Chemex
The Chemex is as much a design object as a brewing tool. Created by a chemist in 1941, it has hardly changed since. Its blown glass silhouette, thick paper filter, and cup result: everything here is a statement of intent.
Born in a laboratory
The Chemex is part of the permanent collection at MoMA in New York. That says a lot about its status: half tool, half sculpture.
Peter Schlumbohm was a chemist, not a designer. But his scientific approach led him to create an object of rare elegance. The pinched glass neck serves as a handle, the wood and string as a thermal sleeve, the glass funnel as a reservoir.
Everything serves the cup. No element is decorative for no reason. This is exactly the kind of rigor we appreciate in the specialty coffee world.
The Chemex filter is 20 to 30% thicker than standard paper filters. This extra thickness retains coffee oils (cafestols and kahweols) that pass through other methods.
Result: a cup of exceptional clarity, almost luminous. Some find this profile too "clean," even sterile. For others, it's the ideal cup: each aroma is isolated and identifiable. An extreme V60.
The Chemex recipe
The Chemex is less forgiving than the V60. Precision is non-negotiable.
Rinse the filter with hot water to remove paper taste and preheat the Chemex. Discard the water.
Pour 80g of water over the coffee (2x the dose). Let it bloom for 45 seconds. The coffee releases its CO2 — this is the visible degassing.
Pour in 3 to 4 concentric additions from the inside out. Keep the water level stable. Each pour: about 180g.
The coffee bed should be flat at the end. If it’s funnel-shaped, the filtration was too fast (grind too coarse). If it overflows, too slow.
Which origins to choose
The thick filter reveals delicate aromas. Favor washed coffees with a light roast.
The perfect match. The clarity of the Chemex and the floral aromas of Ethiopia create a sublime cup. Jasmine, bergamot, black tea. Bright.
Red fruits, light caramel, bright acidity. The rounder body still comes through despite the intense filtration.
Very fruity natural coffees (strawberry, red wine) lose some body and intensity through the thick filter. Save them for the AeroPress.
The ideal coffees for your Chemex
Our partner roasters offer high-altitude washed single origins, perfect for enhancing your Chemex.
Explore our filter coffees
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