As ripoffs go, it was small one: ordered more Chemex coffemaker filters though Amazon, and it's not an item they stock; you have to buy from one of the little suppliers who sell through Amazon. This has never been a problem -- until "Kitchen Eco."
As of today, they have eight reviews, all one-star; the earliest is from 7 February and the most recent is from me. They all say the same things: fake filters. Not the right ones. Too small to be useful. Counterfeit box -- too small, multiple misspellings. And wouldn't you know, now there's nothing in "Kitchen Eco's" virtual storefront on Amazon.
I've ordered some filters directly from Chemex. Shipping is costly but the per-box price of the filters is lower and it works out to a lower overall price. They'll be awhile arriving; Tam is out right now on an urgent mission to our nearest Chemex stockist, in hopes they'll have one of three versions of the standard, chemistry-lab type filter that fit our coffeemaker.* Yes, it's extra effort. They make such great coffee that we think it's worth it.
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* In the event of an emergency, I'll do a batch of coarse grind and get out the vacuumatic -- almost as good but tricky to get the proper strength and clarity. (Spellcheck suggests "traumatic" in place of "vaccumatic." Hey, it's not that difficult.
I buy from Amazon a lot. ALWAYS 'sold by Amazon' or 'fulfilled by Amazon'. Never from the indies there. Too many times I tried, just to get a 3 week shipping notice, and can't cancel because they marked it shipped 12 seconds after I ordered.
ReplyDeleteThat's not cool. Messing with your ability to operate the household caffeine delivery device is clearly grounds for keel hauling at least. Now to find a conveniently located keel.
ReplyDeleteIsn't roomie Tam Keel? 😎
DeleteTry a French Press. I have found that they make good coffee, and you don't have to worry about filters.
ReplyDeleteI have a French press. Prefer Chemex.
ReplyDeleteI've been burned a few times by third-party sellers on Amazon. No more. Will only do the direct-from-Amazon stuff through them. (I've also witnessed the phenomenon of some popular items being sold by third-party sellers for grossly inflated prices. What the market will bear and all that, but I also don't have to buy from them)
ReplyDeleteThere are some things I just order from the manufacturer/distributor. Hopefully going through Chemex is a good solution, or a local source can be found. (I live in a place people in the boonies refer to as "the sticks," so I know the difficulties in obtaining some things you just need)
I do a pseudo Chemex, a large funnel into my thermos. I fold cheap filters from Aldi or three layers of paper towels. I loved my Chemex but it broke.
ReplyDeleteBruce, yes, and...?
ReplyDeleteJust paper towels make a good substitute for filters, I'm cheap.
ReplyDeleteI was referring to question about Tam.
ReplyDeleteHowever, paper towels are (generally) made from bleached paper and can affect the flavor of coffee. One of my Mom's "kitchen science experiments was to use multiple white coffee filters and (separately) white paper towels in her coffeemaker with plain water and with both, you could smell the bleach, very faintly. That was many years ago and processes have likely changed -- but caveat emptor. She (and I) switched to unbleached coffee filters after that.
Oh, sigh. I feel your pain. Did the same fire drill recently, though for a different reason. I goofed and ordered the "small" Chemex filters. I honestly didn't know there was a "small" carafe. In the (I think unlikely) case that you use one of those, I could send you 2 boxes.
ReplyDeleteZipped over to the shop where I used to get them, to find the tail end of a going-out-of-business sale, and no filters. Found another shop, fortunately.
I have a small Mr. Coffee coffee maker and have been using a permanent filter for the past couple of years, it works great. By "small" coffee maker, I'm referring to one that's rated "4 cups", but is actually "2 mugs".
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