The Best Cold Brew Coffee Makers of 2023

The folks at OXO took what we didn’t love about their original Cold Brew Maker (it basically failed all of our original testing) and with a few adjustments, made a great product, placing third on our list. It brews a much smoother coffee that tasted far less acidic than the previous model’s.

The compact, easy to assemble design makes it seamless to store on the counter, in a cabinet, or inside the refrigerator.The perforated “rainmaker” top allows water to slowly and thoroughly disperse over the grounds without having to resort to any complicated, laborious pouring actions.

This extraction method is a vast improvement—draining starts automatically when the brewer is placed atop the accompanying glass carafe. Granted, the smaller unit has less capacity than some options, which is something to consider if you require mass amounts of caffeine at all times.

As simple to set up, easy to use, and straightforward to clean as the Takeya–the Ovalware Cold Brew Maker also consists of a steel filter set inside a (glass, this time) vessel. The fact that it’s made of glass may account for the slightly higher price point. While it’s comparably attractive, making it suitable for serving, we found the beaker-like shape fit awkwardly in the fridge.

Our coffee testing found that it produced smooth and tasty coffee, even after sitting for a week, which—along with various ease-of-use factors—helped catapult it to the second round of testing, involving brewing tea. It was here that it was knocked down a notch, as the porous filter enabled small leaves to seep into the liquid, resulting in a brew that was a bit gritty and over-steeped.

One of the higher capacity models we tested, the KitchenAid Cold Brew Coffee Maker is capable of making up to 28 ounces of cold brew concentrate. But the glass and stainless steel cube is still conveniently sized and shaped for fitting neatly on a counter or inside a refrigerator, where a built-in tap allows you to dispense coffee at will. (A sturdy handle also assists in moving it to and fro). It excelled in both the coffee and tea rounds, creating a smooth brew that was just as palatable after sitting for a week.

At just under $100, you’ll pay a high price for these pros, though, which need to be weighed against the cons. These include the fact that multiple parts make it trickier to assemble and clean, and it’s easy to knock the lock on the tap, which has the potential to send coffee streaming all over your floor.

Essentially an outsized mason jar with a fine mesh filter, the rustic County Line Kitchen Cold Brew Coffee Maker is a modern classic; a workhorse doing its job without added bells and whistles. The dishwasher-safe brew system also couldn’t be easier to set up, use or clean. A two-quart capacity translates to an awful lot of concentrate, which we found supple and pleasantly nonacidic.

That said, it tasted considerably weaker after being stored for several days. And while many brewers come with a spout or dispenser, this model requires you to unscrew the cap every time you want to use it. Though the mason jar design is noted for its durability, the thick soda lime glass also makes it especially heavy to hold and difficult to pour.

Comprised of a variety of interlocking glass beakers and silicone seals, the Cold Bruer looks like it belongs in a chemistry lab. And certainly, the company takes the science of cold brewing seriously. The Cold Bruer is a drip as opposed to an immersion-style brewer, which is generally considered a more refined and nuanced style. It also naturally produces a lighter-bodied drink. (Though we found our coffee notably weak, which wasn’t improved by time spent in the refrigerator.)

And while we appreciated that it was possible to adjust the drip rate for a lighter versus stronger brew, it was trickier to manipulate than it should have been. There’s obvious thought put into the design, with all manner of seals and valves that prevent air from reaching and oxidizing the coffee, while still allowing undesirable gas to escape. But needless to say, so many (easy to lose) parts make it onerous to set up and clean. It’s also an expensive system, coming in second to the KitchenAid.

If you like the no-frills design of the Takeya, we don’t see any particular reason to go with the Hario Mizudashi Coffee Pot. It has similar upsides, in that the operation is common sense (save for the occasionally confusing instruction manual), allowing you to set up a batch of cold brew in seconds.

But the price point is slightly higher, and it comes with a few caveats, the most important being that it produced a weak brew. We also found the filter oddly short, meaning there’s a good chance the grounds won’t get saturated if the water line isn’t high enough.

While the Toddy Cold Brew System has received good reviews elsewhere, we found ourselves subjectively baffled by the design of both machines. For starters, they’re incredibly bulky, making them an awkward fit in a kitchen. A big, flimsy plastic canister balances precariously over a glass carafe, and the filter is a small circle of felt that needs to be pressed into the canister’s base, which is super easy to lose and almost impossible to clean.

A tiny rubber stopper (also a cinch to lose) pushed through the canister is the only thing keeping your coffee from gushing onto the floor. Yet it’s tricky to extract when you’re ready to transfer the coffee to the carafe. Then there’s the flavor of that coffee, which we found quite bitter, although interestingly, it mellowed after a week.