Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsI must have almost 10 ways of making coffee in ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2017
I must have almost 10 ways of making coffee in my apartment: Aeropress, v60, calita wave, french press, moka pot, keurig (never used), various drip machines...I figure I could even just throw some beans in boiling water and see what happens as well. I bought the chemex recently and it quickly became the go-to standard for my morning brews. It is foolproof, almost impossible to mess up at any stage: Boil water, grind beans, pour water over beans repeatedly until coffee is formed. You could argue there is more technique than that, but at its core the Chemex is built on an extremely simple concept.
As far as taste, Chemex falls just below Calita wave for me and a slight bit above v60 (to me these three are the only ones that make a comparable brew). Calita Wave coffee is by far the smoothest, but takes more effort to use due to the smaller brew chamber, and I mostly reserve it for an afternoon pick-me-up. Chemex is smoother than a v60, IMO, but the two are overall fairly similar. The v60 is more suited for an office or if you want a single cup, rather than a whole carafe-full, as it is more modular and transportable.
If I were to just keep one coffee method it would be the Chemex, it fits the bill for the broadest class of uses and excels in each of them equally. I have confidence in the build quality, as well, the glass feels thick and unlikely to chip or break barring any unforeseen circumstances. If you are in need of a manual brewing coffee method in your life, look no further than the Chemex.
