Chemex — Recipes — CoffeeSpecs

Name: Chemex
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 5.4 g Ground coffee; 148 g Water just off the boil

Parameters

Ground coffee: 5.4 g
Water: 148 g
Ratio: 1:27,4

Grind: Medium-coarse. The Chemex filter is far thicker than a normal one: with a fine grind the water stops passing through.

Served in: The carafe itself, then a 150 ml cup

Coffee and water scale together, within the capacity of your model: the Chemex comes in 3, 6, 8 and 10 cup sizes. The bloom stays at 30 seconds.

Ingredients

5.4 g Ground coffee — One rounded tablespoon, 5.3–5.5 g according to the source
148 g Water just off the boil — One 5 oz cup

Method

Set and rinse the filter

Open the filter with the three-layer side towards the spout and wet it with hot water, then discard what collects.
Bring the water to a boil

Take it off the heat and let it stop boiling vigorously before pouring.
Bloom

Pour a little water in a circular motion to wet all the grounds and wait about 30 seconds.

30 s
Pour in circles

Keep pouring slowly, holding the water level well below the top of the Chemex.
Remove the filter

Once the water has drained, lift out the filter and pour. The air channel is there to let you do it cleanly.

Common mistakes

The water will not go through → grind too fine for that filter thickness. Open it two steps from your V60 setting.
Papery taste → the filter was not rinsed. At this thickness it is compulsory.
The three-layer side faces the spout: it closes the air channel and carries the weight of the water.
Do not fill to the rim: stay at least half a centimetre below the edge of the filter.

The Chemex dates from 1941 and came out of a chemist's work: the shape is that of a laboratory funnel, and the air channel along the neck lets steam escape while the coffee falls.

The real difference is the filter, which is 20–30% thicker than a normal cone filter. It holds back more oils and more fines: the result is the cleanest, most transparent cup among filter methods — and the least forgiving of mediocre coffee.