Homebrew Options

Pour Over/Drip: Chemex

Chemex is a beautifully designed and elegant pour over, glass flask that was invented in 1941 by Dr. Peter Schlumbohm. It uses a special Chemex paper filter that is 20-30% heavier than other filters. Similar to the coffee cone, hot water is poured over coffee grounds in a paper filter. The brewed coffee drips into the bottom of the flask which doubles as its own carafe.

Grind of Beans: medium-coarse

• Ground Coffee: 6 tablespoons of coffee (42g)

• Brewing Time: 4 minutes

• Flavour Profile: balanced, cleaner, refined, floral, sweet notes and non-acidic

• Cost: $45-78 (extra cost for filters)

• Different sizes yields up to 6 cups

• Harder to clean and requires special brush

• Portable but fragile

• Requires Chemex paper filters

Plunger/Press: AeroPress

Relatively new, the maker of Aerobie Frisbee (Alan Adler) created and launched the AeroPress in 2005. The AeroPress is plastic and comes in 3 parts. A filter sits in a coffee basket at the bottom of the brew chamber. Coffee grounds rest in the brew chamber where hot water is added then immerses/steeps the coffee. To extract the coffee, a plunger is pressed down creating air pressure to force brewed coffee through a filter and into a cup.

Grind of Beans: fine-medium

• Ground Coffee: 2.5 tablespoons of coffee (17g)

• Brewing Time: 1-2 minutes

• Flavour Profile: sweet, full-bodied, espresso-style coffee

• Cost: $40-50 (extra cost for filters)

• Produces a single cup of coffee

• Easy to clean

• Portable, especially popular with campers

• Requires AeroPress micro paper filters (or a fine metal filter)