The Chemex yields a very clean and delicious coffee. It is a simple and effective way to brew a filter coffee at home.
Equipment required: Chemex, Chemex bonded filter paper, kettle (gooseneck preferable), scale, coffee beans, timer.
Ensure you have coffee beans roasted for filter coffee (espresso roasts tend not to provide a balanced flavour when filtered). The beans should be of a medium grind – think coarse sand. Use 18gm of coffee per 300ml of water – this is for one standard serve.
Fold your filter paper into a cone and place into the Chemex.
Wet the filter paper with hot water. This seals the filter and removes any residual paper flavour. Pour out the remaining water.
Place your Chemex on your scale and pour your coffee into the filter. Shake the Chemex to ensure the coffee ground is level. Tare the scale to zero.
Start your timer and pour enough water to just cover the coffee (about 50ml). This step is the bloom – this saturates the coffee and removes any excess gases trapped within the coffee. Let the coffee bloom for 30 seconds.
Note: The optimum temperature of water for coffee is 95 degrees celsius. If your kettle does not have a set temperature gauge, bring water to the boil and let it sit for a few minutes.
After your 30 second bloom, proceed to pour the remaining 250ml of hot water over the next 2 minutes.
Aim for a slow and steady pour over the coffee grind to achieve a balanced extraction of the coffee. Avoid pouring hot water directly onto the filter paper. Pour in a spiral over the darker spots of the coffee grind and avoid the lighter areas – this will also help to achieve a more even extraction.
After your 2 minutes of pouring, let the remaining water filter over the next minute before removing the filter containing the ground coffee.
Your coffee is now ready. Pour the filtered coffee into a cup and enjoy your Chemex coffee.
