torn between the two

He was torn between the two of them...

And if asked which one would he take to a desert island he might need a moment or two to consider.

The Smart Drip, compact and durable and cute to boot, came across as the sensible choice. It was the one he took with him while on camping trips already and being placed on a desert isle seemed a lot like anf overly long kind of camping trip. Sort of

The,n he thought about what it would be like to be castaway and how nice it would be to have the curvaceous and beautiful Chemex to gaze upon while sitting around all unkempt and lonely like tom Hanks in the one movie. that one he did after Gump that was okay but not great.

Castaway, thats it.

Any scenerio with the beautiful vessel would have to involve a large crate of the special filters and he would have to handle it with the utmost tender care.

His sick imagination then wandered to the possibility of going mad on this said desert isle and then a image nuptial scene where he gently and lovingly takes the vessel of curved glass as hisisland wife popped up and hovered around a bit before he drove the sick ideas away and thought seriously about the debate.

He then guessed that it would also have to depend upon which kind of coffee was incidently growing on this desert island growing near the equator. Some coffees tasted better than others out of each of them.

If the coffee was anything like the Guatalmalen Fraijanes then he would want the smart dripper, but if it turned out that he was stranded near the African Coast then he would probably prefer the Chemex.

If only he could just break the rules and bring both devices.

Along with a truckload of filters.

He would be set.

Like some cokehead on a family outing, I nearly drove myself up the wall  when I ran out of my Chemex brewing filters the other day. My favorite coffee oriented (Sweet Marias) business was  out of them when I made my big monthy purchase last week.  Curses, it was back to French Pressing.  Thankfully, when I checked back this Monday, they had gotten some more in so I bought some, along with a few more pounders that looked good enough to sample

Two were Costa Rican  something or the others ( Helsar and Herbazu) which, until recently, were being stored in some air tight vault like some disney masterpiece. I figured if a coffee is worth putting away for a rainy day, then it gotta be good. I also got a Brazilian Ipanemian  dry tree process. I had a taste of some other girls from Ipanema and was not to impressed, hopefully this tastes a little better. 

This time I got myself two packs of the filters, vowing that I will never run out of chemex filters again. Coffee from anything else just does not taste the same. Once you go Chemex, you can never g.... ummm  Shit. I guess that saying just does not work unless you can think of something to rhyme with chemex. I can't think of anything. Can You?

Anyway, sorry this post does not have any "porn" theme, next one will, I promise. I got myself a new FoodSaver to help keep my coffee fresh. I know I can think of something dirty about that. 

hot steamy coffee orgy

Ohh baby, some hot steamy action was happening in my kitchen the other night. My coffee appliances decided to get together and have a little fun. What they did not know was that I was secretly photographing the whole thing....


It started with a steamy three some between a new arrival from Vegas, who was full to the brim with some steaming hot Guatemalan Oriente city plus and two cups from the mountains who wanted part of the action.

Soon the curvy chemex joined the fun along with the always dirty minded Frenchy. Hot steamy coffee started sloshing everywhere and things got even more intense when the kinky Burr man, started to get involved. A full blown coffee orgy was now taken place. Beans were being uniformly ground, then boiled then filtered. Cups were being filled amd messes were being made. Things were really heating up when Stanley the thermos decided to join the fun....




Suffice it to say that things got a little crazy after that. Beans were spilled and handles were broken and I woke up to a mess in my kitchen. But, at least I got some hot pics

For the course of this past summer, I have pretty much been using a Chemex coffeemaker that I got off of E-bay to meet all my at home coffee needs. I got this baby for a steal, paying around thirty bucks (including s+h) for a vintage hand blown glass carafe straight out of the seventies. Brand spanking new, this baby would of cost around triple (92.50 at SM) so I am pretty sure I got a great deal although I did have to replace the orginal leather tie thingie that holds the wood together with a piece of tie from an old moccasin.

Besides being rather pleasing to look at (very art Deco), the Chemex also puts out a damn fine cup of Joe, once you figure out the various ins and outs of it. It took me a while to figure out the right type of grind (not too coarse, not too fine) as well as to get it through my head that it is better to pre-wet the filters before putting the grounds in. Getting the proper hot water to ground ratio was also a bit tricky, but once I got all these things down, I do not think there is a better way to enjoy a cup of coffee.

The Filters...

The filters for the Chemex are a bit, ummm, different from your typical coffee maker filters. When I first got my Chemex, I neglected to purchase filters for it, niavely thinking that I could probably find something comparable at Target. After a half a dozen failed attempts to keep the regular cone filters from collapsing and sliding into the base of the pot, I gave in and bought a pack of a hundred filter squares from Sweet Marias (along with several lbs of green coffee of course). When I picked up the box my first thought was, "what the hell are these? Napkins?" It took a bit of mental manuevering on my part to realize that, yes indeed, a folded square of paper can form a cone. These filters are much thicker than any of their counterparts, think brawny paper towel thick compared to those cheap generic brand towels that fall apart in the commercials. You open the filter with three layers on one side and one layer on the other and put the three layer side towards the spout side of the Chemex, which I think is important in keeping the the water flowing downward to the apex. Rumor has it that these filters are specifically made to leting the good stuff in into the pot while keeping all the bad stuff. like the bitter oils and sediment out.
Watersports...

One thing that you need to do with the filters is to pre-wet them. Since they are so dang thick, these filters can handle a good bit of water before you put the grounds in. Wetting the filters before you brew keeps the filter from sucking up all of the brew before it has a chance to hit the bottom. Before I got around to pre-wetting my filters, I had resorted to squeezing the spent filter into the pot to make sure I got every last drop of my morning go go juice. Now I usually turn the tap on a gentle warm flow and run my Chemex under it until the whole filter is nice and moist, sticking to the glass walls. I then invert the coffeemaker and let the water that has collected flow back out. The filter usually stays in place, but sometimes might slip out- so look out!

It looks like a nipple...

The only real negative about the Chemex is the that it really does not do a good job retaining heat. I bought the optional cover for it, which is kinda cutesy looking, but it only sort of helps keeoping the brew warm for the duration of my morning. I usually end up nuking the last cup in the microwave.

All in all, the chemex makes a damn good cup of coffee and it has become my preferred method of brewing. Watching the coffee bloom and release its aroma is very pleasing and the taste is great. Perhaps I will get tired of the process and move on to something else like a vacuum brewer, but for right now I will continue my little love affair with my Chemex: Best e-bay purchase ever.