Concentrate or Ready to Pour? The Best Cold Brew Coffee Maker

In a Houston summer, hot coffee at noon is a hard sell. Cold brew solves it: coarse grounds steep in cold water for most of a day, and what comes out is smooth, strong and ready to pour over ice. A batch made on Sunday covers iced coffee for days, and it takes well to the flavors of a Mexican kitchen, from a cinnamon stick steeped with the grounds to a splash of piloncillo syrup.

Cold brew makers range from a Mason jar with a filter to a drain-through brewer and an electric machine. The differences that matter are whether you get a concentrate or ready-to-drink coffee, how well the filter keeps out sediment, and whether the finished coffee fits in your refrigerator. This guide explains each and names eight cold brew makers worth buying.

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Quick verdict: which cold brew maker to buy

The details below explain what separates a good batch from a muddy one, and how to store cold brew safely.

Five cold brew makers at a glance

Our five standout picks side by side, one for each kind of household, with the batch and filter each maker or listing states. All eight cold brew makers are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Capacities and filter types are as stated by each maker or listing.

Our picks for the best cold brew coffee maker

These eight cover the real choices: concentrate or ready-to-drink, glass or plastic, a single drinker’s pot or a half-gallon jar, and one commercial system for events. Each pick explains who it suits and one honest reason to skip it.

How to choose a cold brew maker

Five questions narrow the field quickly.

1. Concentrate or ready-to-drink

Drain-through brewers such as the OXO and Toddy make a concentrate, which America’s Test Kitchen says is typically diluted with one to two parts water, milk or a dairy alternative. Strainer-style jars such as the County Line and Hario make coffee you can drink as it is. Concentrate takes less fridge space per cup; ready-to-drink is easier for a household where everyone helps themselves.

2. The filter

ATK found that brewers with two layers of filtration made cleaner, sediment-free coffee, and that paper filters hold back oils, so paper-filtered cold brew keeps its flavor longer than coffee filtered through stainless steel. If a steel-mesh brew is too silty for you, pour it through a paper filter or a fine-mesh strainer lined with a paper towel before storing.

3. Where it will live in the fridge

Measure before you buy. ATK notes compact carafes are easier to fit in a refrigerator, and that the Takeya is tall but compact enough for a door shelf. A half-gallon jar needs a tall shelf, and a pot with a loose lid can pick up fridge odors.

4. Glass or plastic

Glass does not hold odors and lets you see the coffee, but it can break. Tritan and other plastics survive drops and are lighter to carry. Check the maker’s dishwasher guidance; several listings do not state it.

5. Manual or electric

Electric “rapid” cold brew machines promise coffee in minutes. ATK reviewed several, including Cuisinart’s automatic cold brew maker, and found the coffee underextracted, watery or gritty, so none made this list. Manual brewers take a day but cost less and have nothing to break.

How we picked these eight cold brew makers

We started from what a Mexican kitchen wants on a hot afternoon: a strong, smooth coffee that stands up to ice and milk, a batch size that suits the household, and a container that fits the refrigerator. We narrowed the field to brewers sold on Amazon in the United States and in stock when we checked, from makers who publish their materials and filter design. We relied on America’s Test Kitchen’s cold brew review for how the brewers performed; where we describe flavor or extraction, those are ATK’s findings. We have not brewed with every model here. ATK’s winner, the Toddy home system, was not sold on Amazon when we checked, so we list Toddy’s commercial model for crowds instead. We left out electric cold brew machines that ATK did not recommend, and a Primula brewer whose listing included instructions for an unrelated espresso machine, which made us doubt the listing.

How to make cold brew at home

1. Grind coarse. ATK suggests grounds about the size of kosher salt crystals; coarse grounds control extraction over the long steep and are easier to filter.
2. Weigh the coffee. Follow your brewer’s ratio the first time, then adjust. A kitchen scale makes it easy to repeat a batch you liked.
3. Wet all the grounds. Pour the water slowly and stir so no dry pockets remain.
4. Steep in the fridge or on the counter for the time your maker gives; OXO, for example, calls for 12 to 24 hours.
5. Filter, seal and chill. Drain or lift out the grounds, then store the coffee covered in the refrigerator.

For a café de olla flavor, add a cinnamon stick to the grounds and sweeten the finished coffee with piloncillo syrup, since a syrup mixes into cold coffee more easily than solid sugar. To keep iced coffee from going thin, freeze some of the batch in a covered tray; our guide to the best ice cube trays covers trays with lids.

Keeping cold brew safe

Cold brew is never heated, so cleanliness matters more than with hot coffee. Researchers at the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety found that the pathogens they tested did not grow in cold brew but could survive in it for days, and that contamination usually comes in during brewing, from ingredients, dirty equipment or unwashed hands. Their advice is to wash your hands and every piece of equipment before brewing and to keep the coffee refrigerated. They did not set a number of days, so for how long to keep a batch, follow your brewer’s instructions, keep it sealed and cold, and discard it if it smells or tastes off.

Cold brew questions, answered

What is the best coffee for a cold brew coffee maker?

Any coffee you enjoy hot will work. Coffees with chocolate and nut notes pair naturally with milk and ice, and Coffee Review’s tasting notes for Mexican coffees from states such as Chiapas, Veracruz and Oaxaca often mention both. Buy whole beans and grind them coarse, or ask for a coarse grind where you buy them.

What does America’s Test Kitchen recommend?

ATK’s winner is the Toddy Cold Brew System; it highly recommends the OXO Cold Brew Coffee Maker and recommends the County Line Kitchen Mason jar and the Hario Mizudashi. It did not recommend the Takeya or the electric machines it reviewed. We were not able to read the current Wirecutter or Consumer Reports guides, so we do not quote them.

Is a cold brew maker better than a Mason jar and a strainer?

A jar and a strainer work, but the steep is messy to filter and fine grounds get through. A dedicated brewer keeps the grounds in one place and filters them out in one step.

Do electric cold brew machines work?

They make cold coffee quickly, but ATK found the results from the models it reviewed watery, gritty or underextracted. For the best flavor, a manual brewer and a day of patience still win.

Can I make cold brew in a French press?

Yes. Steep coarse grounds in cold water in the press, keep it in the refrigerator, then press and pour off the coffee into a sealed container.

Our pick for iced coffee all summer

Buy the OXO Good Grips if you want strong, clean concentrate with no straining, the County Line jar if you would rather pour and drink, the Hario Mizudashi if fridge space is tight, and the Takeya if the refrigerator door is the only spot left. For parties, Toddy’s commercial system brews by the gallon. Whichever you choose, grind coarse, keep everything clean and keep the coffee cold.

When the weather finally turns, swap iced coffee for a mug of Mexican chocolate; see our guide to the best Mexican hot chocolate, and for pairing drinks with dinner, what to drink with Mexican food.

More coffee gear we’ve covered: coffee makers, coffee grinders, espresso machines, single-serve coffee makers, French presses, pour-over drippers, milk frothers, coffee mugs, espresso grinders, travel mugs.

On a budget? See our guide to the best cheap cold brew coffee makers.

Related guide: Cold brew vs iced coffee maker.

And if you would rather someone else cooked tonight, see the menu or call to order.