Brew Coffee With a Chemex
Created in 1941, the Chemex is a classic way of brewing coffee. Aesthetically beautiful, this pour over method is best known for offering more control and slowing the brew process down. A slower brew results in lighter-bodied coffee with generally less of the naturally occurring oils present.
For that reason we tend to recommend lighter roast profiles, particularly light roast single origin coffees. The complete control over water temperature, pouring speed and pouring pattern allow the brewer to extract exactly what they want to achieve. This is the kind of treatment many of our Dillanos Limited coffees do quite well with, by the way.
Recommended Equipment:
- 6 tbsp (40 grams) of freshly ground coffee
- Scale
- Timer
- Filter
- Gooseneck Kettle
Instructions:
- Begin by heating water to 195-205°F in a gooseneck kettle (or bring water to boil, and allow it to cool for about a 1:30 minutes.)
- While water is heating measure out 6 tablespoons (40 grams) of freshly ground coffee.
- Place the paper filter in the top compartment of the Chemex.
- Wet all of your filter with hot water in order to remove paper taste; empty paper water from carafe.
- Add the ground coffee to filter, place on the scale and zero it out. Start timer.
- Begin by pouring 80 grams of water, wetting all of the coffee.
- The coffee will begin to bubble and release gases. Allow this to happen for 35-45 seconds. This is considered the blooming phase. This step is necessary in producing a balance and evenly extracted brew.
- Next, add 160 grams of water in a spiral motion, spiraling into the center and back out to the outer edge.
- As soon as water settles right above your bed of coffee, add another 200 grams of water.
- Add final 200 grams of water after the water settles again.
- The active brew process of incrementally adding the water in a spiral motion should take between 4:30 to 5 minutes.
- Remove the paper filter and discard.
- Serve coffee directly from the Chemex.
TIP! For those not yet familiar with a gooseneck kettle also known as a “drip kettle”, it is actually quite handy for achieving a proper Chemex brew. The long, thin spout controls the water flow and placement, which cultivates the well-developed flavor and mouthfeel coffee brewed by Chemex is meant to achieve.
For this method, we suggest these Dillanos coffees:
