Although Mr. Henry will continue to write about food, just for the moment he prefers not to.

Instead, please find him on Manolo for the Men.

For Immediate Release:

Exhaustive tests conducted by the elite scientific division of Henry Laboratory, New York, have determined conclusively that coffee made in the vaunted Chemex glass beaker is less flavorful than coffee made in the cheapest electric drip coffee maker.

After a frustrating week of pouring water in circular motion, calibrating measurements of temperature and quantity, and altogether bedeviling himself in the wee hours of the morning when patience is thinnest, Mr. Henry accepted defeat and resignedly placed his new Chemex beaker and its patented thick paper filters back in the cupboard.

This discovery flies in the face of reportage published in The New York Times. Have years of take-out “regular” coffee dulled their senses? Could New York Times articles be less than fully reliable sources of information? The Henry Laboratory Chemex report bears weighty repercussions.

But don’t smash your elegant Chemex. At A Thirsty Spirit Mr. Henry found a clever use for it as a filter for cold-brewed coffee extract, quite handy for making summer drinks, coffee desserts or coffee ice cream. Indeed, because its paper filter is so thick, cold-filtering may be the best use for a Chemex.

To Mr. Henry’s demanding nose the Chemex filters out too many oils and volatile aromas, the very essences he seeks in coffee – essences that magically purge morning depression, headache, and other children of the night.