Dr. Peter Schlumbohm refined brewing into a science balancing filtration and extraction to achieve clarity in the cup.

As Dr. Peter Schlumbohm explains:

Perfect Extraction and Perfect Filtration

“The filter paper must have a carefully selected grain and a sufficiently large area. A folded filter paper cone arranges the small quantity of coffee grounds for advantageously in a deeper layer than obtained by spreading the grounds over the total area of a horizontly-placed filter paper.”

Dr. Schlumbohm gives a CHEMEX to the houseware's buyer at Macy's, telling the man to bring it home and try it. The very next morning, the doctor got a phone call saying that Macy's would be running an advertisement for the CHEMEX on May 24th. The first 500 CHEMEX coffeemakers are assembled by Schlumbohm and his soon to be Vice-President Mary Foley, in his Manhattan apartment.

CHEMEX Corporation grew from a small apartment into a three-story facility filled with glass, wood, and aluminum for the doctor’s inventions. There, a small team of women assembled the products by hand, establishing a tradition that continues today. We still hand-inspect, polish, and tie every coffeemaker before shipping, maintaining the same craftsmanship used since 1941.

“The Chemists Way of designing an automobile”

Dissatisfied with the era’s impractical cars, Dr. Schlumbohm even wired the president of General Motors to call himself the "embarrassed owner" of a Cadillac Coup de Ville. Though he famously drove the Cadillac through Manhattan—adorned with a solid gold CHEMEX hood ornament—he found luxury vehicles too large and inefficient. His solution was the CHEMOBILE, a custom-invented car detailed in a brochure he sent to GM as a more logical alternative.

“It takes a lot of courage to try and improve the quality of the cup of coffee served in public eating places,” Dr. Schlumbohm noted while pioneering superior restaurant coffee. To achieve this, he created the 36-cup Chemex Samovar, requiring restaurants to sign licensing agreements to ensure precise brewing standards. This initiative led to the 1961 launch of the first “Chemex-Bonded Kitchen” at The Egg Basket.

At the age of 66, after a prolific, inspired and determined Life, Dr. Peter Schlumbohm passed away. He left behind an indelible legacy, that can be traced through both the scientific and design worlds. His curiosity and voracity to problem solve led him to invent many things. But none as important as his CHEMEX coffeemaker, which has claimed its rightful place as an iconic piece of American history.

After the death of Dr. Peter Schlumbohm, the company was given to the Vice-president Marie Foley. She had been an employee of CHEMEX from the very beginning, helping assemble to first 500 CHEMEX coffeemakers.