The combination of filter extraction and immersion extraction: Chemex coffee pot brewing-history and tutorial

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The first time I saw a Chemex was in December 2002. It's not in a coffee shop, but in an art museum. Chemex is part of the Vital Forms exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art. During the Atomic Age from 1940 to 1960, galleries focused on American art. After the art exhibition, I ordered one and began to brew. I have been visiting for more than ten years.

Chemex's popularity has rebounded since the early 1920s. You can find Chemex in many coffee shops. Although some are used for decoration, more and more people are using them as part of their slow brewing bars. This is where customers get hand-brewed coffee, just as they already get drinks based on espresso.

Chemex coffee maker

Chemex uses perfusion to brew coffee, which makes it most similar to dripping coffee on the body and taste. Chemex filters are 20-30 per cent thicker than those used in other tipping methods, such as Hario. The result is a slower brewing and a richer cup of coffee. Although not as rich as the French press, Chemex does produce precipitate-free coffee, which will impress anyone that most automatic drip coffee machines have a weaker taste.

History of Chemex

American chemist Peter Schlumbohm (1896-1962) invented Chemex winemaker, which was published by Chemex Corporation in 1942. This is when 64% of all household coffee is made with a percolator. In Uncommon Grounds, Mark Pendergrast wrote a hot topic about Chemex:

With the exception of sorghum and purists, it never challenges infiltrators.

Chemex Beer and its accessories are made by International Housewares in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Rare reason: the history of coffee and how to change our world through Mark Pendergrast

Grinding and dosage

Dose recommendations for Chemex:

Use regular or auto-ground coffee and put a round tablespoon of coffee every 5 ounces. Cup into filter cone

Conventional grinding is a little rougher than dripping grinding. Some online tutorials say using dripping fineness, while others say using French news roughness. A good starting point is between these points. If the coffee is brewed too fast and tastes bad, you can grind it a little bit. On the other hand, if the coffee is "blocked", it will be coarsely ground.

Digital calibration will contribute to dose consistency. Using a brewing ratio of 17 to 1 (17 water to 1 coffee), Chemex adds 510g of water to every 30g of ground coffee. Or even math, just use 500 grams of water. Once you know you have the right amount of coffee and water, you can focus on perfecting your training.

Step by step Chemex brewing

For this tutorial, we will brew 18 ounces of coffee. To brew more, just use multiplication.

# 1 Hot water

Not only do you need 510 grams of water for brewing, but you also need additional water to wash the filter.

# 2 ground Coffee

Grind 30 grams of coffee. What's the best part? It starts with something rougher than a little bit, but more elaborate than the French news. Please refer to our coffee grinding chart for visual guidance.

# 3 insert filter

Place the square filter in the Chemex. The sides of the 3 parts should be on the Chemex lips used for pouring.

Once the water is warm, rinse the filter and discard it from the flushing solution. This is also used to preheat glass bottles.

# 4 Coffee

Put the ground coffee in the filter.

# 5 pour water

Once the water boils, remove it from the heat source and cool for 20-30 seconds before pouring.

The initial infusion is very important. Don't pour all the water on the ground like a pot you use, only pour enough water to make the beans saturated. Chemex says the wet ground allows them to "bloom". The importance of this step is to bring all coffee into contact with water. You wet the ground and wait 20-40 seconds. During this period, the captured carbon dioxide (CO2) escapes from the ground.

# 6 stir (optional)

At this point, you can stir the coffee with a wooden spoon.

# 7 add water

Keep adding water. Don't fill the top with it. Always allow at least an inch of room at the top. When you reach the amount of coffee you want, please stop watering. Using digital scales will prevent you from using too much water.

# 8 Service

Once the water passes through the filter, remove the filter and serve.

After brewing

Like other handmade coffee brewing methods, it is your responsibility to keep the extra coffee. In addition to drinking the rest of the coffee quickly, there are two other ideas. The first is to transfer any extra coffee to a hot glass bottle. The other is to get used to brewing the amount of coffee you plan to drink.

The original version of this article suggested using the power grid sold by Chemex to be placed on the top of the furnace. This may not be a good idea, because brewing after heating coffee can hurt the flavor. In addition, when the insulated glass bottle works properly without affecting the flavor, there is no need to use a hot burner to keep the coffee warm.

Reusable filter

In addition to popular paper filters, reusable filters can now be purchased for Chemex. Able Brewing Kone Coffee filter is a stainless steel insert that you can rinse between brewing. Some people have a strong preference for paper and metal filters. I also like that their paper filters are easier to clean, but through reuse, you will never wake up and find that you do not have a filter.

Able Kone Coffee filter for Chemex (

While putting this article together, I saw that Amazon also sold a CoffeeSock, which is Chemex's reusable cotton filter. If you don't mind cleaning up, it might be worth a try.

Clean

In Uncommon Grounds, author Mark Pendergrast says Chemex is hard to clean up. I don't agree. This is a piece of glass. Rinse with hot soapy water. Even hot water without soap is enough to keep it clean. If extra cleaning is needed for some reason, the glass bottle is safe in the dishwasher. Just make sure the handle is removed. Untie the leather knot and the handle will fall off.

Another option for cleaning is to fill Chemex with ice and add salt. Add some ice and a tablespoon of salt and give it a spin. Dump, rinse, and you're ready to go to the next brew. Thanks to the idea of Jesse for pipe coffee.

The last words

So Chemex can also make good coffee? Absolutely. This is a favorite coffee brewing method for many people. With the help of electric kettle and digital scale, Chemex is an excellent method of brewing coffee.

There are three types of Chemex: 3 cups, 6 cups, 8 cups and 10 cups. 3 cups use filters of different sizes, not Able Kone.