For those of you who have better things to do than drink molten hot metal disguising itself as hot coffee, your morning caffeine fix probably comes in the form of a glass of cold brew iced coffee. If you don’t want to go broke buying up the overpriced stuff your local barista is feeding you, you need a cold brew coffee maker so you can make it yourself. The systems all work on the principle of letting coffee grounds sit in water for a period of hours before the grounds are extracted, but they all look or function just a little bit differently. Whether you want an industrial sized setup or something quick and easy, we have a few ideas for your home brew cold brew.
Depending on the ratio of coffee to water you use, these can create a crazy strong concentrate that should be diluted with water or milk. Don’t blame us if you can’t sit through the afternoon meeting because “there’s no such thing as coffee too strong for you.”
Mason Jar Cold Brew Coffee Filter
Have a wide mouth mason jar sitting around? Want the easiest, quickest, cheapest way to make cold brew? Check out the mason jar cold brew coffee filter. Working the gadget is as easy as dropping the super fine mesh filter into any wide mouth mason jar, filling it with grounds and then adding water. Wait the requisite dozen or so hours before pulling the filter, throwing out the used grounds and enjoying your fresh batch of coffee concentrate. $15
Takeya Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker
Amazon’s Best Seller in Carafes & Pitchers, Coffee Makers, and Iced Tea Pitchers, the Takeya Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker combines all the benefits of cold brew with an easy-to-use brewing system built into a plastic pitcher that will fit in most refrigerator doors. The Takeya has a simple, utilitarian design, and the plastic construction is durable enough to hold up in a busy household. At around twenty bucks, it pays for itself in less than a week of trips to the local mermaid shop, which also means you can start saving for a better coffee grinder. $20
Hario Mizudashi Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker
Like the Takeya, the Hario Mizudashi Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker uses a pitcher and permanent filter design to create a one quart batch of cold brew coffee overnight. Unlike the Takeya, the Hario Mizudashi has some upgrades in the design and build departments thanks to a more slender profile and ultra premium Hario glass construction. The designer and budget friendly cold brew maker also comes in black, brown or red options so you can match it to the rest of your kitchen appliances. $22
SterlingPro French Press
Much like a coffee grinder or a good thermos, the classic French press is an essential coffee gadget. Seeing as how the principle behind cold brewing is basically to let grounds sit with cold water overnight, that same French press you use for after dinner coffee can be used for small batches of cold brew as well. If you don’t already have a French press, we recommend the SterlingPro because of its dual screen, tight build quality, affordable price and classic design. $25
Filtron Cold Water Coffee Concentrate Brewer
IMG: https://www.stumptowncoffee.com/products/filtron-cold-brewer
There’s a reason that both Stumptown and Blue Bottle recommend Filtron when it comes to satisfying your craving for cold brew—the system works really, really well. In what’s best described as a deconstructed drip coffee maker, the Filtron system slowly and evenly distributes water over coffee grounds before it sits to develop it’s fantastic concentrate flavor. After 12 to 24 hours, drain the delicious coffee juice into the carafe and store for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. If you want big batches of barista quality brew, this is the best coffee cold brewer for you. $34
OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker
In addition to their collection of kitchen tools and the best food storage containers out there, OXO makes a great cold brew coffee maker. With it’s borosilicate glass carafe, sturdy two-tiered design and hourglass lines, the OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker is easy to use, built for everyday use and won’t be a countertop eyesore that needs to be hidden as soon as guests arrive. But when you do want to hide it, the entire system stores inside of itself like a Russian nesting doll. Throw in some great beans, wait half a day or so, and then enjoy some coffee the way Walter White would… out of a glass beaker. $40
