The Chemex Coffeemaker is a manual pour-over style glass

coffeemaker A coffeemaker, coffee maker or coffee machine is a cooking appliance used to brew coffee. While there are many different types of coffeemakers, the two most common brewing principles use gravity or pressure to move hot water through coffee ...

, invented by Peter Schlumbohm in 1941, manufactured by the Chemex Corporation in

Chicopee, Massachusetts Chicopee ( ) is a city located on the Connecticut River in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 55,560, making it the second-largest city in western Massachuset ...

. In 1958, designers at the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

selected the Chemex Coffeemaker as "one of the best-designed products of modern times." It is included in the collection of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York City. It has been featured in the novel ''From Russia with Love'', in a scene where James Bond eats breakfast, the film ''Harper'' starring Paul Newman, ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 ...

'', and Ira Levin's '' Rosemary's Baby'', as well as its

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

Design

The Chemex coffeemaker consists of an

hourglass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, or sand clock) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) from the ...

-shaped glass flask with a conical funnel-like neck and proprietary filters, made of bonded paper, that are thicker than the standard paper filters used for a drip coffeemaker. The thicker paper of the Chemex filters removes most of the coffee oils and makes coffee that is much "cleaner" than coffee brewed in other coffee-making systems. The thicker filter papers may also assist in removing more

cafestol Cafestol is a diterpenoid molecule present in coffee beans. It is one of the compounds that may be responsible for proposed biological and pharmacological effects of coffee. Sources A typical bean of ''Coffea arabica'' contains about 0.4% to 0 ...

, a

cholesterol Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body Tissue (biology), tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in Animal fat, animal fats and oils. Cholesterol is biosynthesis, biosynthesized by all anima ...

-elevating compound found in coffee. The most visually distinctive feature of the Chemex is the heatproof wooden collar around the neck, which allows it to be easily handled and poured when full of hot coffee. The collar is

turn To turn is to rotate, either continuously like a wheel turns on its axle, or in a finite motion changing an object's orientation. Turn may also refer to: Sports and games * Turn (game), a segment of a game * Turn (poker), the fourth of five co ...

ed and then split in two to allow it to fit around the glass neck. The two pieces are held loosely in place by a tied leather thong. For a design piece that became popular post-war at a time of

Modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

and precision manufacture, this juxtaposition of natural wood and the organic nature of a hand-tied knot with the laboratory nature of glassware was a distinctive feature of its appearance. Chemex coffeemaker half moon unfolded filter with regular filter

Chemex coffeemaker half moon unfolded filter with regular filter

Brewing coffee

Coffee is brewed by first folding the paper filter into shape by using the folded side with a printed number 3, where the pour spout is located and placing it into the neck of the flask. The Chemex filter should be rinsed with hot water to remove any paper taste. After dumping the water, ground coffee is added to the rinsed paper filter. The coarse grind will resemble

kosher salt Kosher salt or kitchen salt (also called cooking salt, rock salt, kashering salt, or koshering salt) is coarse edible salt usually without common additives such as iodine, typically used in cooking and not at the table. It consists mainly of ...

for the best flavor. Hot water ( is then poured through the coffee and filter, depositing brewed coffee into the flask. There is a spout located on the top half of the brewer. This allows for easily pouring out coffee post brew and ensures airflow while brewing, avoiding vacuum sealing.

References

External links

Chemex Coffeemakers & Filters – Official Website
{{coffee, nocat=1 Coffee preparation Articles containing video clips Products introduced in 1941 American inventions Manufacturing companies based in Chicopee, Massachusetts

Design

Brewing coffee

See also

References

External links