Brewing coffee with a Chemex is one of my absolute favorites when it comes to the entire experience. Beyond being a beautiful process, it is also a fragrant and calm, almost ceremonial event, and I love the simplicity of this beautiful brewing method.
When you brew coffee in a Chemex, it is important to follow a few simple guidelines to get the best result. The Chemex is what is known as a pour-over brewer and uses its own special filters, which are a bit thicker than what you might be familiar with from V60 filters. The thick filter means that you need to grind your beans slightly coarser than for a V60, which results in a longer draw-down time.
The Chemex offers a "cleaner" taste experience than the V60, and it is a brew where the fine nuances of the bean can truly shine through.
Chemex comes in several sizes and styles. Classic, Handblown, or with a handle. Regardless of which one you have, it is important that you use the Chemex filters for your brewer.
What you will need
- Chemex coffee brewer + filter
- 40 g freshly ground coffee
- 600 ml water at 98ºC.
- Coffee scale
Brewing guide with a Chemex 6-cup Classic carafe
- Take your Chemex filter and fold one of the four sides so that it forms a cone shape with three layers on one side and a single layer on the other.
- Place the filter in your Chemex with the side with three layers facing the pour spout.
- Rinse the filter with hot water until it is completely saturated, while at the same time warming up your Chemex. Then, discard the water.
- Place the coffee in the filter and make a small indentation in the middle without compressing the coffee. You can use a small wooden stick for this if necessary.
- Place your Chemex on the scale and tare it to zero.
- Start your stopwatch and pour 150 g of water over the coffee, starting in the center and moving in small circles while rotating the carafe to ensure all the coffee is saturated.
- Let the coffee 'bloom' for 30 seconds to release CO2 from the roasting process.
- Add 300 g of water over the next 30 seconds, so that there is 450 g of water in the carafe when the stopwatch reaches 1:30.
- Then, pour in 150 g of water over the next 30 seconds, so that there is a total of 600 g of water in the carafe when the timer shows 1:45.
- Wait until all the coffee has filtered through. This should take between 4:00 and 4:30.
- A little hack is to leave the filter in the carafe, as it will help retain heat. Optionally, twist the top of the filter so you can grip it and lift it when pouring.
If you have used a light-roasted coffee like No. 3, there will be a delightful scent and taste of fresh forest berries that emerges. The clean and gentle taste will be a slightly acidic, but not harsh, coffee.
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