Brewing methods
Chemex
A bonded filter twenty per cent heavier than standard paper, and the clean cup it produces.
Brew parameters
Grind
Medium coarse
- Extra fine
- Fine
- Medium fine
- Medium
- Medium coarse
- Coarse
FinerCoarser
Water
93–96 °C
15 °C100 °C
Body
Light
LightFull
- Ratio
- 1:16
- Contact time
- 4.5 min
The Chemex filter is the whole point. It is thick enough to hold back almost every oil and fine, which yields a famously clean cup and a brew time long enough to need a coarser grind than the shape suggests.
The paper is the machine
A Chemex filter is twenty to thirty percent heavier than a standard cone paper. It holds back oils and fine particles that a V60 lets through, which is where the trademark clarity comes from, and it slows the brew enough that the same grind you use on a V60 will stall. Start two clicks coarser and adjust from there.
Why the folded side goes to the spout
Three of the four layers sit on one side. That thick wall belongs against the channel, where it holds the paper open so air can escape while the brew runs. Put it the other way round and the brewer burps, the bed lifts, and the drawdown stretches past five minutes.
The brew
Twelve to fifteen grams per 200 g of water, medium-coarse, water at 94 °C. Bloom with double the coffee weight, then pour in three or four additions, keeping the water level well below the rim. Total time between four and five minutes for a one litre batch, less for a small one.
What it is for
A batch. The Chemex is the brewer that makes six cups as well as it makes two, holds them hot in its own carafe, and produces a cup clean enough that a delicate washed Ethiopian reads like tea rather than juice. It is the wrong choice when you want body.