Chemex Coffeemaker

In 1958, designers at the Illinois Institute of Technology selected the Chemex Coffeemaker as "one of the best-designed products of modern times."

[1][2][3][4] It has been featured in the novel From Russia with Love, in a scene where James Bond eats breakfast, the film Harper starring Paul Newman, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, as well as its film adaptation.

[5] The Chemex coffeemaker consists of an hourglass-shaped glass flask with a conical funnel-like neck and proprietary filters, made of bonded paper, that are thicker than the standard paper filters used for a drip coffeemaker.

[6] The thicker filter papers may also assist in removing more cafestol, a cholesterol-elevating compound found in coffee.

The most visually distinctive feature of the Chemex is the heatproof wooden collar around the neck, which allows it to be easily handled and poured when full of hot coffee.