Chemex brew guide: the history and our recipe

We drink coffee for the lift and for the flavour. You can also drink it in a more deliberate, almost ceremonial way, using one of the best designed objects ever made. Here is a short history of the Chemex, followed by our recipe for brewing in one.

The story of the Chemex Coffee Maker

In 1941 Peter Schlumbohm, an American chemist and inventor of German descent, came up with a brewer he called the Chemex Coffee Maker. It has been made in the same form ever since.
Why has it lasted, and why do people love it?

Simplicity and one clever idea.
Simplicity: the Chemex is the brewer and the carafe in one, so you do not need two pieces of kit. The Chemex is enough.
The clever idea: a thick single-use paper filter that does a remarkable job, catching even the finest particles. That degree of filtration is why coffee from a Chemex is delicate, smooth and clean, and why the Chemex became shorthand for a light-bodied brew, often described as almost tea-like.

The whole world got to know it, films and TV series included

The design is what sets it apart

In the 1950s it arrived in millions of American homes and lodged itself in popular culture, turning up in plenty of films and series. Rosemary’s Baby, for instance, or the enormously popular Friends, and more recently Interstellar. It is also part of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Right, so how do you brew coffee in this piece of modern art?

Our Chemex recipe

1. Put the kettle on and fold the filter into the top of the Chemex. Make sure the three-layer side sits against the spout and the single layer on the opposite side.
2. Rinse the filter with hot water to get rid of the papery taste and to warm the glass. The brew will be more stable for it.
3. Now the coffee. A light roast arabica works best. Grind it coarser than you would for a dripper. If you do not have a grinder we will grind it for you, just get in touch.
4. Tip out the rinse water and add the ground coffee to the filter. Check that your water sits between 92 and 95°C.
5. Time to brew, starting with the bloom. Pour a small amount of water over the coffee, about 10% of the total you plan to use (brewing 500 ml means 50 ml here), and give it around 30 seconds. The coffee blooms: carbon dioxide left in the bean after roasting escapes and the grounds soak through, so more of the good stuff can be washed out later. That one step makes the cup cleaner and fuller.
6. After 30 seconds start pouring in small amounts, moving in circles and keeping the stream nearer the centre of the filter.
   Pace the pours so the whole brew takes between 3:40 and 4:20 at a dose of 6-7 g of coffee per 100 ml of water.
7. Once the last of the brew has dripped through, lift out the filter with the grounds, swirl the carafe and serve.

   The Chemex is a simple tool that gives you excellent coffee. Remember that your brew will only ever be as good as the beans you put in it.