Chemex is a kind of coffee brewer that’s very hands on. For something so simple, its surprisingly sophisticated of a device. Invented by Peter Schlumbohm in 1941, the Chemex operates by creating a partial vacuum through temperature difference. You prime it by prewetting your filter with hot water and allowing it to drip through. Simply empty the wetting water, put the ground coffee in the filter, and slowly pour over until you get that delicious cup of coffee.

Chemex brews a fantastic cup of coffee; by controlling the flow of water the brewer is able to control the extraction method with quite a bit of precision. So long as you don’t flood your basket or pour extremely slowly you wont risk over extraction of bitter coffee tannins or weaker sub-par blends.

This is my preferred method of extraction for making coffee. I find the quality much better than a rapid brew dripper, and less messy than a French press. While yes, it does take roughly 12-15 minutes to brew a full 12 pot of coffee, the flavor and oils that come from normal extraction lends coffee a much better taste than what most people are accustomed to. And yes, while there are other, more precise and “pure” methods of brewing coffee (German porcelain), the chemex is definitely my go to on the daily for coffee. Nothing gives a quicker, better flavored coffee for price and entry.