Marissa,
I am avid foodie and I also work as an Director of Quality for a coffee company that specializes in coffee extracts that makes the best iced coffees and ice blended coffee drinks. I don't know how to get your e-mail address so If you want i can give you some more background information about coffee, please get my e-mail address from this comment and please contact me. I love your posts...

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We use the toddy to cold brew our coffee. It sits on the countertop while it steeps so it slowly fills the first floor with the coffee smell. Granted we brew a pound of coffee at a time this way so we only get the smell once every couple of days. I'm sure you could put your grounds and water in the mason jar and leave it on the counter just fine. You will be surprised at the 'almost sweet' aroma that comes from the coffee.

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Hmm, this method is sounding quite tempting!

The only thing I might worry about is that I recall that coffee that doesn't go through a paper filter has some health disadvantage--perhaps it was higher blood pressure when they compared European french press users to regular old American filter users. (But of course I can't remember anything remotely helpful about who did the study or when).

But if cold coffee can make it's way through a paper filtering system the way hot coffee can, then count me in!

(Crabby has her own health blog but it's such a silly and irreverent one readers are probably best off avoiding http://crankyfitness.blogspot.com/).

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This is all pretty simple, if you want it to be. Use a normal drip basket and pot to filter it. Just set the basket on the pot and pour a basketful at a time. I am experimenting with coffee/water/grind ratios, but everything has been drinkable so far. I haven't tried the concentrates yet, need a larger storage container. I insist on recycled glass, so it will be a little while.

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I've tried cold brewing and like it. I like the taste and the energy I save. More coffee is required is the down side. I am still experimenting with ratios and grinds, and trying to decide whether I want concentrate or not.

As for filtering I use my funnel filter with basket filters shoved in, but there is no reason you can't set a common drip basket on the container and pour a basket full at a time in.Those of you that like a kitchen full of gadgets should buy a toddy!

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I was inspired by this post to put in some coffee to cold-brew last night...but! A great idea! I used my French press, because it is 1-qt. capacity. So I filled the French press pitcher with the coffee and water, left it overnight, then stirred and pressed it down in the a.m. It worked wonderfully!

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Couldnt you do something like this with a french press? It just seems like a royal pain to get the grounds out and a french press is fairly idiot proof.

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Good idea Sarah. As long as you let the coffee sit overnight It should work, I'll try it tonight.

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Cheesecloth. That's the ticket: cheesecloth.

Run the coffee through the gold-mesh filter first. Then, line your sieve with a number of layers of cheesecloth, strain your coffee, rinse the cheesecloth and set it aside to dry for the next pot! I live in Nowhere, WV, and our local grocery store has cheesecloth; I can't imagine you'll have trouble finding it at store local to you. I also think that since the cheesecloth strains so well, you'll be to use a finer ground bean (I *require* strong coffee, myself). Cheesecloth is an old, old cook's trick and is an all-around better option than the paper filters.

Good luck with your brewing!

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I can't remember how long I've been using my Toddy coffee maker, maybe 30 years, and I am still amazed every morning as to the great cup of coffee! I won a bet one time, just for fun, with a stranger and his friend who accepted a cup of coffee from me. While he was out of the kitchen I told his friend that he would claim it was the "best cup of coffee he ever had" and those words only and I won the bet!

I use 8 O'clock 100% Columbian and love Dunkin Donuts when it's on sale in the fall, but the Toddy makes any coffee better. Lately I've been hooked on Costco's Jamaica Blue Mountain Blend as it is not roasted to a burnt state like Starbucks and most of the others. I also mix and blend different coffees and always start with whole bean and do my grinding in a blender used for that purpose only. This is the ratios that are perfect for me.
1 Lb. coffee
78 oz. water(the Toddy holds 78 oz.)
24 hrs. in the frig. with a plate on top
12 hrs. to drain on the counter
64 oz. of concentrate produced(fills a plastic boddle, Gatorade etc.)
6 0z. concentrate in a 16 0z. Pyrez glass measure cup and fill to very top before spilling(24 0z. of fresh coffee)

I drink 24 0z. getting ready for work and do it again for the road; no $4.00 Starbucks, P.J.'s, or Badass coffee for me and 10x better and I'll bet you!!!!(P.J.'s is actually excellent coffee as they don't overroast their coffee beans.)

I finish a couple of days later by dumping the grounds in my compost pile or spread them on the flower beds. I hose out the Toddy brewer and the reusable filter(no muddy grounds pass thru this fine filted) and put the filter in my tea pot to boil a couple of minutes and I do this two times and then store in a bleach and water solution in a jar with other filters. They are rotated and rinsed with running water before using again(same 3 filters for 5-6 years now) and always come out bright white and ready for the next brew session. Just be sure to rinse and whip out the water and bleach solution real well. It's not hard at all. Yes, this seems like a BFD and could be for most, but don't forget I win bets and that's the point!!

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We've used the toddy for about 2 yrs, love it and it tastes delicious but for us it isn't a concentrate, we just add some milk and heat. So we use more coffee and I have to plan and schedule ahead but this method is our preference over drip, press, gaggia expresso machine etc etc we have tried them all!

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Try this cold brew concentrate...

http://www.coolbrew.com/

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Here's how I've come to make it:

1) Combine a half pound (250g) of ground coffee and ~6 cups water is a large pot.

2) Stir, cover, and wait 12-24 hours (I believe the marginal utility of the "brewing" process is minimal after the initial 12 hours, so I tend to stop whenever convenient after the first 12 hours).

3) Re-stir the mix, and then wait a minute or two. The grounds will settle at the bottom of the pot.

4) Using a fine metal mesh stainer, slowly pour the coffee into a container. 90% of the grounds will remain in the pot, and 99% of the liquid will be in the container.

5) Empty the grounds in the pot and strainer into the trash, and lightly rinse both. The grounds in the container will have mostly settled by now.

6) Repeat Steps 4&5 two more times, pouring the coffee back into the pot and then back into the container.

7) This is where I stop and put the coffee into the refrigerator. I suppose you could repeat steps 4&5 a couple more times, but I feel it's unnecessary.


A few thoughts on my process, and cold brew in general:

- The "triple distillation" method can be used for any grind of coffee, from espresso to drip to french press. This is convenient since I get pre-ground packages of Lavazza espresso at Carrefour for ~$5.

- My preferred method of drinking cold brew coffee is to NOT dilute the concentrate with water. Instead, I mix the concentrate with skim milk at a 1:5 ratio. This makes a smooth and delicious non-fat latte packed with protein and calcium, and the lack of bitterness produced by the cold brew method means that there's no real need to add sugar. Delicious and nutritious!

- If you're looking for your morning buzz, look elsewhere. Cold brew doesn't deliver on the caffeine front. Obviously, this is a bonus if you want to limit your caffeine intake but don't want to be limited to only the select coffees available in decaf.

- The cold brew method isn't nearly as efficient, producing ~2/3 as many drinks as hot brew.

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