Yes.

I am in a very similar place as you right now although not as knowledgable and experienced. I have backed away from espresso over the past few months while enjoying coffee via press and Chemex. I think the reason I have gotten so much out of the manual sytems as of late is that I redirected the exacting methods of espresso prep into the brewed process rather than just treating brewed coffee as an afterthought. I weigh and measure all aspects of the brewing process so when I stumble on something great, I can understand how I arrived there and repeat it. I think I am actually more methodical with the press and especially the Chemex than I have been with espresso. It is quite rewarding. I have preferred several coffees out of the Chemex, and sometimes the press, than what I have comparatively experienced out of the Clover. This includes Esmeralda. I attribute this to my adherence of relying on weights and measures. I’ll get back into espresso, but this is way too much goodness right now.

My customers think I’m a little obsessive, but I put it in perspective by explaining how in Moscow, you couldn’t make a french press of some random coffee without a stop watch and some scales…..bless you for making me feel so normal.

I guess I am consoled by drinking a lot of truly excellent cups of coffee…

In my 3 cup Chemex I maintain SCAA coffee to water ratio using a scale for the coffee and a measuring cup for the water… but you’re saying you weigh the water?

Yeah - if I want 300ml of liquid then I tare the scales with the brewer on it and then pour til it says 300g. Accurate, fast and no heat loss. Works for me!

Preeetty geeky, but I think we can all understand. I may have to add this to my regular brewing ritual.

That would be the way to do it… however, following the trend displayed in several videos floating around, I’ve started to believe a little heat loss is a good thing. In many of the instructional videos of Asian origin I’ve seen, they transfer the water at least twice and then pour from a foot or two above. I don’t know what’s right or wrong, and I’m sure they both produce great cups of coffee when all the other variables are right.

Anyway, now I know what to do when I have a scale and don’t have a measuring cup. Thanks!

Hahaha…Relax and enjoy. Be with the force Luke, I mean, James.

but what happens if your scales are broken?

could you not add a scale in ml to the side of the chemex bulb?

Yes. of course it’s geeky… but your readers on the blog are likely to be the ones who have a chemex, a good grinder, and a scale and they are now kicking themselves for not thinking of this system earlier.

About brewing single cups, do you find it necessary to grind finer for equivalent extraction to larger brewings? The finer grind is the only way to match up the extraction time, since with the Chemex the filtration drip-through area is really only the part of the cone that hangs into the lower half of the Chemex, so it doesn’t scale up with larger coffee mass as do filter baskets with ribs or other mechanism that allow filtration through larger areas.
On the side of the Chemex I have lines drawn with permanent marker. I have to reapply the lines after the dishwasher, and isn’t as easy to read because it doesn’t take into account the water still waiting to drip through, so I think I will get a digital scale (my triple beam balance would be intrusive, I think).

Hey Jim! I’ve done it like that for the past six months or so (ever since I got the scale) and I’m loving it. Glad I’m not the only one doing stuff like that!

Regarding the temperature: Flip, I don’t boil the water but sometimes measure the temperature with a digital thermometer or just judge by the sound of the water when it’s ready to pour. This tends to work quite good actually (with some practice).

Interesting…I measured the water before i put it in the kettle and have a place marked on the kettle (doesn’t come off) where I know it is 1 litre or 350 ml etc. then i just pour the entire contents of the kettle. surely this makes more sense?

Hey Jim. Fantastic, all we need now is a kettle with a temperature stability of 0.1deg Celcius and we are there.

And the Geeks will rule the world……..

One question about Chemex - I only see paper filters for them. Are there gold filters? I’m wondering for two reasons, 1) I prefer not to create the waste caused by paper filters (ya, I’m one of those eco/green people :), and 2) I’d always heard that paper filters could affect the taste and such of coffee.

I’m tempted to try a Chemex after seeing your endorsement. I am strictly an espresso drinker, as I really love the body and density of it, and the flavor of great espresso. I’ve become pretty explicit myself, after getting my Expobar Brewtus II. “Regular” coffee has always just been like brown colored water, lacking body, density, those wonderful things espresso does to your tongue (similar effects as tannins in wines, etc.), and good taste to me (I realize everyone is different, and obviously this is just my opinion). But, I also wonder if I’ve just never had a really great cup, or if I’m simply just someone who only likes espresso. But, I love trying things out, and obviously a Chemex isn’t something that’ll kill the wallet to try and find I don’t like (or better, do like!).

Stuart, tbh I once thought about PIDing my kettle. Luckily I gave it to a person who needed it more than me

I recently purchased a Jing temperature controlled kettle

(http://jingtea.com/tea-ware/tea-making-accessories/temperature-controlled-kettle)

and with 1L of water in it it consistently turns off at 94C (when set to 90). It also has a “keep warm” feature but the temperature has to drop at least 8 degrees (C) before it gets it up to temp. again. But regardless of the temperature features it is a nice kettle anyway (though disregard the side markings…they’re way out!).

Recently I’ve come to worry about the temp less and less. It has just become habit to use the water about 15 seconds off the boil. Everything is tasting great, nothing tasting like the temp is wrong anyway! I’d like to do more monitoring of the steeping water in different methods - surely the Chemex loses heat the fastest due to having a large exposed area opposed to the jacketed up Eva Solo? Anyone played with this? I do need to buy a datalogger at some point. Recommendations? (I am not buying overpriced Fluke software!)

I’ve messed around with monitoring water in a press via a Fluke. I was curious as to what the temp was doing over that four minute period. If the pot was preheated properly, the temp would drop between 9 and 11 degrees F. If a non-heated pot was used, the temp would drift around 20 degrees. I abondoned the temp measuring and never looked into getting data on the Chemex, because as you said, nothing tastes wrong. Messing around with different amounts of coffee, grind, and steep times is where I get the most benefit.

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