The Correct Way to Use Chemex Pour-Over Coffee Maker and How to Use Chemex Filter Paper
Introduction to the Chemex Coffee Maker
You're likely familiar with this cover image showing someone holding a cloud-shaped pour-over kettle in one hand and today's protagonist in the other—the Chemex coffee maker. You've probably seen it in real life at Starbucks. Beyond that, few coffee shops use Chemex brewers for making coffee.
What is Chemex?
Chemex is a pour-over coffee maker that combines the "filter cup" and "server" into one unit. It was invented in 1941 by Dr. Peter Schlumbohm, a chemistry Ph.D. from Berlin University who immigrated to New York. For many years, it has been continuously manufactured by the Chemex company in Massachusetts. That's why its design has always been filled with laboratory elements, resembling chemical experiment equipment.
In the United States, the Chemex coffee maker is a very common coffee brewing device. It even made multiple appearances in the classic American TV show "Friends."
As you can see, the Chemex coffee maker has an elegant appearance and is quite popular.
What are the characteristics of Chemex?
The main body of the Chemex is a glass container that's wide on both sides with a narrow middle section. Its surface is very smooth, and the upper part has no ribs—only one groove extending upward from the narrowed section. The most intuitive function of this groove is to control the direction when pouring coffee.
However, this isn't the most important function of the groove. First, we all know that if you place filter paper on a smooth filter cup (imagine a funnel) and brew coffee when it's completely fitted, the air at the bottom cannot escape, so the water cannot flow down, causing a blockage.
Therefore, the important function of this groove is to connect with the outside, discharge air, and prevent blockage. However, in many cases, because the filter paper is too soft, it might stick to the groove, also creating a sealed space.
For this reason, Chemex must use special filter paper. This type of filter paper has a stiffer texture and requires manual folding.
Chemex filter paper comes in various shapes: semi-circular, circular, and square. FrontStreet Coffee has included an introduction from Mr. James Hoffman discussing Chemex coffee makers to give everyone a clearer understanding.
James shows everyone the circular Chemex filter paper.
After cross-folding, it forms a conical filter paper, but this filter paper has one layer on one side and three layers on the other side.
The three-layer side should be placed on the side with the groove, which better secures the filter paper's shape and prevents it from collapsing and closing.
How to brew coffee with Chemex?
Because Chemex has no ribs and uses very thick filter paper, its water flow rate is very slow. Therefore, when grinding coffee, you can grind it slightly coarser. For light-roasted coffee beans, cupping grind size is sufficient (70-75% pass-through rate with a #20 standard sieve).
FrontStreet Coffee uses Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee beans for demonstration, with a dosage of 30g, grind size at 70% pass-through rate with a #20 sieve, coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15, and water temperature at 90°C.
After folding the filter paper and placing it on the brewer, rinse it with hot water first—warming the server, ensuring proper fit, and removing any paper taste all in one go. Then pour the water out along the groove.
Next, add 30g of coffee grounds, first pour 60ml of hot water for a 30-second bloom, then continue circular pouring until reaching 450ml. The normal water level should reach about 0.5cm below the top. If the water level is about to exceed the brewer body, you can stop pouring temporarily and continue after the water level drops slightly. Normally, all the coffee should finish flowing through in about 3-4 minutes.
Pros and Cons of Chemex
The advantages of Chemex are that it produces very clean coffee with high sweetness. Its elegant appearance is certainly another advantage.
Correspondingly, the disadvantages are also obvious: both the brewer itself and the special filter papers are quite expensive. Additionally, cleaning is troublesome. The narrow middle section easily traps many coffee stains.
However, it also makes a nice flower vase!
Important Notice :
前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:
FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou
Tel:020 38364473
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