I’ve been through all the machines. All of them. Single cup pour over, burr grinder and automated start coffee machines, large industrial brew and air pots, french press, and probably a few more gizmos, doohickeys, and the like. Well, my wife helped out, and brought something home I had been curious about for about a decade, but I thought it was a gimmicky bit o’ nonsense.
Chemex. Simple and easy to make the best cup ever.
FOR YEARS, I thought this was a joke or scammy a bit, just “because it’s pretty”, and some hipster thing. So I was interested but discounted it, and voila… it appears one day after wifey was out shopping! =)
But we’re super snobs about coffee in our extended families, especially the ones of us trying to find coffee service for hotels.
Keurig is not coffee, so you can’t stop reading if you’re fine with that. LOL Nespresso is this weird not nespresso and not coffee that the planet ran too. It’s fine. But burr grinding in a cuisinart, or a french press, also seemed fine. But I think I am altered forever!
nb: If you are doing pour over in your hotels, this is a no brainer, if you’ve worked out the operations for housekeeping and clean up. I will say, the learning curve on folding the filter is like the learning curve of remembering how to fold a paper airplane, and the way the filter holds together actually means it’s a simple disposal *that the guest will likely handle and do themselves*. If you are not doing pour over, you would need to actually care about giving your guests good coffee vs pods, and you would need to figure out ops, as well as what local coffee producer you might partner with. That being said, here’s my thoughts after a relatively few, but miraculous, usages….
A) the filter is the secret, and filters out impurities and certain cholesterol oils… I like the oils and the “dirty” aspect of a french press, and thought I wouldn’t like this. It’s a REALLY thick, special filter, and makes a “clean” cup of coffee where you only taste the coffee. I don’t think it’s zero sum, and having a french press and this might be all you need in the end. But my first few uses, with different types of coffee, I think it’s the most enjoyable cup of coffee I’ve had.
B) a drip coffee maker has water pour through a hole, and immediately hit and drown a single spot of grounds, and then fills up and leaks through. The pouring method (as you know) of a kettle means you can slowly engulf all the grounds, consistently, and evenly. It’s immediately obvious how important it is.
C) It’s a nice ritual. Instead of an auto coffee maker, you wake up and SLOW DOWN, immediately, and take 3-6 minutes to be slow. It’s healthy and nice vs “WAKE UP MOVE FAST AND PANIC”
It’s more than worth it. Anything to reduce devices and objects and all that. I hate things on the counter, and we’re thinking this might get rid of our drip machine and our nespresso, opening up the counter for a french press and Chemex. It’s an exciting thing, because the entire goal of life is to reduce complexity, enhance experience, and get rid of clutter and “stuff”. The less you own, the less you see, the less your life and mind are cluttered, literally and figuratively.
I think I’m on a new path, and I need to acknowledge thy wifey, who’s curiosity and mirthful nature countered my stoic skepticism and furrowed brow cynicism by just bringing it home and changing our lives!