How to brew with a Chemex
The Chemex is probably one of the most beautiful coffee brewing devices. In its beauty is also a simplicity of use that yields fantastic tasting coffee with little effort.
The two most important things about brewing coffee with a Chemex are:
- The 1:16 ratio - for every gram of coffee you use you add 16 grams of hot water. In our example below we are using 20 grams of coffee so we need to add 20x16=320 grams of water.
- Water levels - when brewing make sure you keep the coffee fully submerged in water but don't add excessive water
What will you need to brew with a Chemex?
- A Chemex with filters
- A kettle
- 20 grams of coffee freshly ground to a medium grind
- A scale that is capable of 1 gram increments and at a minimum can do 1000 grams
Steps to brewing a great cup of coffee with a Chemex
- Open the paper filter. There will be one side that is 3 layers thick. This side goes on the side with the spout
- Boil your water.
- Wet your paper filter with some hot water to get rid of the paper taste
- Add 20 grams of coffee to the filter
- Put the Chemex with the filter and the coffee on the scale and tare the scale so the weight shows zero.
- Slowly add enough water to wet all the coffee. Wait 20 seconds
- Keep adding water slowly and pour the water in a circular motion around the bed of coffee. The idea here is to keep the coffee floating in the water but not add too much water. Keep adding water until the scale shows 320 grams.
- Enjoy!