Every Christmas, I hear that I’m difficult to buy for.  And every Christmas, my family and friends prove themselves wrong by getting me amazing gifts.

This past Christmas, my cousins Jeff and Robin bought me the pint-sized Chemex that you see pictured here.  The Chemex was invented in the 40s as an alternative and superior way to make coffee.  How does it work?

Put a paper filter in the top conical section of the pitcher.  Put your ground coffee in the filter.  Slowly and to instruction that comes with the Chemex, pour hot water over the ground coffee.  The brewed coffee drips through the filter and into the base section.  When you’re done, throw away the filter of ground coffee, and pour directly from the pitcher.  The wooden collar keeps you from burning yourself on the now-hot glass.

Just like the drip brewer was an improvement on the percolator that actually sapped flavor by boiling the coffee itself, the Chemex is an improvement on the drip brewer.  It allows you to systematically drip hot water onto the coffee in stages rather than the drip brewer’s constant stream.

The Chemex comes in four sizes.  Robin and Jeff bought me the pint-size model that you see above.  My usual coffee mug (featuring the Incredible Hulk, btw) is also pint-sized so this Chemex is perfect for making a single large coffee when I don’t want to make two or more at once.

Fun trivia: Paul Newman uses a Chemex to make himself coffee in the 1966 movie Harper.

Read: Better Ways to Brew Coffee (further information on the Chemex)
Read: Indian Coffee (I was able to use the Chemex to experiment with a coffee/chicory combination)
Read: Pour-over Brewing Method – the Chemex (must-read if you’re considering buying one for yourself)

Happy new year, coffee lovers!  May the year 2012 bring us all more good coffee, and less Mayan apocalypse.

If you follow this blog, then you’ve heard me suggest before the importance of the water that you use when making coffee.

Read: Why Water Is So Important to Coffee

If you follow me on Twitter, then you also know how much horrible hotel room coffee I drink.

Read: The Truth About Hotel Room Coffee
Follow me on Twitter

I was reminded of the importance of water in coffee over New Years Eve.  Our hotel room featured vacuum-sealed Starbucks coffee – an African blend of theirs, so I must admit it was better than the hotel room coffee I’m used to.  The first cup I made was definitely drinkable. 

When I made my second cup, I used bottled water instead of tap water.  I can’t express enough how much of a difference it made.  The second cup was not only drinkable, but an excellent cup of coffee.  The best hotel room coffee I’ve had in almost a year.

I’m not suggesting you use bottled water everytime you make coffee, but apply the same standard to your coffee water as you do to your drinking water.  At the very least, invest $12 in a Brita pitcher, and use only that water if your brewing method doesn’t already involve boiling the water.  Coffee is 99% water.

Many years ago, my brother introduced me to the French Press.  He explained that for many, this was the best way to brew coffee.  At the time, I didn’t have a sophisticated enough taste for coffee for it to make much difference.  I also remember staring at the press pot and thinking about how primitive it looked compared to some of the tricked-out drip brewers that were on the market. 

It would be many years before I would use a French Press again.  I had made plenty of upgrades in my other coffee gear and certainly, the coffee itself that I was buying.  I had finished some reading on making great coffee, and the press pot came up again and again.  I decided to buy one, and alternated between using it and the drip brewer.  As time has gone on, I’ve used the drip brewer predominantly to make a large amount of coffee to be poured into my Thermos, but for smaller amounts, some of the fancier brewing methods.

Read: Buy a Thermos…Make Good Coffee

Last year, two different guests to the website asked me which I thought was the better brewing method between the press pot and the pourover method (the latter also known as the Chemex or Melitta).  Similarly, many people still refer to the press pot as the Bodum, named after the company that made the design popular.  Pourover was new to me, so I actually had to research it.  When I did, it just seemed like a LOT of work compared to the very turnkey way of making coffee by press pot.  With nothing else to go on, I ruled in favor of the press pot.

Read: Melitta vs. French Press…fight!
Read: Pour-over Brewing Method – the Chemex (greatly expanded description of pourover)

I now have a drip brewer, a press pot, and a pourover coffee maker in my coffee bar.  I will say that both the press pot and pourover make a noticeably better coffee than the drip brewer, but then again, both are intended to be improvements on the design of the drip brewer, itself an improvement on the percolator. 

Here is some loose logic for how and when I decide to use each:

- Drip Brewer: For making a lot of coffee at once.  Generally to load into my Thermos for a day of being on the road, or if I am making coffee for a lot of guests.

- Press Pot: Takes the longest to cool down, so for when I have time to sit back by myself, and enjoy it (ie. Sunday afternoon, no hurries).

- Pourover: For some novelty in preparing it – it is definitely the most interesting to watch being prepared.  I do enjoy talking through the process as I prepare it.  Also, the paper filter removes any sediment from the coffee, which I like to provide for coffee drinking guests in my home who may not know to swish their cup before the last swallow, or care to.

So, the drip brewer remains my method for brewing a volume of coffee.  Between the press pot and pourover, I cannot pick a “winner”.  I like them both.  The pourover leaves no sediment in the cup but the coffee cools off quicker.  The press pot leaves sediment in the cup, but it doesn’t bother me as I’m expecting the sediment.  I love having them all in the coffee bar at my disposal.

Question: “How will using reverse osmosis water in my coffee maker affect the flavor? Is it a bad choice?” - Tina

Answer: I’m hearing more and more about water filtration and purification systems in the home, and reverse osmosis continues to come up.  I’m by no stretch a chemist, but I’ve made a valiant attempt to understand how RO works and will do my best to explain it, leading to how that would affect the taste of your coffee.

RO works by creating two “chambers” separated by a membrane.  The membrane acts as a filter that removes unwanted chemicals and particles from the water in the first chamber, which (along with some waste water) is flushed into sewage, while the second chamber contains a purified water that pours from your tap for cooking and drinking.

So, the short answer to your question is that not only will it not affect the flavor of your coffee adversely, but it will likely make it taste even better.  Water is one of the most underrated ingredients in making good coffee at home.  Fresh roasted whole bean coffee and unfiltered water still make only a mediocre coffee.  When I use my drip brewer, I only pour filtered water from the Brita in my fridge, or I use one of two methods that involve boiling water – the French Press or the pourover method.  So, I did further research comparing RO to boiling water as purification methods.

While RO is certainly more convenient than having to boil water each time you want to use it, it ALSO appears to be a better system for purifying water.  The membrane in RO will stop many unwanted particles from ending up in the water that you drink.  While boiling water will kill bacteria, it will only move unwanted particles around in the water which will end up in your cup.

So enjoy your new RO system!  I think you will find that it has a very favorable effect on your coffee.  Thank you for the question.

Question: “Hi Marc, I love coffee and have been striving to make the perfect cup for years. I’ve always been mixed up with the coffee/water ratio, however. You say 1-2 tbsp per mug. Not only is 1-2 tbsp subjective but what about the mug size? Let’s say I want to make 8 cups of coffee. By 8 cups, I mean 8 coffee cups, not and not 8 250ml cups. Many sources have said 2 level tsbp ground coffee per 1 coffee cup (I think that is about 170 ml), other sources have said 1 heaping per 2 coffee cups…. I have a Krups coffee grinder that I just indicate how many cups I want and it takes care of grinding the correct amount. The manual on the grinder says 2 tbsp per 1 coffee cup, however, when I actually measure it out on a tbsp it’s closer to 1 tbsp per coffee cup. What are your thoughts? Also, I’ve heard to brew at full strength and add hot water to weaken (if desired) as opposed to reducing the amount of coffee grounds. One more thing… are the ratios the same if using a coffee press??? Thanks so much for the help! Love the website by the way.” – Brad



Answer: Awesome Brad, thanks for the comments.  I still remember how confused I found referring to cups of coffee, whether that’s a coffee mug or a 250mL “metric cup” of coffee.  Your question made me realize how unconsciously I make my coffee but unconscious or not, how consistently I make it.  This advice should work:

• Drip Brewer: Just about every drip brewer today measures volume in the carafe by number of metric cups.  So a 10-cup brewer makes you ten metric cups of coffee.  I consider this roughly five mugs of coffee, but don’t let me confuse the issue…use this guideline.  For each two metric cups of water you pour into the carafe, use a heaping tablespoon or coffee scoop of whole beans, or a level scoop of ground coffee.  Adjust to taste from there, but that should be a good starting point.

• French Press: This one is a little trickier because as you mention, we have to consider the size of the mug now.  With the drip-brewer carafe, you can measure your coffee to the cup measurements on the carafe.  With a French Press, there usually aren’t volume indicators on it.  What I do to get around this problem is estimate one heaping tablespoon or scoop of whole beans per “standard coffee mug” worth of water I pour into it.  I know, just barely scientific but I use the same mug of coffee for drip-brewed coffee as I do for pressed coffee so for each one of those I boil in water, I use one heaping scoop of coffee.

I either solved your problem or confused you even more!  The problem I have with most standard advice is that it’s not that practical for me to measure the coffee I brew by “standard coffee cup sizes” or volumes of water because my gauge is either the volume indicators on the carafe or else the number of mugs I intend to drink.  I hope you find this advice practical.