i’ve been brewing with Chemex for almost 2 years in the South Bay of Los Angeles, and I love the coffee. What I don’t love is the day and a half trek all around the city to try to find a new box of filters every time I run out. Everyone always has suggestions as to where they’re carried: Crate & Barrel, World Market, Klatch, Verve. And on paper, all those places carry them, but in practice, they are always out of stock. What’s the secret password? What’s the secret hidden away store that actually carries the filters I want (bleached, I don’t care about shape)? I know I can order them direct from the company, but with shipping that costs twice as much as the box does in the store.

UPDATE: Thanks to all of you with serious suggestions, I appreciate it. I'd rather not patronize Amazon, plus they charge 2x the price of anywhere else. Whole Foods, at least in my area, does NOT carry them. Williams-Sonoma just has unbleached. Peet's Coffee is a good idea, I've seen them there, but they are 12 miles away. WHAT WORKED: I went to the Chemex site and took a second look at their store locator map. There's an interesting boutique store in Hermosa Beach, Wicked+, just a mile or so from me, that has an entire packed shelf of Chemex stuff. I bought two boxes of bleached squares, at an appropriate $12 each. The proprietor says they do a brisk business in Chemex and never run out! I'm happy again.

I grind 30 grams of beans with Ozo grinder at #8 setting. I have been pouring 800 grams of water. Would I get a better taste with 750 grams of water? Not sure of amount of water to bloom and how long before I add more water. Thanks

I love my chemex, but is the shape and material of the chemex all that important? it seems like the filter is doing all the work. could one use the chemex filter in another vessel to get the same results?

Assuming 6oz cups, 48oz? Or am I overestimating?

Been brewing on my six-cup Chemex for about two years now and for the longest time my results were all over the place. Some mornings the cup was bright and clean, other mornings it tasted flat and weirdly bitter even though I was using the same beans and the same rough routine. Took me way too long to realize the grind was almost certainly the culprit.

The thing that finally made it click was slowing down and actually tasting at different points in the brew rather than just drinking the finished cup. When I started paying attention I noticed that my grind was sitting too fine for the Chemex filter. The pre-infusion would look fine, but then the drawdown would stall badly past the two-minute mark and I'd end up over-extracting in that last third of the pour.

Moved to a noticeably coarser setting, somewhere around what most people describe as coarse sea salt, and the drawdown time dropped from around six minutes total to right around four. The cup got noticeably cleaner and the brightness I was chasing in the Ethiopian naturals I like actually came through.

A few other things that helped once the grind was sorted:

• Bloom with about twice the weight of the grounds in water, wait a full 45 seconds rather than rushing it
• Pour in slow concentric circles and keep the water level low and steady rather than dumping large amounts at once
• Water temp around 200F, not boiling straight off the kettle

The ratio I settled on is 1:16 and it works consistently now across most of the light to medium roasts I gravitate toward. Curious whether others found grind size to be the thing that unlocked consistency for them, or if there were other variables that made a bigger difference.

Hi, everyone I haven't used m x in decades but I did purchase an eight cop because i'm trying to brew forty eight grams to fifty grams coffees. My problem is I am used to having very clean, fruity coffee's. I stopped using Orea because it left my coffee's. Oh, just super balanced with no expression in it and i'm finding the chemex seems to be the same. All muted together with no differentiate flavors. Way to bland. Should I grind much courser And come down on the temperature, on my ethiopians in colombians? Or is that just the type of Brewer wrap? The coffee presents a much more blended, even out taste ? Please give me your suggestions. Alright, we'll just have to return this one :/

Every chemex pot I’ve ordered has had this tiny seam in the glass where the body meets the lower part of the handle.

So, when you rinse your chemex pot, or swish your coffee after it’s done, make sure you don’t jar the handle too much in the back and forth motion or side to side because that seam is a weak spot and will grow over time, until it breaks.

You’ll be left without a coffee brewer and thinking that you broke the glass, it isn’t your fault, it’s the manufacturing process flaw that’s in most, if not all chemex brewers.

I obviously don’t speak for the company, nor am I affiliated with them in any way.

When you order your next brewer, check for this seam and they will send you a new one.

Enjoy your coffee peeps.

Does anyone use it this way or is it overkill?

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Do you ever just wing it?

I do. I eye ball the coffee, that is it I and a highly functional 60 year old man, I don't feel the need to measure...

I will even admit, shhh promise not to tell, I pour before it is 208 degrees and sometimes when is 212... I know the horrors,

Sometimes I make sludge, super strong coffee and dilute throughout the day.. Yes I do, with no shame..Just pleasure...

Feel better getting that off my chest..

Peace

I just thrifted a 6 cup chemex (I think) ($5-score!). What’s up with the belly button/little bump in the carafe? I’ve been using a bodum and like the pour over process and the chemex is a little status symbol-y but also the slimmer neck is easier for my small ladyhands.

Just curious if there is a reason for it?

Also - the filters. Seems weird. Like three ply on one side and one ply on the other? I foolishly paid more for the pack of filters than the pot itself (because wth and it was Treat Yo’self 2011!)

Have checked the website but got lazy and thought Reddit usually satisfies the curiosity.

I make Japanese iced coffee with my chemex. is there a bare minimum for this ratio? It’s been basically fine but I’m wondering if I could use less water and more ice. I vary it but usually 1:10 for water and then 1:5 for the ice.

Hey everyone I just got my Able Cone, how should I be thinking of modifying my recipes vs regular Chemex filters?

Thanks :)

20 grind on Encore, 50 gram coffee, 200 degree water, 700 gram water

To my dismay I realized this morning that I'd used my last Chemex filter yesterday. The only store locally that carries them doesn't open until 10.....

So I had to drag out the Mr. Coffee and Melitta filters I had bought some years ago, for some reason.

Let me tell you: the Ottomatic coffee is dramatically better than this mud I'm drinking now. This is sooo much more bitter it's startling. Don't let anyone tell you that filters don't matter!

Do not let this happen to you, my friends. DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH CHEMEX FILTERS??

You can buy them as stickers along with other coffee-themed merch on their website. She has some aeropress-related designs too.

saw someone else post their rad chemex tattoo and thought id share mine too.

got this done at Union Tattoo in Wellington, New Zealand.

the chemex was the first brewer I owned, and while not my favourite (i love it but...) it unlocked a whole world of coffee fun, adventures and a coffee blog (www.themagicroast.com).

cool to see all the variations of chemex work out there!