Elegant Simplicity: Chemex Classic 6-cup coffee maker

The Chemex is the only acquisiton I’ve had in the last 2 weeks that wasn’t bought from Raw Coffee Company — not because they don’t sell them, but because I didn’t do my homework and bought it from Amazon, only to realise later that they had it here in Dubai…sans the expensive shipping.

Unlike the Aeropress, the Chemex is beautiful. It’s made of borosilicate glass with a fancy wooden collar held in place with a strip of leather. It cost me around USD60 (and available at Raw Coffee Company for around USD54) and shipping came up to another half that -_-

Unlike the Aeropress, the Chemex uses a pour-over method (the Aeropress is a press, obviously), which is far more elegant and far less portable than the press.

It looks out of place sitting in my grubby bachelor-type kitchen, but that’s hasn’t stopped me from getting some use out of it.

It’s quite simple to use — drop in a paper filter (costs around $10 for a pack of 100), put in 1 scoop for every cup of coffee you plan to make, along with 5oz of water for every scoop.

I used the scoop from the Aeropress, boiled the water to 88°C using the Bonavita kettle, used my finger to create a little indent in the middle of the grounds, and started pouring in water (gooseneck kettles ftw!) slowly, starting from the center and working my way outward to the edges, pausing occassionally to give the coffee and opporunity to bloom.

Unlike the Aeropress, I don’t get my coffee in 20s. It took around 10 minutes for the extraction, after which it was just a simple matter of lifting the filter off and dropping into my compost bag.

The result? I have to say that while the Aeropress is good, the Chemex produces a solid brew that goes well with the Ethiopian Herra. The intensity is stronger with the Chemex (not sure why), there’s more body and flavor, and the floral and fruity notes of the Herra beans are more pronounced.

While some believe the Aeropress makes the world’s best cuppa, I’d have to say that the Chemex delivers a better one, if time and space isn’t a consideration. I can see myself using this in the office once Ramadan is over, and the Aeropress more for quick brews and travel