Chemex Grind

Thanks for filling out our Better Coffee questionnaire.

Sounds like you have a nice setup. Your question could be a tricky one, and the only way to figure it out is through some trial. 

I assume you’re using a scale. First thing is to see what ratio of coffee to water you’re using. I personally like to use 1:12. A lot of shops go a lot higher, like 1:16 or even more. But I just like a more robust cup. So you might try that. So if you’re using 30 grams of coffee, you’ll want to pour 360 grams of water. Pre-wet, wait 30 seconds, and then continue your pour until the end.

Water temp depends on the coffee, and 1-2 degree changes will change the taste of the coffee. In my experience, the lighter the roast, the higher the temp it requires. For this Ethiopian, I’d recommend starting around 199ºF.

With a Chemex, you can have a flow issue that will tend to overextract the coffee. To fix this, you will need to coarsen your grind a bit from what you would use in a Hario V60 or other pourovers. The only way to really find the right grind is to watch for pooling. If you’re pouring very slowly and still getting a lot of pooling, make the grind coarser.

After that, it probably really depends on the coffee and the roaster. We have a nice variety of naturals that should give you a good fruity cup: DoubleShotCoffee.com