Cold Brew At HomeEvery cold brew maker on this page does the same simple job. Coarse coffee grounds sit in cold water for 12 to 24 hours, and then the grounds are taken out. No heat, no electricity, no pressure.
So the choice is not really about which one makes cold brew. They all do. The choice is about four things: how clean the coffee comes out, how much you get, where it fits in your kitchen, and whether you have to keep buying filters.
Below are six ways to make it, including one that costs nothing if you already own a French press. For each one we also say who should not buy it.
Quick Picks
Drink it most days: Toddy Cold Brew System. Biggest batch, cleanest cup, but you have to look after the filter.
Want the least fuss: OXO Good Grips 32 oz. Metal filter you never replace, and a tap to pour from.
Spending as little as possible: Takeya. Cheap, slim, fits in the fridge door.
Want the simplest thing: Bodum Bean. Works like a French press.
Want it out on the counter: KitchenAid. Looks great, costs about three times a Takeya.
Already own a French press: use it first. Buy nothing yet.
The Six Compared
| Maker | How much it holds | Filter | What comes out | Keep buying? | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toddy Cold Brew System | 2 qt | Felt, reusable | Strong concentrate | Felt filters | Mid |
| OXO Good Grips | 32 oz | Metal mesh | Concentrate | Nothing | Mid |
| Takeya | 1 qt or 2 qt | Metal mesh basket | Close to ready to drink | Nothing | Low |
| Bodum Bean | 51 oz | Press-down filter | Concentrate | Nothing | Low |
| KitchenAid | 38 oz | Metal mesh | Concentrate | Nothing | High |
| Your French press | Depends | Press-down filter | Concentrate, more grit | Nothing | Free |
Two Things to Understand Before You Buy
1. Concentrate is not the same as coffee
This trips up most first-time buyers, and it is the reason the capacity numbers above can mislead you.
Some makers use a lot of coffee and a little water, roughly one part coffee to four parts water. What comes out is thick and far too strong to drink. You pour a little into a glass and top it up with water or milk. So 40 oz of concentrate turns into about 80 oz of actual coffee.
Other makers use far less coffee, closer to one part to nine. What comes out is ready to drink as it is. 40 oz stays 40 oz.
The Toddy, OXO, Bodum and KitchenAid make concentrate. The Takeya makes something close to drinkable strength. A 2 qt Takeya and a 2 qt Toddy do not give you the same amount of coffee, even though the number on the box is the same.
2. The filter decides how clean your glass is
There are two kinds. Felt and paper trap very fine particles. Metal mesh does not catch everything, so a little coffee silt settles at the bottom of the glass.
Neither one is wrong. Felt gives you a cleaner cup but wears out and has to be replaced. Metal lasts forever but leaves a bit of grit in the last mouthful. If grit bothers you, that is a real reason to pick felt. If it does not, metal saves you money every year.
1. Toddy Cold Brew System
Best if you drink cold brew most days.
The Toddy has been around since the 1960s and still makes the cleanest cold brew of anything here. Grounds soak in a plastic container, then drain through a thick felt filter into a glass carafe. That felt catches the fine bits that metal filters miss, so the coffee pours clearer.
It also uses a lot of coffee, about 12 oz of grounds for 36 to 38 oz of concentrate. Watered down, that is enough coffee to last most homes a week.
The trade is work. You rinse the felt filter after every batch and wash it properly once a week, or mold grows on it. You also replace it every few months. The container is tall, so it needs a fridge shelf and will not fit in the door. There is no tap, so you pour from the carafe.
Do not buy it if you only make cold brew now and then, your fridge is full, or you know you will forget to wash the filter.
Check the current price on Amazon. We also have a full Toddy review if you want the detail.
2. OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker
The easiest one to own.
The OXO makes 32 oz of concentrate through a metal mesh filter, so there is nothing to buy again. When the coffee is ready you open a valve at the bottom and it drains into the carafe. Most parts go in the dishwasher. If you want a cleaner cup, you can lay a paper filter on top of the metal one.
What you give up is size. 32 oz is a comfortable week for one person and a tight week for two. The mesh also lets a little silt through, and the paper filter fixes that but makes draining slow. The glass carafe feels thinner than the price suggests.
There is a smaller 24 oz version for tight kitchens and a bigger one too. The 32 oz is the one most people mean.
Do not buy it if you go through more than two liters a week. Our Toddy vs OXO comparison has more on this.
3. Takeya Cold Brew Maker
The cheap one that is actually fine.
The Takeya is a plastic pitcher with a mesh basket that drops in the top. It comes in 1 qt and 2 qt, the lid seals tight, and it fits in a fridge door. You can even lay it on its side. For the price it is hard to beat.
Two warnings. First, as explained above, it brews weak, so what you get is near drinking strength rather than concentrate. Do not compare its size to the Toddy and expect the same amount of coffee. Second, the mesh is not very fine, and grit in the glass is the complaint buyers mention most often.
Do not buy it if you want concentrate to dilute, or if you hate sediment. See Toddy vs Takeya for the numbers.
4. Bodum Bean
The simplest design here.
The Bean works exactly like a French press, just slower. Add grounds and water, wait, then push the plunger down. It holds 51 oz and costs very little, and there is almost nothing to wash or lose.
It has one real problem. The filter pushes the grounds down but does not take them out, so they stay in the coffee. If you do not pour the whole batch right away, the coffee keeps getting stronger and turns bitter by the next day. Fine if you drink it fast, annoying if you wanted a jug to last the week.
Do not buy it if you make a big batch and drink it slowly, which is what most people do.
5. KitchenAid Cold Brew Coffee Maker
The one you leave out on the counter.
This is the expensive option, around three times the price of a Takeya. You get a heavy glass carafe with a tap, a metal filter, and something that looks like proper equipment instead of a jug. It makes about 38 oz of concentrate.
On coffee alone it does not beat the Toddy. What you are paying for is how it looks and how easy it is to pour a glass straight from the tap. That is a fine reason to buy something, as long as you know that is the reason.
Do not buy it if you are choosing on taste or value.
6. The French Press in Your Cupboard
Try this before you spend anything.
A normal French press makes good cold brew. Use coarse grounds, one part coffee to four parts cold water, leave it 12 to 18 hours, then press and pour it all out into another container straight away.
The filter is coarser than a dedicated brewer, so expect more grit. And like the Bodum, leaving the grounds in makes it bitter.
The reason to start here is simple. A week of doing this tells you whether you will still be making cold brew next month. A lot of cold brew makers get bought in July and shoved in a cupboard by October.
Our ratio guide has the measurements, and the grind size guide explains why coarse grounds matter so much here.
So Which One?
Drink it every day? Get the Toddy. You will make fewer batches and the coffee is cleaner, and the filter washing is a fair price for that.
Drink it a couple of times a week? Get the OXO. Smaller batch, but it asks nothing of you.
Not sure yet? Use your French press, or spend as little as possible on a Takeya. Both are cheap enough to get wrong.
Small kitchen? Measure your fridge door first. Size matters more than any other spec once space is tight.
Two Kinds We Would Skip
These come up a lot in searches and rarely make sense at home.
Slow drip towers. Tall glass towers that drip water through the grounds for hours. They look beautiful and cost as much as furniture. They make a small amount of very good coffee and need watching. Buy one as a hobby, not as a way to get coffee in the morning.
Fast or nitro machines. These make cold brew in minutes using pressure or gas. They really are fast. They are also big, expensive, and what comes out tastes more like chilled coffee than cold brew. The slow soak is the whole point of the method, and waiting is free.
Common Questions
Which cold brew maker is best?
Toddy if you drink it most days. OXO for everyone else, because it is the one you will keep using.
Is it worth buying one at all?
If you buy cold brew from a cafe more than once a week, even the expensive ones pay for themselves in a couple of months. If you drink it occasionally, a jar and a strainer is enough.
Cold brew maker or cold press coffee maker?
Same thing, in almost every shop. Cold press sometimes means a slow drip tower, which is a different machine.
How long does it keep?
Concentrate lasts about two weeks in the fridge. More on storing it here.
Do I need special coffee?
No. The grind matters far more than the bean. See our guide to beans for cold brew.
The Short Version
If you already know you like cold brew enough to make it weekly, the Toddy is still the one to beat. Nothing here matches it for clean coffee in that quantity, and washing the felt filter is what you pay for it.
If you are not sure yet, do not start there. Use the French press you own, or spend very little on a Takeya, and see how often you actually reach for it. The Toddy will still be there in three months, and by then you will know.
Prices and specs were checked in November 2026 and change often. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.