Cold brew coffee is becoming a trend; every well established cafe I go, they serve cold brew. But cold brew is really easy to make, in fact it is probably the least demanding compare to hot coffee. The frugal-ness of me obviously don’t want to spend more money in coffee than I already have ????????. The Takeya cold brew maker makes it easy.
Cold brew: The process of brewing coffee in cold water, typically the coarsest grind soaked in cold water for 12+ hours.
I used to make it in a glass carafe, and filter with a tea strainer then paper filter.
This is sold almost everywhere, Amazon sells it for $32. Costco may carry the 2x 1qt version for $24. This is the Costco version, in contains one has the filter basket for brewing, the other one is for storage.
The container is made of BPA free plastic, the lid is air-tight, inside the container is a fine mesh filter. It is very simple; it literally is a beverage container with a built in coffee mesh brewer. The construction is sturdy, very similar to the Rubbermaid container quality. I test with full jug, swing it around and the lid is quite air tight for that overnight brew ????. It says the container can be put in the top rack of the dish washer ????, unfortunately my top rack does not fit that.
It comes with an user guide for various type of drink, but I will focus this review on regular cold brew: I set the grinder to the coarsest grind, put the grind inside the brew basket. The brew basket can take about 100-120g of coffee, I am able to add 800g of water without over-filling the basket. I tighten the lid, give it a couple good shakes and leave it inside the fridge. I flip the container up-side-down to ensure full saturation in the 12th hour.
The next day, I can transfer the coffee to the storage container, but I notice a huge amount of fine coffee sediment, and I also enjoy my coffee clean, I use a #2 paper filter for the transfer. The last bit of coffee is always longest because the filter is quite clogged up.
The difference between paper filtered is huge, one has more oil than the other. This will give a sweeter tastes
That’s it! Cold brew removes the acidity compare to hot brew coffee, but because of the high concentration (1:8), the caffeine is significantly higher as well. I would recommend diluting with water and milk for a better cup.
If you are into cold brew or want to try it, the Takeya kit is a great start. I think it can be used to brew tea as well (why not)!