The Best Cold Brew Coffee Makers (and the Coffee-Making Hacks That Actually Work)
Cold brew coffee makers might seem like needless luxury—until you try to make cold brew without one. In my many years of coffee obsession, particularly during the times where I was unable to routinely afford a $5 New York "medium," I've tried pretty much every hack in the book. At one low point, I found myself mixing together hand-ground coffee and water in a large Tupperware container, which I would later pass through a mesh strainer and a paper towel. But just because you can MacGuyver cold brew doesn't mean you should. You deserve better!
And it doesn't have to be that hard. All you need to make cold brew is coarsely ground coffee, water, something to strain it with, and a little bit of patience. But all the off-beat hacks I've employed to make cold brew typically end with subpar coffee, a big mess to clean up, or both. Which is where the best cold brew coffee makers come in. Having a dedicated piece of equipment improves the experience at every step of the way. You'll have to pay for it up front—but less than you might think, especially if you compare the price of one of these contraptions to the amount of money you were spending at coffee shops in the before times.
In our quest for the best cold brew maker, we found that the taste of the coffee wasn't really the differentiating factor that we expected it to be. Most people can tell the difference between coffee from a cold brew maker and coffee strained through a cheesecloth (its grainy texture is a dead giveaway), but it was much harder to tell between different cold brew coffee makers. So the best cold brew makers are actually just the ones that are easiest to use, don't create an enormous mess, and are easy to clean for reuse. Finally, you probably want to find something that doesn't take up too much counter space: since cold brew is a seasonal thing for most people, a supplement to your workhorse automatic drip machine or dialed-in pour over setup, you shouldn't have to relegate your blender to the pantry just to make room for your early-afternoon pick-up cup. And if the idea of spending money on a unitasker kitchen gadget is anathema to your being (Hello, Alton Brown), we've also included a few of the hacks we've tried that actually work well enough.
The Best Cold Brew Coffee Maker: OXO Compact Cold Brew Coffee Maker
OXO compact cold brew coffee maker
$30.00, Amazon
Released just last year, the OXO compact cold brew coffee maker is extremely easy to set up and clean. Brewing is as simple as dumping your ground beans into the main chamber, pouring in water from the carafe, and waiting 24 hours. That creates a concentrate—and after a day, you simply place the brewing chamber onto the carafe and watch as your concentrate drips into the container. In our tests we found that concentrate to be consistently smooth—neither grainy nor oily, like the coffee from other brewers we’ve tested. And it consistently tastes great. Using this cold brew maker, we found we could actually pick up on some of the more far-fetched tasting notes listed on our coffee (chocolate! caramel! pecan!). Each brew yields about 6 to 8 cups, which makes it the perfect size for anyone brewing solo or duo. The nifty carafe does double duty as a good concentrate storage option: it'll keep cold brew fresh in the fridge for up to a week, though we're guessing cold brew this tasty won't last that long.
The Best Large-Batch Cold Brew Maker: OXO Cold Brew Coffee Maker
OXO cold brew coffee maker
$50.00, Amazon
If you have the counter space and a serious cold brew habit, consider the compact brewer’s older, larger cousin, the OXO cold brew coffee maker. OXO's OG brewer brews exactly the same coffee as the compact brewer with almost the exact same method, though you flip a switch to start the drainage process. Because of its size, using the bigger maker is a bit of a production—grinding 10 ounces of beans takes a long time. But it yields a lot of that sweet, sweet coffee concentrate—enough to make 12-14 strong cups. For anyone brewing for a crowd of roommates or extended family, you’ll absolutely go through that in a week.
The Cold Brewer That Started it All: Toddy Cold Brew system
Toddy cold brew system
$40.00, Amazon
Released in the 1960s, the Toddy Cold Brew System was one of the first commercially available home brewers in America. It's still a very solid option, but the newer brewer designs we've tested improve on it in a lot of ways. The main draw of the Toddy is its reusable felt filter. This filter has a limited lifespan (changed after 10 to 12 uses or every three months, whichever comes first). The reusability is a plus, but washing the filter is a drag. Another downside: once you're ready to drain the coffee from its brewing chamber, you have to hold the somewhat heavy chamber over a carafe as you reach underneath to pull out a stopper. You'll get the hang of this eventually, but the first few times you do it, you'll probably end up with some spilled coffee on your counter. Some may find these are small prices to pay for the handsome vintage look of the device and the OG cold brew bragging rights.
An Easy-to-Clean Immersion Brewer: Primula "Burke" Cold Brew Coffee Maker
Primula "Burke" cold brew coffee maker
$23.00, Amazon
The Primula "Burke" brewer is a full immersion cold brew maker, meaning that the coffee and water mix together freely in the brewing process (and are filtered afterwards). This one is a little easier to set up than either of the brewers from OXO, but we've found that brewers with metal mesh net basket filters like this can be a little annoying to clean. The filter on the Primula has a removable bottom, which makes it a lot easier to just empty into the trash, but you'll still find that coarsely ground coffee gets stuck in the nooks and crannies of the filter. And the resulting coffee that comes out of that filter is a little bit grittier and less evenly-extracted.
An Immersion Brewer with Some Sweet Accessories: Coffee Gator Cold Brew Kit
Coffee Gator cold brew kit
$26.00, Amazon
The Coffee Gator is another easy-to-set up immersion brewer. It comes with a bunch of accessories like scoops and a collapsible filter that make actually getting your cup of coffee easier. No removable bottom on the internal filter, unfortunately.
A High Maintenance Upgrade: Bruer Cold Drip Coffee Maker
Bruer cold drip coffee maker
$80.00, Amazon
The Bruer cold brew coffee maker is a slow-drip system. Instead of mixing all your coffee and water together at once, the device allows you to expose a tiny amount of water to your coffee at a time. The result is a really great cup of coffee with no detectible sediment, but the process to get there is quite involved. Instead of using room temperature water, you have to use ice. If your coffee grind isn't perfect, your water might brew too quickly and give you a wonky cup. And you'll pay a pretty penny for the hassle—the Bruer is almost three times as expensive as the OXO compact cold brew maker.
An Alternative You Might Already Own: Bodum Chambord French Press
Bodum "Chambord" french press
$40.00, Amazon
Making cold brew coffee in a French press is not much harder than making it with a cold brew maker, but the result is a lot less tasty. A French press filter isn’t as fine as that in the top-of-the-line cold brew coffee makers. That means your concentrate is going to be kind of grainy. In a hot cup of coffee, these granules soften and aren’t that bad. But in cold drinks, these little bits harden and feel more solid, like you’re drinking an inconsistent sludge. The main advantage of a French press is that you might already have one. If you do, you might be able to get away with not buying dedicated equipment for making cold brew, But if you’re buying new, a good french press isn’t that much cheaper than the Compact Cold Brew Maker.
The Cheapest Way To Make Acceptable Cold Brew: A Mason Jar and a Nut Milk Bag
Jarden Ball jar
$7.00, Amazon
Suorou nut milk bag (2-pack)
$7.00, Amazon
If you want to spend as little as possible, just pick up a big mason jar and a nut milk bag, which has a fine enough filter to render a clean cup of coffee without letting through too much sediment. The process of removing it from the mason jar after you’ve finished brewing and squeezing out your coffee concentrate juice can get a little messy. And once you've done that, actually cleaning this filter requires a thorough scrubbing or a laundry cycle. Your reward is several good cups of cold brew coffee. But honestly, will you get excited about doing this again? If you want to drink cold brew all summer long, save yourself the trouble and buy a dedicated cold brew maker.
Other Equipment You Might Need
OXO conical burr coffee grinder
$100.00, Williams-Sonoma
The best thing you can do to improve your coffee, regardless of brewing method, is grinding your beans right before you start brewing. This grinder is more than capable of handling a half pound of beans in one go. If you're willing to spend a bit on something a bit faster and more accurate, consider the Baratza Virtuoso+. There's no better sub $300 grinder.
Ozeri kitchen scale
$14.00, Amazon
You probably already have a kitchen scale, but on the off chance you don’t, this is a great one. You'll need it to accurately weigh out the correct amount of beans before your grind and then brew your coffee. It'll come in handy when you want to start tackling sourdough, too.
Originally Appeared on GQ
