I’ve always fancied the Chemex coffee brewer; it has an iconic, minimalist design, and functionally is unique in that you’re dropping a paper filter into the opening of a carafe… there’s not plastic basket or anything else to use. I don’t have a Chemex, though, and am loathe to bring another method of brewing into the house right now.

But… there is the office. I recently schlepped an Aeropress in, as it’s small and easy to clean. (K-Cups are nothing if not simple and easy to clean up.) And that’s been a great addition; I can brew a nice cup in a couple of minutes, and the Aeropress makes great-tasting coffee (assuming you start with good, fresh beans).

I have a Bodum pour-over that I bought years ago, which works fine but is limited by the fact that its metal screen filter lets plenty of undissolved solids into the brew, so you get a lot of body. In this case, I’d rather go the immersion route and brew with the French press. I like pour over for producing a different cup of coffee. <^1>[I use a porcelain Melita pour-over with paper filters when not having French press, Aeropress, or espresso.]

I got to wondering: can I use a paper filter with the Bodum?

I first tried dropping a Melita #4 filter into the metal basket. That did not work, as the coffee steeped too long/drained to slowly, producing an over-extracted cup.

But what about a Chemex paper? Could I use one of those to make a cup and jettison the metal basket?

It turns out, yes, you certainly can: the paper filter works in the Bodum carafe. The only modification, I learned, was that you have to put a straw or something in between the glass lip and the filter paper to allow gas to escape. This bit of physics may explain what happened with the basket and paper filter method I tried.