How to Brew - Chemex Pour Over

Buy the 6 cup Chemex here - bluebottlecoff...
Buy Chemex filters here - bluebottlecoff...
Few products in this century can match the flawless blending of design and function of the Chemex®. Its visual elegance has earned it a place in the permanent collection of New York's Corning Museum of Glass. The Chemex® coffeemaker was also selected by the Illinois Institute of Technology as one of the 100 best designed products of modern times. The Chemex® coffeemaker, together with Chemex-Bonded® Coffee Filter, makes perfect coffee. Clear, pure, flavorful and without bitterness or sediment every time. The coffee only comes in contact with the scientifically designed filter and non-porous glass. With the Chemex® method, you can make coffee as strong as you like without bitterness.
In this video we will walk you through our Blue Bottle method for brewing up a Chemex.
You will need:
- 6 cup Chemex and filter
- Pouring Kettle
- Coffee Grinder
- 50 grams of coffee
- Digital Scale with a timer
- 700 grams of water just off a boil
Steps:
- Start by heating enough water to preheat your Chemex and to brew your coffee
- Place the filter in the Chemex, with the “tri-fold” portion facing the pouring spout of the brewer. This prevents the filter from clogging the spout
- Rinse the filter thoroughly and pour out excess water. This helps to remove any off flavors, preheat the carafe and also create a good seal between the filter and the carafe
- Grind your coffee to a medium coarse level, finer than a French Press but more coarse than a typical pour over. It should resemble sea salt.
- Place the grounds in the filter and gently shake to create a level coffee bed
- Tare the Chemex on the scale. Start your timer and begin your first pour, or bloom pour. Starting in the center of the coffee bed, spiral out until all coffee is saturated, or until around 100 g of water is added. The coffee will begin expanding and blooming.
- Let the coffee’s bloom develop for 45 seconds
- Starting the second pour at 45 seconds, pour water in a circular pattern starting in the center. Spiral out toward the edge of the slurry before spiraling back toward the middle aiming to finish at 300 grams of water. Avoid pouring on the filter.
- Allow the water to filter through the grounds almost completely before starting the next pour
- Start your third pour in the center of the coffee bed and use the same pattern as before, bringing the water weight up to 500 grams. 1:50 seconds
- Pause again allowing the water level to drop down
- The fourth and final pour will be the same pattern, this time bringing the water amount up to 700 Grams. 3:10 seconds
- Typically a Chemex will finish in around 4 minutes. The Larger batch and thick filtration of the Chemex however can result in longer brew times especially with lighter roasted higher elevation coffees. 7 minute long brew times are not unusual for this method.
- Remove the filter from the carafe, pour into your favorite cups and enjoy
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[@thedarthsidious66]

60 grams of coffee to 1 liter of water is a nice cup of coffee. agitating the grounds in the first pour after the bloom process is super key for amazing coffee.

[@gibreezy]

Noted

[@1DJSkittles]

So to make it easier because I'm bad at math how much coffee for an 8 cup

[@thedarthsidious66]

@@1DJSkittles So a half of a liter is one American sized water bottle the 16.9 fl oz. So two bottles of water for 60 grams.

[@thedarthsidious66]

@@1DJSkittles Additionally my Chemex actually has the 8 cup mark it would about 1 and a half bottles of water.

[@paulaperrin5020]

As usual, your method is the most straight forward and understandable. For those saying "Gee, that's a lot of trouble" it's a choice, so perhaps not for everyone. But I would say, the total time of brewing is about the same as a drip machine, and the results are (due to the gentle process of pour over and those magical Chemex filters) NO bitterness, low acid and just the smoothest, brightest coffee you'll likely ever drink. The process is very flexible as well. I like my coffee milder, so I use 30 grams to 600g of water for 4, 5oz cups. And like anything else, it's only hard until you figure it out.

[@clex2005]

Should the water temperature remain the same throughout the pouring process? And what temperature is that?

[@monsterpig3270]

Is it okay to brew only 6 cups with a 10 cup Chemex? Seems not to be as good as when I make 10 cups.

[@wathog01]

Hello Blue Bottle! I just got the chance to visit the newly opened shop in Shanghai, the place is amazing and I got myself a bag of Bella Donovan and a bag of Three Africans. Which one do you suggest I should try first on my Chemex? Do I need to adjust some parameters differently from your method in the video? Thanks :)

[@bluebottlecoffee4527]

Both are great coffees, and thank you for visiting our new cafe! we use a slightly higher dose for our Bella Donovan than we do for our 3 Africas blend but I think the video will be a good starting point for either and then you can adjust based on preference

[@nelsonwong8526]

Would you change the coffee-to-water ratio according to the roast level of the coffee beans? In another video, you recommended to use 22g for single origins and a higher dose (I forgot the number) for blends, while using 350g water for both. If I were to brew a single origin with the Chemex, what ratio should I use?

[@bluebottlecoffee4527]

Great catch Nelson, we do indeed suggest different dosing levels for different coffees with our blends tending high and single origin tending to be lower. The roast level is a guide to an extent but more so we find that in our cafes many of our blend customers enjoy adding either milk, sugar or both and a higher strength coffee stands up to that. Where as our single origin coffees are often chosen for their unique flavor and we feel you can get better articulation of that at a lower dose level.

[@billscott6819]

Prints return label...

[@JakeThornberry]

This was so helpful, thank you! I've been brewing coffee this way for years, ever since I had my first pour-over at your Williamsburg cafe, after which I immediately set out to recreate that transcendent experience. It was seriously life changing! "What?! Coffee can taste like THIS? What have I been drinking all these years?" I'm constantly curious and, as I'm always looking to learn more to improve my technique, I was excited to find this. As is the case with your videos, I always learn something new! This time it was at 2:49, when I finally learned why, with all other variables remaining the same, some brews and beans took longer. I've watched a ton of Chemex technique videos over the years and this was the first that explained how lighter roasts and/or high elevation coffees affect the brew time. Thank you! My only suggestion for these sorts of videos-which are already absolutely perfect for 95 percent of folks-would be to consider including little pointers towards the end of how to dial in your brew. When I was first getting started, there was so much I didn't know, so I didn't understand why my brews varied so widely at times. Teaching folks who are a little new to this how to dial things in could stand to help a lot of people! Little tips such as "If your coffee tastes too bitter/sour, try this"-what slightly coarser/finer grind, pouring too quickly/slowly, or water being too hot/cold will do to the brew could really stand to help people once they have the basics down and are trying to improve (or troubleshoot) how to improve their cup. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with us!

[@bluebottlecoffee4527]

Thank you for the feedback and we are glad you found it helpful! We have an advanced course for pour over list on blue bottle classes that goes into more depth on dialing in and hopefully next year after we finish our basic brew methods we can do some KZbin content around the different aspects of dialing in and recipe building as well.

[@stacyvasoll8495]

I have a Technivorm brewer that I love for my everyday morning coffee. I also have a French press, aeropress, and even a wacaco mini espresso, which I use for camping and travel. I finally got a Chemex, and used this recipe with 50g medium roast. Wow! This makes a wonderful smooth full flavor brew. It really brings out the floral notes. This will likely become my primary method of brewing coffee now, unless I'm really in a rush. It’s amazing how the same coffee can taste so different across several brewing methods.

[@af8857]

How many 12oz cups of coffee is being brewed in this video?

[@thedarthsidious66]

24.6918 oz, so like two mugs.

[@マックスメタボ]

How to wash - Chemex......its sufferings.

[@ShinichiroSatoshi]

How quick should my drip be flowing?

[@user-ij5rs7xq5y]

Where can I find that cup us pours the coffee into?

[@stevet4146]

OCD ! ! ! OCD ! ! ! OCD ! ! !

[@paretocompanylimited9611]

Love Chemex!! Not just brewing tasty coffee, it is a piece of art!

[@nibelungvalesti]

Much easier using Ratio 6 (with a carafe magnet), and regular cone filters.

[@katelingates-gonzales7086]

Dang this is complicated.

[@ginachaves9393]

What do you recommend for making iced coffee using a chemex?

[@runningrock124]

what in the actual fuck.

[@TheAboriginal1]

do you want good coffee or not

[@carmen6364]

CHEMEX! - Do Not Buy You are responsible for shipping to receive your package (approx $20) and if you have to exchange/return you are responsible to find a carrier of your choice and pay for shipping going back. When you call Chemex they never answer phone and you will be disconnected after few minutes . All contact is thru emails , if you get lucky .After getting your Chemex you will be spending hundreds of dollars bcuz you will need a Scale, Burr Grinder , Gooseneck Kettle , Filters coffee beans and after all that after brewing the coffee by the time you even finish your cup the coffee that is left in the carafe is COLD , and yes , you will have to buy another Gadget , a warmer to keep your coffee warm.. SMH

[@armypapi69]

I put my coffee in vacuum coffee container to keep from getting cold