Chemex 6 Cup Coffee Maker with Handle

I could never figure out why the coffee I made at home didn’t taste as good as the coffee I bought at Starbucks and other gourmet makers – even though I buy high quality beans and grind them myself. The answer, apparently, is that drip home brewers just don’t brew at the right temperature. A chemex brewer is a “back to basics” system of making coffee where you pour boiling hot water directly over the grounds. You control the temperature and the special filters remove any bitterness from coffee. This is an inexpensive way to make great coffee at home. The only inconvenience is that you have to boil the water yourself in a kettle and you have to pour water into the chemex 2-3 times to make a full pot, so you can’t just walk away while it’s brewing. Also, the chemex doesn’t keep the coffee warm, so I find myself putting second and third cups into the microwave. Nevertheless, the taste of the coffee is so outstanding that I can’t bear to go back to my Mr. Coffee machine.

There is a dirty little secret that many of these appliance companies don’t want you to know. Manual drip coffee from a simple cone device makes the best coffee. Here’s why. You need to have two tablespoons of coffee for every cup. The water must be just below the boiling point when it hits the grounds. Water which is poured in one little stream on top of dry grounds will cause a funnel effect an most of the grounds won’t immersed effectively.

The fancy auto-drip coffee makers don’t heat the grounds effectively and don’t cover them with water properly in the brewing process. If most people really looked at the back of their coffee maker and looked at where the water is kept in reserve, they would call a Haz-Mat team to clean it up.

Why get this instead of a cheap plastic cone, the filter paper is thicker with the Chemex, retains more bitter oils and the thick glass of the Chemex will keep the coffee warm enough for a second cup (I would suggest getting the glass lid for it also.