We love pour-over coffee, and one of our favorite pour-over style brewers is the Chemex. The thick paper filter makes the cleanest cups of coffee we’ve ever had and brings out the best flavors in delicate light roasts.
Part of the reason we love the Chemex so much is the nearly endless number of ways you can use it to make coffee. There are almost as many Chemex recipes as coffee drinkers, and trying out other people’s favorite methods is fun and rewarding. In this guide, we run down 12 of our favorite Chemex recipes to help give you some ideas. Try them out and see what you think!
Top 12 Tasty Chemex Recipes:
1. Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHOQsRBAGBT/
To kick things off, we have a solid daily driver recipe. This is a great starting point for new Chemex users and makes a smooth, clean cup. We recommend using a medium to medium-light roast, but you can use any coffee you like and get good results.
Make sure to rinse the grounds from the sides of the filters with each pour.
- 32 g coffee
- 500 g water
- Heat the water to 95º C
- Pour 60 g water over the grounds and stir gently
- After 30 seconds pour 250 g of water
- At the 1:15 minute mark pour until 450 g
- At 2:00 pour the final 50 g up to 500 g
2. Iced Chemex
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Next, we have our go-to iced Chemex recipe. This recipe is perfect for hot, humid weather and makes strong iced coffee that does not taste watered down. The trick is to divide the total water evenly between water and ice. We recommend a dark roast to enhance the sweetness, but your favorite coffee will work just fine.
- 27 g coffee
- 200 g water
- 200 g ice
- Heat the water to 95º C
- Fill your Chemex with 200 g of ice
- In a single pour, pour the water over the coffee in a swirling motion
3. Brewing is for Everyone
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This recipe is perfect for light roasts and makes a sharp, vibrant cup of coffee. It’s a two-stage brew with a bloom followed by a single pour. We like this recipe because of its simplicity and consistency. It’s easy to make great coffee with it and it is simple enough to reproduce daily.
- 30 g coffee
- 480 g water
- Boil the water
- Rinse the filter thoroughly
- Grind 30 g of coffee on medium
- Bloom the coffee by pouring 60 g of water
- Stir the bloom gently
- Wait 30 seconds
- Pour slowly up to 480 g total
4. Paul Ross
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If you love strong coffee, this is the perfect recipe for you. This one uses a higher coffee to water ratio to produce a bold, flavorful cup. Since this is a Chemex recipe, it still makes a very clear cup of coffee, but with an extra kick to it.
- 35 g coffee
- 500 g water
- Boil the water
- Grind the coffee to a medium or medium-coarse consistency
- Bloom with 70 g water just off the boil
- Stir the slurry and wait for 30 seconds
- Pour the remaining 430 g of water and stir the slurry again
5. Comandante Iced Coffee
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This pulse pour iced coffee recipe comes from grinder manufacturer Comandante. The benefit of a recipe from a grinder company is they can be very specific about the grind size. Unfortunately, if you don’t use their grinder, you’ll have to make your best guess. A medium grind is always a good starting point.
- 34 g coffee
- 200 g ice
- 300 g water
- Heat the water to 96º C
- Grind the coffee at 40 clicks on a Comandante grinder (medium)
- Pour water at 30 second intervals until all 300 g has been used
6. Filtru
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvZBCxaBmOm/
This is another multi-pour recipe from Filtru. It is somewhat complicated, but your effort is rewarded with a deliciously bright cup in the end. We think this recipe is best with an acidic light roast. Multiple pours really enhance the acidity and bring out the best in a complex bean.
- 25 g coffee
- 340 g water
- Heat the water to 94º C
- Grind the coffee to a medium consistency
- Bloom with 50 g water
- Stir the grounds to ensure even wetting
- Wait 30 seconds
- Pour another 130 g of water
- Wait for the water to drain completely
- Slowly pour another 160 g of water
7. Strong Hot Coffee
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Next on the list, we have another recipe for strong coffee lovers. This one uses a 1:12 coffee to water ratio, which is significantly stronger than the standard 1:16 ratio. The key to getting this one right is to pour slowly. We found this works best with a medium to medium-dark roast.
- 25 g coffee
- 300 g water
- Heat the water to 95º C
- Grind the coffee medium-coarse
- Pour 30 g of water and stir gently
- Wait 45 seconds
- Pour the remaining water slowly. Aim for at least 2:30 total brew time
8. Blue Bottle Chemex
Blue Bottle is a big player in the specialty coffee industry, and they know their stuff. Their Chemex recipe is perfect for making large batches at a time. If you have company or want a big mugful all to yourself, this is the perfect recipe to try.
- 50 g coffee
- 700 g water
- Heat the water to 95º C
- Pour 100 g of water in a concentric pattern spiraling outward from the center.
- Wait 45 seconds
- Pour 200 g in a circular pattern and wait for the water to drain
- Pour another 200 g
9. Slow Pour
This recipe is very similar to the standard recipe we described at number one. The primary difference is the extremely slow pour. Pouring slowly will take some practice, but it’s worth it. The result is a smooth, strong cup with enhanced sweetness and not even the slightest hint of bitterness.
- 30 g coffee
- 500 g water
- Heat the water to 95º C
- Grind the coffee medium
- Rinse the filter
- Pour just enough water to evenly wet the grounds, about 60 g should do it
- Wait 45 seconds
- Pour the rest of the water very slowly. Aim to finish the pour at the 3 minute mark
10. George Howell Recipe
This recipe comes from one of our favorite Boston area coffee roasters, George Howell Coffee. It is a solid recipe, but the multiple pours make it somewhat complicated for beginners. It’s not overly difficult, though, and we love the coffee we get from it.
- 25-28 g coffee (depending on desired strength)
- 390 g water
- Heat the water to 95º C
- Pour 120 g of water in 20 seconds (this is a fast pour so hurry!)
- At 1:00 pour up to 260 g in another 20 seconds
- At 2:00 pour another 130 g up to a total of 390 g
- The water should be fully drained by 3:30-4:00
11. Slightly Stronger Coffee
If you like your coffee just a tad stronger than most, this recipe is for you. It uses a 1:15 coffee to water ratio, which is ever so slightly stronger than the industry standard 1:16 ratio. The result is a bold cup that isn’t too strong for most people’s tastes.
- 20 g coffee
- 300 g water
- Heat the water to 95º C
- Bloom by pouring 40 g of water evenly over the grounds
- Wait 30-45 seconds
- Pour the rest of the water in concentric circles slowly
- Total brew time should be 3:00
12. Single Fast Pour
Our last recipe is another strong one, this time with around a 1:11 coffee to water ratio. We like this recipe because it produces a slightly different cup than the other Chemex recipes we’ve tried. The trick is to balance the large amount of coffee with a fast pour. This gives you a strong cup that isn’t bitter. We recommend using this recipe with a medium or dark roast.
- 30 g coffee
- 340 g water
- Heat the water to 95º C
- Grind the coffee medium-coarse
- Pour enough water to cover the coffee and stir
- Wait 30-45 seconds
- Pour the rest of the water quickly. Finish the pour in around 1 minute
Final Thoughts
We hope you’ve enjoyed this guide and found some new recipes to try. The Chemex is a very versatile brewer that lends itself to experimenting with your technique. These recipes are just the starting point and are meant to be a rough path to follow, not a strict, rigid framework, so get out there and get experimenting!
Featured image credit: clone5529, Pixabay
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