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I understand this guy. Five years ago, I calmly could drink americano in a terrible coffee shop. Now I can not imagine my day without aeropress or chemex. My fa

I understand this guy. Five years ago, I calmly could drink americano in a terrible coffee shop. Now I can not imagine my day without aeropress or chemex. My favorite grains are from Kenya and Congo, because sourness is felt in them. If you really love coffee, then you will like the hand-brew.

nukeop 8y ago
Chemex is just an expensive, proprietary coffee pot.
- kawfey 8y ago
  Yes, but it looks nice on a shelf in the background of an Instagram photo. Plain old conical drippers have exactly the same effect on the coffee, but they don't make it look like you're performing a science experiment.
  - nukeop 8y ago
    Macbooks of coffee.
    - tylermw 8y ago
      Except Chemex pots are cheap (+), durable (+++), and don't have a touchbar (++++++++++).
  - cr1895 8y ago
    What really makes a Chemex is its filters, which are way thicker than typical pourover filters. The paper is thicker and leads to a lighter-bodied brew.
- ubermonkey 8y ago
  Chemex pots are NOT expensive. I don't know where you got that idea. The classic (which is to say, fancier, with the wooden collar) 8-cup model is $37 on Amazon right now. At our house, going to Chemex meant shifting from genuinely expensive drip machines that were hard or impossible to properly clean, and which therefore got replaced every few years. It's a drastically LESS expensive method than most.
  - blackguardx 8y ago
    Expense is relative. I use a $2 plastic cone that does pretty much the same thing. It was the cheapest option in the store and I was a poor grad student when I bought it ten years ago.
    - ubermonkey 8y ago
      When someone says "x is more expensive than y", yeah, it's relative. When someone says "x is expensive", it's asserting that the item is a costly example of its genre. Given that drip coffee machines run from about $40 to hundreds and hundreds, it still seems disingenuous to say that Chemex is expensive. Can you do pourover cheaper? Sure. But the good news is that in this area of coffeemaking, even the higher-end, beautiful option (the OG Chemex is literally in design museums) is pretty damn cheap.
  - spurcell93 8y ago
    IMO, $37 for what amounts to a flanged glass jar is ludicrous for many people. Even if it ends up cheaper in the long run. For what it's worth, I live with a couple roommates and they are on their third chemex, since glass breaks easily. Maybe our brand is bad. Maybe our coordination is worse.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - ubermonkey 8y ago
      Sure, if you're clumsy, then maybe a nice glass coffee device isn't for you. I've had mine for > 10 years.
  - gambiting 8y ago
    At my house everyone always drank coffee that wasn't going through any machine whatsoever. You just put a teaspoon of ground coffee in a cup and poured water over it, drinking it after the grounds settled down. I don't know, I feel like $37 for a glass container that still needs filters is asking for quite a lot. A nice french press is like $10.
- dfxm12 8y ago
  What does "proprietary" refer to with regards to a pour over coffee maker? Do you think you can only use chemex filters with the chemex carafe? This isn't true. You can also use the chemex filters with other pour over makers.
heywire 8y ago
Right there with you on the beans from Kenya -- my local roaster has a Kenyan "Kifahari" that has a nice tartness to it. I can't drink it all the time though, as it gets to be a bit much, so it is more of a treat when I get it.
- larrywright 8y ago
  If you come across a Costa Rica, you should try it. It’s my favorite due to the tartness and fruit flavors that come through.
  - JshWright 8y ago
    Sumatra is where it's at, with PNG a close second. (Obviously this is all entirely subjective, good coffee from any region is good)
Yetanfou 8y ago
It sounds like you lost a neutral or even positive while gaining a negative here: lost is the ability to drink a common beverage without feeling bad about being uncultured, gained is a dependency on commercial brands - Aeropress and Chemex - and related niche products - in this case African coffee - as well as a related ritual - 'hand-brewing coffee'. In both cases you satisfied your thirst for caffeine, the difference is that the lost method allowed you to do this more or less anywhere and at more or less any price which the new method makes this more hard to come by and carries a much higher price. To put all that in two words: carpe diem In a few more words: enjoy your fanciful coffee but try not to create too much ritual around it as that only builds walls where no walls need to be.
- JoeAltmaier 8y ago
  Hey that describes pretty much any food preference? We should all learn to live with terrible cooking too? On that note, I had two total lunch fails last week. Food delivered to the table, that I couldn't eat. Is it the phase of the moon? The political climate? The cold weather?
  - jfk13 8y ago
    It's possible, I think, to appreciate and enjoy (and spend time on) good cooking - or coffee - without the kind of (IMO unhealthy) dependency suggested by "I can not imagine my day without aeropress or chemex". Perhaps that was just hyperbole by Griceraae50100. I hope so.
    - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
      Of course it was. But also, comfortable middle-class folk get used to lots of comfortable things and can't imagine living without them. Like cars and roads and a warm house and a good grocery store. Unless those things change drastically then wanting and getting good coffee is way, way down on the list of 'unhealthy dependency'.
      - stirfrykitty 8y ago

nukeop 8y ago

Chemex is just an expensive, proprietary coffee pot.

kawfey 8y ago
Yes, but it looks nice on a shelf in the background of an Instagram photo. Plain old conical drippers have exactly the same effect on the coffee, but they don't make it look like you're performing a science experiment.
- nukeop 8y ago
  Macbooks of coffee.
  - tylermw 8y ago
    Except Chemex pots are cheap (+), durable (+++), and don't have a touchbar (++++++++++).
- cr1895 8y ago
  What really makes a Chemex is its filters, which are way thicker than typical pourover filters. The paper is thicker and leads to a lighter-bodied brew.
ubermonkey 8y ago
Chemex pots are NOT expensive. I don't know where you got that idea. The classic (which is to say, fancier, with the wooden collar) 8-cup model is $37 on Amazon right now. At our house, going to Chemex meant shifting from genuinely expensive drip machines that were hard or impossible to properly clean, and which therefore got replaced every few years. It's a drastically LESS expensive method than most.
- blackguardx 8y ago
  Expense is relative. I use a $2 plastic cone that does pretty much the same thing. It was the cheapest option in the store and I was a poor grad student when I bought it ten years ago.
  - ubermonkey 8y ago
    When someone says "x is more expensive than y", yeah, it's relative. When someone says "x is expensive", it's asserting that the item is a costly example of its genre. Given that drip coffee machines run from about $40 to hundreds and hundreds, it still seems disingenuous to say that Chemex is expensive. Can you do pourover cheaper? Sure. But the good news is that in this area of coffeemaking, even the higher-end, beautiful option (the OG Chemex is literally in design museums) is pretty damn cheap.
- spurcell93 8y ago
  IMO, $37 for what amounts to a flanged glass jar is ludicrous for many people. Even if it ends up cheaper in the long run. For what it's worth, I live with a couple roommates and they are on their third chemex, since glass breaks easily. Maybe our brand is bad. Maybe our coordination is worse.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - ubermonkey 8y ago
    Sure, if you're clumsy, then maybe a nice glass coffee device isn't for you. I've had mine for > 10 years.
- gambiting 8y ago
  At my house everyone always drank coffee that wasn't going through any machine whatsoever. You just put a teaspoon of ground coffee in a cup and poured water over it, drinking it after the grounds settled down. I don't know, I feel like $37 for a glass container that still needs filters is asking for quite a lot. A nice french press is like $10.
dfxm12 8y ago
What does "proprietary" refer to with regards to a pour over coffee maker? Do you think you can only use chemex filters with the chemex carafe? This isn't true. You can also use the chemex filters with other pour over makers.

heywire 8y ago

Right there with you on the beans from Kenya -- my local roaster has a Kenyan "Kifahari" that has a nice tartness to it. I can't drink it all the time though, as it gets to be a bit much, so it is more of a treat when I get it.

larrywright 8y ago
If you come across a Costa Rica, you should try it. It’s my favorite due to the tartness and fruit flavors that come through.
- JshWright 8y ago
  Sumatra is where it's at, with PNG a close second. (Obviously this is all entirely subjective, good coffee from any region is good)

Yetanfou 8y ago

It sounds like you lost a neutral or even positive while gaining a negative here: lost is the ability to drink a common beverage without feeling bad about being uncultured, gained is a dependency on commercial brands - Aeropress and Chemex - and related niche products - in this case African coffee - as well as a related ritual - 'hand-brewing coffee'. In both cases you satisfied your thirst for caffeine, the difference is that the lost method allowed you to do this more or less anywhere and at more or less any price which the new method makes this more hard to come by and carries a much higher price. To put all that in two words: carpe diem In a few more words: enjoy your fanciful coffee but try not to create too much ritual around it as that only builds walls where no walls need to be.

JoeAltmaier 8y ago
Hey that describes pretty much any food preference? We should all learn to live with terrible cooking too? On that note, I had two total lunch fails last week. Food delivered to the table, that I couldn't eat. Is it the phase of the moon? The political climate? The cold weather?
- jfk13 8y ago
  It's possible, I think, to appreciate and enjoy (and spend time on) good cooking - or coffee - without the kind of (IMO unhealthy) dependency suggested by "I can not imagine my day without aeropress or chemex". Perhaps that was just hyperbole by Griceraae50100. I hope so.
  - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
    Of course it was. But also, comfortable middle-class folk get used to lots of comfortable things and can't imagine living without them. Like cars and roads and a warm house and a good grocery store. Unless those things change drastically then wanting and getting good coffee is way, way down on the list of 'unhealthy dependency'.
    - stirfrykitty 8y ago