all brew guides

Chemex

The Chemex is the cleanest cup we brew. Its heavy, bonded filter strips oils and fines, leaving a tea-like clarity that rewards our brightest lots. It's 45 grams of coffee, 750 grams of water, and about five minutes — a brew meant for sharing.

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What you'll need

  • Chemex · 6-cup or 8-cup · classic or handblown
  • Chemex Filter · Bonded paper · natural or pre-folded
  • Burr Grinder · Medium-coarse · kosher salt texture
  • Gram Scale · 0.1g precision · with timer
  • Gooseneck Kettle · For slow, aimed pours

Directions

  1. Rinse the filter | Before start | Seat the filter inside the Chemex with the three-folded side against the pour spout — that's what holds the filter open and keeps the pour channel clear. Soak it with hot water. Discard the rinse.
  2. Weigh, grind, dimple | Before start | Weigh 45g of whole-bean coffee. Grind medium-coarse — kosher salt, not table salt. Pour into the wet filter, tap to level, and press a small divot in the center with your finger. That divot is the bloom's landing pad.
  3. Bloom | 0:00 → 0:45 | Tare the scale. Start your timer. Pour 90g of water into the divot and spiral outward until every ground is wet. A gentle swirl settles the bed. Let it rest — 45 seconds for a Chemex, a little longer than a V60, because more coffee means more gas to release.
  4. Main pour | 0:45 → 2:30 | From 0:45, pour slow, steady spirals from center out to the edge and back. Keep the slurry at roughly half the height of the paper — too high floods the filter, too low drops the water through too fast. Finish the pour at 750g by about 2:30.
  5. Swirl the slurry | ~2:45 | Once the slurry has receded a little, give the Chemex a gentle swirl — one circle, no drama. Grounds stuck high on the paper fall back into the bed and pull the last of the flavor with them. This single move is the difference between a good Chemex and a great one.
  6. Drawdown and serve | Finish | Let the Chemex finish dripping. Total brew should land between 4:30 and 5:15. The spent bed should be flat and level — that's your visual receipt for an even extraction. Lift the filter, swirl the carafe, and pour.