CHEMEX
History
The Chemex coffeemaker was invented in 1941 by the eccentric chemist Dr. Peter Schlumbohm. When designing the Chemex, Schlumbohm desired to not only make brewing the perfect cup simple, but also to have the vessel be a thing of beauty. Being a chemist, he studied and understood clearly the chemistry behind the extraction of flavor and caffeine from coffee beans. It was this knowledge that led him to invent the double bonded Chemex paper filters for a perfect extraction every time.
What is a Chemex?
The Chemex coffeemaker consists of an hourglass-shaped glass flask with a conical funnel-like neck and proprietary filters, made of bonded paper, that are thicker than the standard paper filters used for a drip coffeemaker. The thicker paper of the Chemex filters removes most of the coffee oils and makes coffee that is much "cleaner" than other brew methods. The "cleaner" cup extracts caffeine and flavor while removing some of the bitter notes.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
- Chemex brewer*
- Chemex filters*
- 42g medium-course ground coffee
- Scale*
- Timer (if one is not built into scale)
- Gooseneck Kettle* / Hot Water (700g @ 205°)
PREP
- Place the Chemex filter in the brewer with the single fold away from the spout and the three folds lined up against the spout.
- Rinse the filter with hot water to remove any paper taste, while also preheating the brewer.
- Dump the rinse water out through the spout.
BREW
- Place 42g of your ground coffee in the filter.
- Set the Chemex brewer on the scale and tare the scale to 0.
- Start the timer and pour 100g of hot water into the center of the grounds, completely saturating them and starting the blooming process.
- At 45 seconds, start your second pour of water in a gentle and circular motion until a weight of 300g of water. (Don’t pour water on the edge of the filter)
- At 1:30, start your third pour for a weight of 500g of water in the same slow and circular motion.
- At 2:30, start your fourth and final pour for a final weight of 700g of water.
- The coffee should stop dripping around 4-5 min.
- Discard the filter with the used grounds.
- Enjoy!
