I must have almost 10 ways of making coffee in my apartment: Aeropress, v60, calita wave, french press, moka pot, keurig (never used), various drip machines...I figure I could even just throw some beans in boiling water and see what happens as well. I bought the chemex recently and it quickly became the go-to standard for my morning brews. It is foolproof, almost impossible to mess up at any stage: Boil water, grind beans, pour water over beans repeatedly until coffee is formed. You could argue there is more technique than that, but at its core the Chemex is built on an extremely simple concept.
As far as taste, Chemex falls just below Calita wave for me and a slight bit above v60 (to me these three are the only ones that make a comparable brew). Calita Wave coffee is by far the smoothest, but takes more effort to use due to the smaller brew chamber, and I mostly reserve it for an afternoon pick-me-up. Chemex is smoother than a v60, IMO, but the two are overall fairly similar. The v60 is more suited for an office or if you want a single cup, rather than a whole carafe-full, as it is more modular and transportable.
If I were to just keep one coffee method it would be the Chemex, it fits the bill for the broadest class of uses and excels in each of them equally. I have confidence in the build quality, as well, the glass feels thick and unlikely to chip or break barring any unforeseen circumstances. If you are in need of a manual brewing coffee method in your life, look no further than the Chemex.
If you're buying a Chemex on Amazon, you probably already know why you're buying it.
But incase not, here's a bit of a compressed story of my journey through coffee brewing:
Bought a Chemex at Crate and Barrel, hand grinder, wrong sized filters, bad coffee, boiling water, wrong sized grinds, bad coffee, figuring out grind size, better but still bitter coffee, graduating to plastic Procter Silex electric kettle over pan and spoon, better coffee, still not great but getting better.
Travel home for Christmas, break Chemex, order new Chemex from Amazon, coffee quality improving now, two years later stop being cheap and buy Buonavita Power Kettle, Automatic Burr Grinder, Hario Scale, coffee quality intensifies.
Lessons for you: brewing coffee is a journey, I learned a lot over the years through mistakes and trial and error before buying things that made the process much faster, easier, and more consistent. I would recommend if you're new to pour over brewing, get a scale and an electric (temperature controlled) kettle, it will help you understand what effects the taste of the coffee and how you can consistently make an awesome cup.
TL;DR: If you're new to pour-over, don't judge the Chemex until you're doing everything right. When that happens, it'll be one of the best cups of coffee, all in a beautiful timeless glass carafe to impress your friends or morning after guests.
I learned what a Chemex Coffee Brewer is through my favorite local coffee shop in Orlando, Vespr. After seeing my love for pour-over coffee, they insisted I tried the Chemex. I fell in love and decided to purchase it. They suggested Amazon for "cheaper" prices. I've had this product for about two weeks now and it's incredible. The smoothest coffee I've brewed is with a Chemex brewer and it's awesome paper filter. Not only is it smooth, you get no coffee grinds in it and the coffee's genuine taste. You can distictively taste the Region where it is from (Of course if you know about coffee beans and their regions; Be sure to buy fresh coffee beans!). It comes off a bit less bitter than the regular pour-over, but believe me it keeps it's coffee taste! If you are a coffee aficionado, you will love the Chemex. Now, the Chemex has joined my home collection of brewers and it's probably my favorite way of brewing coffee.
Footnote: I usually have my coffee without cream, sugar or milk... Unless it's espresso coffee.
This is a great gadget for coffee snobs. I love my AeroPress, and didn't think anything else would be able to compete with it in terms of the flavor/richness/quality of the brew. But I was wrong — my wife and I both concur that this makes the BEST coffee. I would definitely recommend you get a kettle with a proper spout for slow pouring of water and a burr grinder for a consistent coarseness. Even without that, it still makes a good cup of coffee.
Pros: Easy to clean, durable, stylish, lets you control every aspect of the brewing process and experiment freely
Cons: None, really. I'm personally not sold on the leather strap. With the wooden neck it's a nice look, but the cords sometimes get in the way when pouring the coffee.
I just started drinking coffee about 3 years ago (after my daughter was born) and still use probably more cream and sugar then most people. I already would try to use less cream and sugar, but I just couldn't handle the bitter taste of coffee. We went camping with friends this summer and they brought their Chemex. I used the least amount of cream and sugar I ever had. It was so good! I could taste the coffee without the bitter taste or so much cream and sugar. My husband ordered the filters and the Chemex that day. We got it that night with prime same day delivery.
Love how easy it is to clean compared to our french press. And it looks great on our counter.
The 8 cup is perfect for my husband and I to each have a glass and he takes the rest in a thermos to work.
Feature Product
- Purchase from Authorized Resellers: e-Home Shopping, Barista Lab, Visions Espresso Service, TheShoppingTimes, Big Kitchen
- Made of non-porous Borosilicate glass which will not absorb odors or chemical residues
- CHEMEX pour-over allows coffee to be covered and refrigerated for reheating without losing flavor
- Simple, easy to use with timeless, elegant design
- Use CHEMEX Bonded Filters FP-1, FC-100, FS-100, FSU-100
Description
The Eight Cup Classic Series Coffeemaker used together with the scientifically designed, patented CHEMEX Bonded Filters, will guarantee that our pour over brewing process will deliver the perfect cup of coffee, without any sediments or bitter elements. Includes a polished wood collar with leather tie. Capacity: 40 Ounce Height: 9 1/8" Diameter: 5" Item: CM-8A
This coffee maker is by far my all-time favorite type of coffee maker. I've been making coffee for years, mostly with a chemex and it is (to me) the cleanest way to taste what specific beans have to offer in flavor.
What I mean by clean is that the filter removes all of the sediment and a great deal of the acid. If a more acidic cup of coffee (that bite you get from coffee brewed in most drip coffee makers) is more to your taste, this is probably not the brewing method fit for your tastes. For that a french press is a great option - as it removes the larger sediment but allows a lot of the smaller sediment and acid through.
This is a beautiful and classy way to brew low acid coffee. I could go on and on about it, but to keep it short I will simply say that as long as you understand it is made of a fairly thin glass and that proper brewing technique will yield a very low acid coffee, you will love this coffee maker and it will last you years, even decades.
I almost didn't buy this due to reviews saying it was thin glass and breaks easily. Well let me tell you Amazon has bad shipping department and usually ships heavy and breakable things together. This time they shipped the chemex with 8 heavy boxes of canned cat food with NO CUSHIONING and the boxes moving around. This baby survived the trip so to me this shows the glass will hold up under pressure. We will see in the weeks to come.
As for ease of use it is very easy to use and clean. As for temperature control it is glass and you need to preheat the carafe and if you want added insulation without moving it to a thermal jar then just wrap a towel around it. I have done this with other items that were glass or metal and needed des to be insulated.
I'm liking my Chemex so far. It makes a very nice cup of coffee with not *too* much more effort than a drip coffee maker.
The bigger thing for me is that it's easier to clean the whole thing. Cleaning the basket and carafe of my drip maker wasn't too bad but then you would get into occasionally having to de-mineralize the heating chamber and also just cleaning all the nooks and crannies on the housing design...so much more of a pain than cleaning the Chemex.
The glass seems thick enough that it would be tough to break unless I whacked it on something or dropped it. But it doesn't seem like it'll be any easier to break than a regular glass carafe, in fact the Chemex glass is noticeably thicker than the glass carafe of my old drip coffee machine.
To boot I didn't really but it for the aesthetic...but it does make my counter look much classier and I enjoy that. I have been using the paper filters for now, but it's good to know the reusable metal ones are around and I may try them someday.
The only downside is that if I have a super early shift I can't be lazy and tell it to make my coffee for me before I wake up...but then again I generally forgot to do that anyway (also the grind isn't as fresh if I do..)
Overall though I'm enjoying the purchase and getting better coffee out of it, so it's a win win for me.
I have had this coffeemaker for one year now and use it almost every day. I find it ideal for making 3-7 cups at a time. Although I have been grinding quality bean coffee for more than 25 years, I still needed to learn a few things to make a good pot with this coffeemaker:
- Use medium grind : Almost all of the filtering is done in a small area at the bottom of the cone. A fine grind takes too long to filter. You also want to agitate the mixture to suspend the grains in the hot water for best extraction. I use a blunt stirring rod.
- Experiment with different filters : In the past I have always preferred unbleached paper filters. However, I have discovered that I prefer the bleached filters with this coffeemaker. I was surprised by the taste difference. Experiment to find your preference.
- Brew by weight : get a good scale and brew by weight, not volume.
- Use a hot pad : The bottom gets quite hot. You will lose heat otherwise. It also helps protect the coffeemaker from accidents with a hard counter top.
A simple, clean, no frills unit. Just right for me.
In a nutshell, that's the big plus for this. You can control the coffee, the grind, the brew temperature, the beans, you name it. If you have a coffee grinder, great. That is the simplest way to control the grind. Even a whirly bird (blade) grinder should work fine with this coffeemaker. If not, then find a shop that sells fresh beans that will grind them for you. If you buy the canned reground coffee, you probably use an automatic drip maker, so go no further.
I was just in a Whole Foods today that has coffee beans with their roast date on the dispensers. They have a grinder right there. Buy a few ounces of coffee and grind it. Purists say roast beans should be used within 15 days of their roast and within 15 minutes of their grinding. In spite of what I read against it, I find I can extend coffee's life several fold by refrigerating or better freezing it. YMMV, as they say.
You need a thermometer calibrated to the boiling point of water. If you are working in Fahrenheit water will boil at 212° minus 2° for every 1000 ft above sea level you are. I said that because you need to verify the calibration of your thermometer by dipping the tip into actively boiling water.
1. Open the filter and put the 3 layer side against the channel. That channel is there to allow air displaced by incoming water to escape from the brewer so you don't bubble coffee on everything and so you don't build up a positive pressure which would slow filtering.
2. Preheating the Chemex by pouring boiling water through the filter. I like to use at least 12 ounces in my 48 oz Chemex. Don't forget to discard this water before you start filtering. Voice of experience.
3. Measure the volume of water you will be using to brew your coffee and heat in the microwave, in an electric hot pot or on the stove.
4. While the water is heating I grind my coffee. I generally measure my coffee using beans rather than ground coffee. Sometimes I weigh them instead. Go ahead and add the ground coffee to the filter.
5. When the water boils, I remove it from the heat and begin measuring its temperature. The "standard" brewing temperature is 195 to 205 degrees F. If my beans were frozen, I'll cheat a little to the high side. This is one area where you can "break the rules" to get a coffee you like. Some say brew a darker roast at a lower temperature and a lighter roast at a higher temperature. You're the boss.
6. Discard preheat water and begin by pouring a small amount over your grounds. If your beans are good and fresh they will bubble ("bloom") when you pour that first water. The general idea is to get all the grounds wet before you begin the Pour.
7. The Pour. Note the time or start a timer. Fill the V nearly full. I like to pour away from the center and track that around nearer the circumference. I almost always will stir using a spoon or whatever implement is handy. Keep the V nearly full either by pouring frequently or very slowly, distributing the water around more or less evenly.
8. If all went well, somewhere around 4 minutes just about all the coffee has dripped through. Enjoy your coffee!
If your coffee finishes through the filter in less than 4 minutes, you want a finer grind coffee. If it takes too long, you want a coarser grind.
I generally pour my coffee into a vacuum bottle so I can enjoy it over the next few hours. Rather than discarding my Chemex preheat water I simply use it to preheat my thermos.
Cleanup is easy. Glass washes clean and often I get by with only a rinse. It is glass and will break. I avoid following hot coffee with cool rinse water. One down side for the Chemex is the filters are relatively expensive. I often will get multiple uses from my filters by rinsing them in hot tap water and allowing them to air dry. I notice no ill affects on flavor by doing this but your experience may be different. There are cloth and metal alternatives to the filter paper. Both of these allow more sediment into your cup than does paper. Coffee presses allow for similar level of control as the Chemex. When I want clean coffee I use the Chemex with paper. If I don't mind the sediment I use the press.
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