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What makes the best cup of coffee? In our opinion, it’s the Chemex! Here’s how to use a Chemex to make pour over coffee.
Our mornings start exactly the same over here, whether it’s weekend or weekday, rain or shine, winter or summer. It’s a pot of coffee made in our Chemex, that odd-looking glass pour over coffee pot.
Alex and I have had coffee every morning for our entire marriage. A few years in, we started making Chemex coffee and it took our coffee game to a new level. We think, in fact, that the Chemex makes the perfect cup of pour over coffee. So, here are all our secrets!
Video: How to use a Chemex
What you need to make Chemex coffee
Before you learn how to use a Chemex, you’ll need a few pieces of coffee gear. It might seem like a lot of gear, but homemade Chemex coffee does end up being cheaper than a coffee shop in the long run! Also, you can use the kettle and food scale for things like boiling water and making bread. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Coffee beans: For Chemex coffee, we like a light roast or medium roast coffee, since the flavors really shine in this method.
- Chemex 8 cup coffeemaker: Here’s the Chemex we use: it can make up to 4 cups of coffee at once.
- Chemex coffee filters: The Chemex uses special filters.
- Bodum electric burr grinder: Grinding the beans with a burr grinder is one of the best things you can do for a great cup of coffee. We’ve used this grinder for years and love it. A affordable option is handheld coffee mill—it just takes much longer.
- Electric gooseneck kettle: This kettle is perfect for heating water for coffee and tea; we’ve used ours for 6 years. A gooseneck kettle provides an advantage for Chemex coffee: you can slowly pour the water onto the coffee beans, allowing it to extract maximum flavor. Or, try this more affordable pour over coffee kettle.
- Digital food scale: This is the food scale we use. It’s reliable and we use it for many things outside of coffee too, like weighing ingredients for baking sourdough bread or Dutch oven bread.
How to use a Chemex
Using a Chemex takes a little practice, but once you learn it will become second nature! The extra 5 minutes that are needed to make Chemex pour over coffee are absolutely worth it. Our ratio is for every 1 gram of coffee, use 15 to 16 grams of water. Here are a few things to know about how to use a Chemex — then reference the recipe below. The major steps are:
Step 1: Heat filtered water to 200 to 205°F in an electric pour over coffee kettle. Then use a food scale to weigh out the amount of coffee. For 2 cups of coffee, we use 34 g. Grind it out to a medium coarse grind.
Step 2: Wet the Chemex coffee filter, then add the coffee and let the it bloom for 1 minute by wetting the grounds and letting it sit. The bloom releases CO2 from the coffee and causes the grinds to rise.
Step 3: Gradually pour in the remaining water. For 34 grams of coffee, use 520 g of water.
And that’s how to use a Chemex! Once you’ve practiced a few times, it will feel like second nature. When we first started making Chemex coffee, Alex always made the coffee. I was intimidated to learn, but after he showed me a few times, I can now do it while barely awake! It is 100% worth the few extra minutes, because it is truly our perfect cup of coffee.
Variation: Chemex iced coffee
Another fun way to use the Chemex is to make Chemex Iced Coffee! This method is quick and takes only 10 minutes! You don’t have to chill overnight or for hours: you make it right when you’re craving it. Honestly, one fact makes us make this Chemex iced coffee all the time.
More coffee methods
Outside of how to use a Chemex, we’ve got a series on how to make coffee using all sorts of gadgets!
- How to use an Aeropress
- How to make cold brew coffee
- How to make iced coffee
- How to Make Coffee: 4 Ways
- Best pour over coffee maker
- Pumpkin Spice Iced Coffee
- All of our Coffee Methods & Resources!
Frequently asked questions
The Chemex is an elegant, pour-over style coffee maker known for its hourglass shape and ability to produce clean, flavorful coffee. It uses a thicker filter than other pour-over methods, resulting in a smoother cup with less sediment.
Chemex coffee makers require special Chemex-branded filters, which are thicker than standard filters and designed to fit the unique shape of the brewer.
A medium-coarse grind is ideal for Chemex brewing. It should resemble coarse sand. If the grind is too fine, the coffee may be over-extracted and bitter; if it’s too coarse, it may be under-extracted and weak.
The brewing process in a Chemex typically takes about 4-5 minutes. The time can vary depending on the grind size and the amount of coffee you’re making.
The Chemex is easy to clean. After brewing, simply discard the filter and coffee grounds. Wash the Chemex with warm, soapy water and rinse it thoroughly. Avoid using abrasive cleaners or scouring pads, as they can scratch the glass.
How to use a Chemex to make coffee
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
Description
The best cup of coffee? To us, it’s pour over coffee made in a Chemex. Here’s how to use a Chemex to make a perfect cup of coffee.
Ingredients
- 34 grams light or medium roast coffee beans*
- 520 grams filtered water (the flavor is best with filtered water)
Instructions
- Heat a pot of filtered water to 200 to 205F. We use an electric kettle that shows us the exact temperature. You could also use a teapot on the stove — just heat to boiling, then let the water cool down for a few minutes.
- Use a food scale to weigh out 34 grams of coffee, then grind it to a medium coarse grind (about the size of kosher or sea salt). We use an electric burr grinder to get a consistent grind.
- When the water is heated, place the filter in your Chemex (see the video below for exact instructions). Pour in just a bit of water to wet the filter, then pour out the water into the sink. Place the ground coffee into the Chemex and shake it to level it out.
- Place the Chemex on the food scale and tare it so the scale reads 0. Slowly pour in 70 grams of water in a circular motion. Then stop and wait for 1 minute: this allows the coffee to bloom (you may have to tap your scale once so that it doesn’t time out!).
- Then slowly add the remaining water in two batches, pouring very slowly in concentric circles, pouring right onto the coffee and not touching the coffee filter. Fill to about ½ inch from the top (it will likely be around 400 grams water), wait for the water level to go down a bit, and then fill the remaining water up to 520 grams.
- After a few minutes, all of the water will filter through the coffee grounds into the pot below. Remove the filter and discard it (we compost ours). Enjoy!
Notes
*In our large Chemex, the most you can make at one time is 50 grams of coffee and 800 grams water, which makes about 3 to 4 cups of coffee. To scale up or down, just use our magic ratio: 15-16 grams water to 1 gram of coffee.
- Category: Drink
- Method: Pour Over
- Cuisine: American
Thank you Alex! That worked perfectly.
I’ve been using a Chemex for a year now and wouldn’t use anything else to make our morning coffee. I love it! But, it’s impossible to clean! I can’t get my hand or a sponge down inside the bottom to get at the coffee residue. How do you clean it?
Hi! We don’t clean it too often, but when we do I soak it with a water / vinegar mixture for a few hours and then use a rag and a wooden spoon handle to wipe it clean. Good luck!
We use the toilet brush , works perfectly