coffee and tea dripper

Using a Chemex requires water to be heated in a tea kettle prior to brewing, and it requires a finer ground than what auto-drip machines ask for. After the water is brought to a boil, it's important to wait for it to cool just slightly (about 30 seconds) and then you need to wet the grounds in the filter, wait for them to drain, and then fill the pot with water. Want more than a single cup of coffee? You wait for your first pour to brew, and then fill the filter again.

Some advantages over other forms of coffee brewing:

1. Taste: I don't know how it does it, but the filter does keep your coffee from being bitter.

2. Cleanability: Users can keep all necessary components clean (anyone who's brewed water and vinegar through their coffee maker to kill off a bitter taste that wasn't there when you bought it understands this plight). Oftentimes, the most aggressive criticism of the Chemex is its ponderousness to clean because it's not possible to... Read more

Sometime between my apartment in college and the first move to my first real pad, my 4-cup Krups automatic drip gave out. I didn't drink enough coffee to buy a replacement. Every so often when the caffeine urge strikes, I would microwave some water in a Pyrex measuring cup, insert a paper filter in the plastic basket that sits atop the carafe, add the ground, and pour in the boiling water all at once. Call it the poor man's coffee maker but it made the best coffee bar none. There is no auto-drip that can extract as much strength and flavor as a quick 3-minute submersion in boiling water. Which, incidentally, is what a French press does, but leaves a bottom layer of silt.

I continue to make coffee this way, and never bought a replacement auto-drip, partly because I was lazy, didn't have a lot of space, and it worked. Alas, the carafe went to Krups heaven as well, and I cast about to buy an auto-drip. It seems time.

I did a lot of consumer research for... Read more

Simple. Elegant. and produces (almost) the best cup of coffee (second only to a Hario Syphon). The labor is negligible if you consider the benefits.
Since the filter is cone shaped, it eliminates sludge and provides a consistent filtration. I have used a Chemex since 1989 - yes, I have cracked a few, but some vendors have the hand-blown version which is a sturdier glass.