Mark MorphewHave you ever thought it was time to ditch those push-button coffee makers and get back to the basics of coffee making? In today’s modern world of electronic coffee makers, the art of making a good cup of coffee has been lost to beeps, buttons, and hefty instruction manuals when all that’s really needed to brew a great cup is water, coffee, and a few basic brewing principles.
Let me introduce to you the Chemex pour-over coffee brewer: it’s simple, easy to use, and makes a darn good cup of coffee. Forget about those expensive coffee makers that require a Ph.D. to operate; the Chemex brewer is one of the best coffee makers you’ll ever use.
Chemex brewing will whisk you back to the good ‘ole days as you pour water over the coffee grounds, filling your senses with the rich coffee aroma and reminding you of how coffee was meant to be brewed.
If you want to know about the Chemex coffee maker, you’ve landed on the right page because, in this article, I’m going to dive in headfirst and give you the ins and outs of the Chemex. So grab yourself a coffee and sit back and let’s crack on.
History of the Chemex Coffee Maker?
Okay, before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s probably a good idea to understand a bit more about the Chemex.
The Chemex has been around since the early 1940s and was the brainchild of German inventor Peter Schlumbohm (1). The design of the Chemex has remained entirely unchanged (right down to its leather cord and wood handle) since its invention.
The Chemex brewing method has gained popularity in recent years, with many hipster baristas and coffee geeks enjoying a new found love for this classic pour-over coffee maker.
The coffee made from a Chemex is very similar to that brewed in other manual pour-over coffee makers, but (there’s a but) with a lot more room for error during the brewing stage if you don’t know what you’re doing. YES, brewing in the Chemex can be a challenge, especially for those of you new to manual drip and if you’re transitioning from push-button coffee machines.
The Chemex has a lot of brewing variables that can go wrong. For example, you need to have the right Chemex filters, the correct coffee grind size, plus you have to pay extra attention to your rate of pour. Confused?
Chemex Pour Over Instructions
The Chemex makes an aromatic, clean, delicious cup of coffee and its slow and hands-on brewing process makes it downright fun.
Before you begin, make sure you’ve got a Chemex Brewer (obviously). If not, you can find a 6-cup Chemex over at Amazon. Also, the Chemex pre-folded paper filters find those here, coffee beans of your choosing, a good burr coffee grinder, and a decent coffee scale (for precise coffee measuring). Okay, let’s take a closer look at the basic pour-over Chemex instructions.
Step 1: Measure and Heat Your Water
Grab your kettle and bring to the boil double the amount of water you will need for the coffee brewing. If you aren’t sure of the amount, for a Chemex 6-cup, you’ll need to boil roughly 1,200-1,400 grams. Once boiling, let the water sit for 30 seconds to reach the best brewing temperature of around 205 degrees F (96 C).
Step 2: Measure and Grind Your Coffee Beans
Next, grab your coffee scale and weigh out 50-60 grams of coffee (or roughly four or five tablespoons of beans if you don’t own a scale). Once you’re happy with the number of beans, grind them to a medium-coarse grind (a bit more towards the coarse side), similar to the consistency of table sea salt.
Step 3: Pre-Heat Your Chemex and Rinse
Pick up one of your Chemex pre-folded paper filters or a reusable Chemex filter and place it into your Chemex, ensuring that the triple-fold portion faces the pour spout. Grab your kettle and pour in some water, making sure to saturate the filter thoroughly. This will also help to pre-heat the Chemex as well as set the filter in place. After about a minute, you can pour the water out of the Chemex and into your cup to help pre-heat that too.
Step 4: Bloom Your Ground Coffee
Next, grab your ground coffee and gently pour it into the Chemex filter. Make sure to give a little shake to help flatten the “bed,” which will provide you with a much more even pour. Pick up your kettle and slowly pour water into the filter, starting at the “bed’s” center.
Pour in just enough water to saturate the coffee grounds; as a rule of thumb, pour twice the amount of water to that of coffee into your grounds (example, 100 grams of water for 50 grams of coffee) – want more information on coffee brewing ratios? From the center, slowly work your way outward but avoid pouring water directly onto the side of the filter.
Once you are happy that the coffee grounds have been well and truly saturated, let it sit and “bloom” for one minute; this will allow the bubbles of carbon dioxide to gas off.
Step 5: The Chemex Pour Over
Once the “bloom” is complete, continue slowly pouring water over the coffee grounds in a circular motion. Ideally, it would be best to pour at a rate that allows you to complete the brewing process in roughly 4-minutes.
Once the water has thoroughly filtered through the coffee grounds, remove the filter and pour the freshly brewed coffee into your favorite coffee cup and enjoy it!
We love the Chemex coffee brewer, and we often use it when a new batch of coffee beans arrives. We find that the Chemex brings out all of the flavor subtleties of the coffee beans.
If you don’t already own a Chemex coffee maker and you’ve had no luck finding one in your local brick-and-mortar store, you should be able to find a 6-cup Chemex over at Amazon along with the required paper filters.
References
(1) Chemex Corp. https://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/gallery/album/history
When he's not fiddling around with a new coffee gadget, you'll find him busy doing DIY projects around the home and taking his German Shepherd for a walk, who funnily enough is called Kona!
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Since the creation of the Bean Ground coffee blog in 2014, Mark and a small circle of coffee hobbyists have rigorously tested, reviewed, and researched coffee gear. In most cases, they have purchased the items themselves with the sole intention of rating and evaluating.
In that time, they have built up a list of quality points to look for and what makes specific equipment better than others. They cut through the noise and marketing hype that often surrounds products to give you their unbiased opinions so you can make clear decisions on your next purchase.
