The Chemex company has been around since the 1980s and has always been family-owned and operated since that time. Although the company has been around for close to 40 years, the actual Chemex design has been around much longer. According to the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Chemex coffee maker is on the list of the 100 Best Designed Products of Modern Times.
The design was first created in 1941 by a German inventor by the name of Dr. Peter Schlumbohm. In the past 70 years, the design has remained virtually unchanged. The reason for this is that Dr. Schlumbohm created the ideal coffee-maker despite its simplicity.
The Chemex’s hourglass shape fits the specially designed Chemex coffee filters perfectly. Chemex filters are also scientifically designed to keep out any sediment and unwanted tastes, so you get the purest tasting coffee every time. Chemex coffee makers are all made from nonporous glass to further assure that non-coffee flavors never seep into the coffee.
The Chemex company has its headquarters in Chicopee, western Massachusetts; this is also where the company manufactures its coffee makers for worldwide distribution. The Chemex coffee maker has even earned a permanent place in museums because its visual design is considered a work of art. You can see this coffee maker on display in places like MOMA in New York City and The Corning Museum of Glass as well as other museums worldwide.
So, Chemex has been producing high-quality coffee makers for over forty years that have remained largely unchanged in design, but are their coffee makers still made in the USA? We delved in, our verdict is below.
Verdict: Are Chemex Coffee Makers Made in the USA?
Only the filters and the leather ties are made in the USA, all other elements are produced by overseas suppliers like Croatia, Taiwan, and Malaysia. The coffee makers are still assembled, inspected, polished, and hand-tied at its factory in Massachusetts.
Though there’s nothing on their website that indicates where their materials are sourced, an interview from Sprudge with Chemex Co-owner and a visit to their manufacturing facility was unable to unearth a little more about what is actually made at their Massachusetts headquarters and how much of that is made in the USA.
Whilst the Chemex coffee maker itself is assembled at the Chicopee plant, the majority of Chemex’s components are now sourced from international suppliers. The glass to make the coffee makers is formed in Croatia and Taiwan, and the wood used is from Malaysian rubber tree plants. The statement leather ties are sourced from Tennessee-based baseball mitt manufacturer, Rawlings.
The only thing noted as being made in the USA on the Chemex site is their coffee filters, which are always referenced as being American-made, suggesting that they’re the only thing that are.
On their ‘sustainability’ webpage, they explain that the filter paper is manufactured in the USA using North American materials only. The trees used are responsibly harvested, scraps of filter paper are recycled and their filters are biodegradable and compostable.
These coffee filters are also manufactured at the Chemex Massachusetts site. Custom cut, folded bonded paper filters, round and square, natural and white are all made there.
Popular American Made Chemex Products
- CHEMEX Bonded Filters – North American sourced, manufactured in Massachusetts
- The leather ties – manufactured in Tennessee
Popular Chemex Products Not Made in the USA
- Ottomatic
- Funnex
- Classic series
- Glass handle series
- Handblown series
American Made Alternatives
- All the coffee makers made in the USA
- Lead-free coffee mugs made in the USA
- Coffee grinders made in the USA
