Brewing coffee is often seen as a simplistic process with a simplistic machine, even if some of them do look overly complex and cost an arm and a leg to purchase. Regardless, the process is simple but always hot. Is there a cold alternative? Are there coffee machines that brew cold coffee?
For those who love their coffee cold-brewed coffee and are averse to the idea of making cold brew coffee a DIY project, there are, fortunately, coffee machines out there that brew cold coffee, just the way you like it.
Cold brewing coffee is becoming more and more popular, especially with the significant rise in sales of cold coffee alternatives in supermarkets, grocery stores, and convenience stores, the latter of which probably sells more cold-brewed coffee than the other combined.
Cold Brewed Coffee is not the Same Thing as Iced Coffee
Just so we are all on the same page here, it’s important to understand that there is a huge difference between brewing cold coffee and coffee that is brewed, cooled, and eventually applied in a cold coffee beverage, such as on ice.
Cold brewing coffee is an actual process for brewing coffee without superheated water passing over fresh coffee grounds.
There are two ways to do it, with the first being standard, cold coffee brewing, and the other being cold coffee concentrate, which is a direct mixture of the grounds and water.
How do Cold Brew Coffee Makers Work?
Cold coffee brewing machines are not technically machines and they function in roughly the same way as regular coffee machines, without the heating elements. There is typically a large coffee reservoir at the bottom, while there is a traditional coffee ground reservoir above.
Room temperature water is poured into the coffee ground reservoir above, with a filter to keep the water separated from the grounds, and gravity (slowly and inevitably) does the rest. A cold brew coffee maker takes a lot longer than a traditional coffee maker since room temperature and colder brewing simply take longer.
Also like traditional coffee machines, cold coffee brewers come in a variety of sizes, so you can have cold-brewed coffee in something akin to a standard-sized mason jar, or you can have your coffee in a gigantic jug for long-term availability.
The coffee concentrate is good for roughly two weeks in the fridge, so it will last every bit as long as your juices, milk, tea, and any other liquid consumables that you keep in the fridge.
Can a Regular Coffee Machine Make Cold Brew Coffee?
Unfortunatelly, the mechanism of a regular coffee machine is built to boil the water before pouring the water. Regular espresso and other coffee machines can not make a cold brew coffee. You need to use a dedicated coffee machine for cold brew coffee.
Cold Brew Coffee Makers
Like regular coffee makers, there are a lot of options on the market now and it’s a steadily growing industry, thanks to the growing popularity of cold-brewed coffee.
Keep in mind that cold brew coffee is not a five or ten-minute process.
Unlike regular coffee machines that brew your coffee in just a few, short minutes, cold brew coffee machines are best left undisturbed for a period of 12 to 24 hours. If you use a cold coffee brewer on the kitchen counter, 12 hours is a reasonable amount of time.
However, in the fridge, it will take a lot longer, sometimes twice as long, with a full, 24-hour period before your coffee is finished brewing.
Here are a couple of examples of cold coffee brewers on the market.
Smart Valve Cold Brew Coffee Maker
This strange device looks like a cone-shaped coffee reservoir sitting on top of a cone-shaped coffee reservoir. Fortunately, it works just great for brewing cold coffee, so looks aren’t everything it would seem.
It comes with reusable filters so you won’t have to stock the pantry with coffee filters. However, you will have to change your reusable filters after every tenth brew. It also brews a lot of coffee
Cold Coffee Maker with Flip-Cap Lid
This is a very easy-to-use product that comes with a huge Ball Mason Jar for holding your fresh-brewed, cold coffee. It uses a cylindrical filter and the best thing is, you can keep your cold brew on a constant rotation so that you’re never drinking old cold coffee and you’re never out.
Final Thoughts
There are plenty of options out there when it comes to cold-brewed coffee makers and those options are expanding every month.
Cold coffee brews are becoming more and more popular with no end in sight. So, if you like your coffee cold-brewed, you’ll find your next cold brew coffee maker pretty easily.