Edward O’Hickey of specialty coffee roaster Toby’s Estate once told me you could make great cold brew coffee pretty much anywhere, including a bucket.
Cold brew is an alarmingly simple and economical form of brewing. All you’re doing is grinding beans (the difference between freshly ground, freshly roasted beans and pre-ground stuff is enormous) at home or in your grocery store’s very expensive grinder, letting the grounds bathe in water for a day or so and straining the mix to remove silt or tiny coffee solids. There’s not much weighing, measuring or timing hassle involved and, according to O’Hickey, “[is] probably the easiest brew method to perfect.”
This Toddy system, which O’Hickey recommends (and I use myself), keeps it as simple as it should be; it comes with what amounts to a bucket with a hole punched in the bottom, a filter to strain the cold brew and a glass container to store it in the fridge post-brewing. The filters can be used, washed and re-used as many times as you’re comfortable with. The result of this home cold brew process is cold brew concentrate, so you’ll need to dilute it when you drink (O’Hickey recommends one-to-one with another liquid, like water or milk).
It’s also the most hands-off path to a very good cup of coffee before work and on lazy weekend mornings possible — after it’s brewed you literally just pour it over ice, add water or milk and drink. And because the Toddy system is quite a bit bigger than most cold brew contraptions, you can make enough to keep you caffeinated a couple times a day for a couple weeks.
Toddy’s system does not go on sale often, but today it’s 40 percent off on Amazon.
