French Press V Chemex V Old School

You guys know how I love my Chemex, right?

Well, this happened a few months ago…

I was heartbroken.*

*And the worst part is, it was totally my fault. I couldn’t even blame the dog.

This created the need to find an alternative for my daily brewing method because, contrary to what my Chemex post says, since receiving it as a gift, I have been making coffee*…every. single. morning.

*I brew up coffees from our Coffeehouse Adventures. Anything from LTC remains my favorite.

I still had my French press, so I began using it. Then, while cleaning out some higher kitchen cabinets I found Old School*…a Hamilton Beach coffeemaker.

*I know. Some of you are like, Old school? This is the only thing I’ve ever made coffee on! And, I know. I understand. But put yourself in my shoes. I bagged that bad boy up somewhere around eight years ago when I got my first Keurig. For me, my coffee machine history goes as follows: Mom and Dad’s drip coffeemaker, Tassimo**, Hamilton Beach coffeemaker, Keurig, French Press, Chemex.

**Look that bad boy up if you haven’t a clue. This is the original Keurig which simply didn’t catch on.

Here’s my biggest beef with a French press, and a Chemex while I’m at it: their size. At best, you can squeeze four small cups of coffee out.

The problem is what we* are defining as a cup of coffee. On a customary drip coffeemaker, they define six ounces as a cup. For the Chemex, it’s five ounces. For the French press, it’s four! I mean, come on now, how am I supposed to live with this madness?

*That’s the universal ‘we’.

In my world, anything lower than eight ounces is not going to suffice.* Which means, for a French press and the supposedly six-cup** Chemex I previously owned, I can only brew enough coffee for three people, at most.

*And when I say eight, I really mean ten, because let’s face it, at the end of the day, I’m going to need to start with at least twelves ounces of coffee.

**But remember, that’s six cups at five ounces a cup.

Are you confused yet? Because I sure am!

I started using Old School because though he was old, he seemed reliable.

That was my first mistake.*

*Or, was my first mistake breaking my Chemex?

My initial problem with Old School was not knowing he required a special kind of filter. Figuring that out involved coffee all over my counter, dumping an overflowing filter basket in the sink, and frantically calling my sister-in-law.

Once that mystery was solved, we had the problem of the temperamental filter basket. If placed slightly askew, it resulted in the initial issue of coffee spilling all over the counter.*

*Do you understand what it is like to need coffee and then also have a mess on the counter? A mess, of coffee??

Then, the mechanism at the bottom of the filter basket broke. I decided to take a break at that point and return to my French press, which presented the previously stated problem: its size.*

*Not to mention the need to have course ground coffee beans on hand.

Hubby fixed my filter basket issue and I returned to Old School. He seemed to be working properly until yesterday when he decided to start up his old ways again.

So this morning, I had enough.

Old School went in the garbage.

Just in time for the arrival of a bright shiny Amazon package with my new ten-cup Chemex hidden inside.

Let’s hope I have better luck this time around.