While many people enjoy their coffee hot, cold caffeinated beverages, like iced coffee and cold brew, are equally popular. If you drink cold brew year-round, including when it’s freezing outside, a proper at-home coffee maker can save you trips to the local cafe and a lot of money.
That being said, we consulted coffee experts about how to make cold brew at home and rounded up top-rated cold brew coffee makers based on their guidance.
Related
Want more from NBC Select? Sign up for our newsletter, The Selection, and shop smarter.
Here’s what our experts told us to think about when making this list:
- Capacity: Some cold brew makers make a few servings for one person, while others are best suited for homes with multiple people. Our roundup covers a range of capacities.
- Style: Some cold brew makers are carafes with a built-in filter. Other styles may call for straining yourself or are dispensers, similar to a water filter. We made sure to include all of these types of cold brew makers and more.
- Filter types: Cold brew makers often have filters made from metal or paper. Most of the cold brew makers on this list have metal filters, since they’re reusable and easy to clean.
This stylish cold brew maker has a removable and reusable mesh filter in the middle that is attached to the lid. Simply add your coffee grounds, pour cold water over it and allow it to settle for 24 hours. It’s dishwasher safe and can make up to 6 cups of cold brew.
This geometrically shaped cold brew maker is made of durable borosilicate glass, which does a great job of withstanding both high and low temperatures, according to NBC Select commerce editor Cory Fernandez. The fine mesh filter, also attached to the lid, can hold up to 100 ounces of coffee grounds and it has a removable cap to make cleaning easier.
With this cold brew maker, you add your coffee grounds to the brewing container, and then put on Oxo’s Rainmaker top, which is perforated to allow more even distribution when you pour in your water. Then, the coffee and water blend sits for 12-24 hours for optimal flavor extraction, says the brand. The coffee maker has a stainless steel mesh filter and comes with a glass carafe lined with measurement markings that you place underneath a spout when you’re ready to serve the beverage. The carafe comes with a stopper so you can cover the cold brew when storing it in the refrigerator.
To make coffee with this cold brew coffee maker, combine 6 ounces of water with every 2 ounces of coffee in the stainless steel steeper. There’s a spigot built in, so you can dispense your cold brew right from the machine when it’s ready to serve. KitchenAid says the cold brew maker is compact enough to fit in most refrigerators and on countertops, and it has a carrying handle on top for easy transport.
NBC Select reporter Zoe Malin bought this cold brew coffee maker to fit in her dorm’s mini fridge during college. It operates similarly to a French press. You add coffee grounds and water into the carafe and let it steep before pushing down the plunger to separate the grounds from your beverage. The cold brew maker also comes with a flat lid you can use to store the coffee in your refrigerator. All components of this machine are dishwasher-safe, according to the brand.
Instead of waiting hours for your cold brew to be ready, Instant’s electric cold brew maker prepares the beverage in about 20 minutes. The brand says it uses its FlashExtract technology, which quickly spins what’s inside the pitcher, to get the most flavor out of coffee grounds. You can also customize the brew strength according to your preferences. The machine comes with a machine-washable pitcher, lid and brewing basket, as well as the electronic base.
The Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker is designed with a fine mesh filter you add coffee grounds to and place inside the included pitcher with water to steep. The pitcher pairs with an airtight lid and it has a non-slip silicone handle. The brand says the cold brew maker fits inside most refrigerator doors. You can also purchase it as a smaller 1-quart size.
Instead of a metal filter, Toddy’s cold brew machine uses felt filters to brew your beverage. You add ground coffee and water into the included brewing container and let it steep for 12 to 24 hours before filtering the cold brew into the glass decanter. The cold brew maker system also comes with a lid for the decanter to use when you store the beverage in the refrigerator, a silicone stopper to place on top of the brewing container when it’s being used and two reusable filters.
Choosing the best cold brew coffee maker for you depends on your personal preferences. Below are the features you should consider when shopping:
Choose a size: The size of your cold brew maker will depend on how much coffee you drink and how big your fridge is. “A larger brewer might make more concentrate, but it might be inconvenient to store and put in the fridge,” Holmquist says.
Choose a filter type: It’s best to use filters made from paper, metal mesh or cloth, according to Suarez. While they all have their drawbacks, they also provide different benefits. Paper filters often provide the purest taste but they aren’t reusable. While metal filters are easy to clean, they let through a decent amount of sediment and can give you a cloudy cup of cold brew, according to Suarez. Reusable cloth filters are also effective, but they can be difficult to clean and tend to retain the oils from the coffee for a long time. Overall, Suarez recommends choosing a cold brew maker with a metal mesh filter and/or a paper filter bag to “maximize quality and sustainability.”
Keep clean-up in mind: Certain types of cold brew coffee makers can be more difficult to clean up. According to Holmquist, bottle brewers like the Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker have smaller grounds chambers that are tougher to scrub, while machines like the OXO Cold Brew Coffee Maker have larger chambers “that you can dump and rinse out.”
At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure that all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and with no undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
- Marco Suarez is the CEO and CXO for Methodical Coffee.
- John Holmquist is the commercial sales manager at Seattle Coffee
Morgan Greenwald is a former senior editor at NBC Select. Zoe Malin is a reporter at NBC Select, where she writes about kitchen appliances, wellness and more. Cory Fernandez is a commerce editor at NBC Select, where he writes about home and kitchen. Malin and Fernandez updated this article.
Catch up on NBC Select’s in-depth coverage of tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to stay up to date.
