Brewed Coffee With A Chemex

July 17, 2011 Filed in: Cooking | Food
IMG_5436-1 (dragged)
“With the Chemex, even a moron can make good coffee.”
--Dr. Peter Schlumbohm, PhD (inventor of the Chemex Coffeemaker)

I love coffee quite a bit, maybe a little too much, but despite this fact, I have never made my coffee in a Chemex. The New York Times called the Chemex Coffeemaker one of the best 100 modern devices. Invented by German inventor/chemist Dr. Peter Schlumbohm in 1941, the Chemex is a Pyrex container in an hourglass shape that is part chemistry funnel and part Erlenmeyer flask. Many coffee lovers swear by it, and it has a deeply loyal following.

This morning, I got to use my friend Laurie's Chemex. I found out there are a few different models. The one she owns has a glass handle, while the traditional version has a wooden handle.
IMG_5381-1 (dragged)

She has an electric kettle at her place, so I just turned that on and let the water boil. While that was going, I prepared the filter. The filter comes as a square folded in half and folded in half again. I separated the corners so that three corners were on one side and one was on the other. This makes a nice little funnel shape.
IMG_5382-1 (dragged) IMG_5385-1 (dragged) IMG_5386-1 (dragged) 1

Time to add coffee!
IMG_5388-1 (dragged) IMG_5401-1 (dragged) IMG_5409-1 (dragged) 1

When the kettle was done boiling the water, I poured a little bit into the filter but just enough to get the grounds wet.
IMG_5420-1 (dragged) 1 IMG_5417-1 (dragged)

I impatiently waited for the coffee to "bloom". ("Blooming" is the release of gases in fresh coffee).
IMG_5422-1 (dragged)

As soon as I saw some of the water come through, I started pouring more water into the filter.
IMG_5429-1 (dragged) IMG_5434-1 (dragged) 1

I removed the filter by pulling in the corners of it.
IMG_5444-1 (dragged) IMG_5445-1 (dragged) IMG_5446-1 (dragged) 2

I poured myself a delicious cup.
IMG_5456-1 (dragged)

Laurie and I both enjoyed our coffees created with the help of this wonderful coffee "machine"!
IMG_5464-1 (dragged)

Brewing coffee with one of these things was fun. It was also totally easy, and it tasted delicious. It definitely takes a bit of patience, but I felt it was worth it. I have a lot of respect for the beautiful and industrial design of the Chemex, and I may have to buy myself one in the near future.

Related Items:
Chemex Six Cup Glass Coffee Maker with Glass Handle - 6 Cup Coffee Maker
Chemex Pre Folded Circle Coffee Filter

blog comments powered by Disqus