Coffee comes as a forced taste to me, I actually couldn’t even take a sip of it until a little over three years ago. What I did enjoy was the scent and vibe that coffee carries with it. I didn’t want to turn into a latte lover though, so I set a requirement for myself that in order to start making coffee on a regular basis I was going to enjoy drinking it black. I did not realize that this requirement I set for myself would then send me down a rabbit hole on how to make great tasting black cups of coffee in the morning versus the typical drip or pod machines. I started the journey using a French Press, moved quickly to an AeroPress for a whole year, and then finally moved to a chemex and have been there ever since. I still enjoy using the other tools, you can make great coffee out of almost anything actually, but I feel like I have settled down to a morning routine that I don’t see making drastic changes to for quite some time.

Here is what I use to make my morning cup of coffee

  • ~700-900mL of water (only 380 actually used for the brewing process)
  • 21-22g of coffee beans
  • Coffee grinder able to grind medium-coarse
  • Chemex
  • Chemex Filter
  • Scale
  • Kettle
  • cup or mug
  • A way to keep time

Now that you have the necessary materials, let’s get brewing.

  1. Begin by heating up your water to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. This is easy with an electric kettle, if you are using a stovetop one, just use a tad bit more water and put the kettle on the stove ready to boil.
  2. Weigh out around 21g of coffee using your kitchen scale and cup (could be you drinking mug). I used to be very particular about being exactly 21, but I’ve found that if I use 22, or even 23 It really doesn’t matter that much. I’m not a coffee taster, the goal here is to just make a good cup of coffee and for that no need to spend the extra effort to take a few more beans out of the cup.
  3. Grind your beans to a medium/coarse size. I always found it difficult when others gave other food items to describe its size, but really you’ll refine this the most over time. It is more about knowing your grinder and how long you need the brew to last. I would say if you have no idea to start somewhere in the middle but lean slightly coarse from that point.
  4. Place Filter into your chemex (make sure the 3 thick side is towards the spout), once you get it in there start pouring your hopefully heated water to pre-wet the filter and preheat the chemex. This step also helps keep your filter in place for the beginning of the brew. At this point if your water was boiling on the stove, lower your burner to its lowest setting and place your kettle back on that burner. If you have an electric kettle, you can just put the kettle back on the heater.
  5. Once your water has drained through, go ahead and pour that water out, but keep the filter in the chemex if possible. The filter will be extremely difficult to put back in if it gets taken out wet.
  6. Now we’re ready to put our coffee grounds into the filter. Give the chemex a little shake to level off the top of the grounds.
  7. Start a timer, zero your scale with chemex filled with grounds on top and begin pouring 75g of water in a circular motion. The main point here is to get all of the grounds wet to start what is called the blooming process. If the beans are fresh enough you should see the wet grounds releasing a decent amount of carbon dioxide.
  8. Once the timer reaches 45 seconds begin the second pour by adding 150g of water (to a total of 225g). Still do this in a circular motion, but this time we have more water to add so try to evenly add the water across the surface area of the grounds.
  9. Finally, once the timer reaches around 115 seconds add the final 155g of water (total of 380g) still in a circular motion. Sometimes there will be a slight hole developing in the middle of the grounds. I typically just start pouring along the edges and it evens it out for the rest of the final pour.
  10. Now that our additions to the brewing process are complete, I take the rest of the heated up water and pour it in my mug to preheat it. This step isn’t necessary but technically keeps the cup warmer for longer.
  11. Once all the water has drained through the grounds remove the filter, and water from the mug. Pour the coffee into your mug and enjoy! Don’t forget to wash out the chemex!

What I have come to enjoy almost more than the coffee itself is the roasters. They each have their own personality, and I value the ability to support local business on a regular basis. A few of my favorites are Stone Creek Coffee Roasters in Milwaukee, WI and Indie Coffee Roasters in Indianapolis, IN. Both of these roasters make great coffee and have awesome environments inside of their coffee shops.

I know this won’t be the final morning routine I have when it comes to making coffee, and I even mix it up every now and then to keep it fresh but I really have enjoying making coffee this way for almost two years now. Regardless if you ever make coffee using the steps above I hope I provided some value to your morning cup of joe.