Many people just can’t get enough cold-brew coffee no matter what season it is. Super-strong yet sweet and boasting barrel-loads of caffeine, this style of coffee is uniquely satisfying. Cafes and fancy coffee shops understand its pull. That’s why they charge an arm and a leg for it. Their regular and iced coffees are pricey as well, so brewing your own joe is probably in your wallet’s best interest.
The good news is that, with the right coffee beans and a little time, making cold-brew coffee can be as easy as adding room-temperature or colder water to ground coffee and letting it steep. And, thanks to a growing number of home cold-brew gadgets, you can start cold-brewing coffee in style. It’s way better than a traditional coffee pot.
Some cold-brew maker options can whip up a batch in a fraction of the time it usually takes. The Gourmia Cold Brew Coffee Maker to Buy in 2020 is an excellent example. The counter machine completes the process in minutes, rather than hours. If speed isn’t a priority, there are plenty of alternatives. Oxo’s cold brewer is affordable and easy to operate and makes excellent cold-brewed coffee concentrate. Likewise, the Takeya and Bialetti pitchers also have prices that are easy to swallow. Traditional cold-brew makers like those require at least 12 hours of brewing time, but devotees will tell you the stuff is worth the wait of the cold brewing method.
- Primula Burke
The Coffee Gator was my favorite cold brewer for many months, but Primula’s Burke immersion brewer has taken its top spot. It’s shorter and wider with a more durable build than the Gator. I couldn’t quite fit it into the door of my fridge, but it could fit in some. It makes about 32 ounces of coffee at a time.
Like other pot-style brewers, you put coarse grounds into the mesh basket, snap it into place, slowly pour water through it, and come back 24 hours later. Coffee came out smooth and flavorful without too much bitterness, and the filter is fine enough that there was less sediment than many immersion brewers. Too much sediment can ruin a good cold brew by adding a gritty mouthfeel and aftertaste.
- Toddy Cold Brew System
Toddy has been around since the 1960s. It’s similar to the Oxo brewing system, just a little more DIY. It’s basically a big bucket with grounds in it, and a glass carafe to hold the coffee when it’s done brewing. The brew bucket is made of plastic, and it requires paper liners and filter pads that you’ll have to keep buying (filter pads last about 10 brews or 3 months). You have to remove a rubber stopper to drain the coffee after 24 hours, which will always get your hands messy—cleanup is time-consuming.
Fortunately, it makes rich, full-bodied cold-brewed coffee that tastes as robust as any other method I’ve tried so far, sometimes better. Those pads and paper filters are annoying, but they work. If you’re OK with a little inconvenience, the Toddy makes a damn good cold-brew concentrate. It’s similar to the Filtron Brewer, but more well constructed. There’s even a giant 2.5-gallon Toddy that’s used in coffee shops.
- Rapid Cold Brew Carafe Pitcher
No time in the morning? This brewer uses a pressurized system that will turn out up to 42 ounces of coffee concentrate in as little as five minutes (or up to two 15 if you prefer a stronger cup). Don’t be intimidated by the technology — we had no trouble using this model.