is a fairly simple method that produces wonderful tasting coffee. A good grinder that can produce consistent sized grounds is essential to getting the best extraction.

One benefit over the V60 is that a Chemex can brew more coffee, so it's perfect for two or more people to enjoy from one brew.

One thing to note is that I find it loses heat more easily than some other methods, but the glass is heatproof so can be put on a stovetop set on low to keep warm.

We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.