I think the Chemex is overrated. Ever since I started making pourover for Charlotte, the Chemex has been almost an aspiration. The Chemex is what you get if you're serious about pourover. When Charlotte smashed her old V60 flask, I decided to upgrade to the Chemex.

It's an undoubtedly beautiful object. Wood, leather, glass. The flask itself is a lovely shape. The pouring channel is so satisfying, and when you pour, the liquid in your cup makes a satisfying double-ended swirl that reminds me of a goat's horns. The whole thing is very tactile and pleasing.

However, it's such a frustrating device to use. I've watched countless (well, probably 10, which is a lot of videos to watch about how to use a flask) videos on how to use this thing, and the filter paper invariably falls into the pouring channel, which creates a vacuum in the flask which stops your coffee from dripping through. So you have to lift the filter out of the channel and stretch it and hope it seats across with enough tension not to fall again.

And it's so slow. Even when it's running properly it takes 2-3 times what the V60 took for the same volume of water. Almost to the point that your coffee's starting to get cold by the time it's finished dripping (this is solved by wrapping a towel around the thing but it's not a great solution!). Owing to the integrated collar, you have to wait for the entire drip to be finished before you can start to pour, and don't try to pour past the filter. The whole thing just irritates me, and the fact that it is heaped in universal praise just annoys me even more!

It is beautiful though.