If you like coffee but don't like it hot, a cold brew coffee is a great alternative to coffee from a traditional hot coffee maker. Cold brew is a version of iced coffee that's strong, but not as bitter, making it an excellent way to get a coffee fix in the morning. You don't have to go to a coffee shop with it either, since there are a ton of inexpensive cold brew coffee makers on the market.
Our Picks
Making cold brew coffee can be as easy as adding room temperature or cool water to ground coffee and letting it steep overnight. However, it doesn't have to take this long. Some cold brew coffee makers, like the Gourmia Cold Brew Coffee Maker, complete the process of making a cold brew concentrate in minutes rather than hours.
If you don't need the fastest speed, there are plenty of cold brew coffee makers that can make a flavorful cold brew. Oxo's cold brewer is affordable, easy to operate and makes excellent cold brew concentrate, which translates into a great cold-brewed coffee. You also have traditional cold brew makers, such as the Takeya and Bialetti pitchers, which are also reasonably priced. Although they require at least 12 hours of brewing time, devotees will tell you it's worth the wait. Nevertheless, using such a cold brew maker, you can brew a batch to rival the great cup of cold brew from your favorite shop down the street.
As such, no matter how you prefer your chilled coffee -- coffee beans or coffee grounds, ultraconcentrated, ready-yesterday or with minimal hassle -- this list will help you find the best machine to fit your needs as a coffee lover without getting you into hot water. We've tested the best cold brew coffee maker for every caffeine addict in 2024.
Pros
- Simple to use, the Oxo Cold Brew Coffee Maker offers an easy way to steep and strain grounds at room temperature. Coffee made with the Oxo Cold Brew is consistently strong, sweet and delicious. Included paper filters aid the metal strainer for an extra level of filtration.
Cons
- The Oxo Cold Brew Coffee Maker costs double the price of basic coffee products capable of cold-brewing. The Cold Brew can't brew with hot water either, and like traditional cold brew methods needs a lengthy 12 to 24 hours of steeping time.
A breeze to operate, the Oxo Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker offers an easy path to steeping and straining grounds at room temperature when cold-brewing coffee. The cold drip coffee the Oxo Good Grips makes is consistently strong, sweet and with deliciously low acidity. To add an additional layer of filtration, Oxo Good Grips bundles paper filters that can aid the brewer's reusable, fine-mesh stainless steel filter. If you want to make hot tea, the Good Grips can also be used as a tea infuser to fill your cup or jar.
Beyond utility, this drip cold brew maker dispenses into a stylish glass carafe, and the brewing container would look amazing on your table as you serve guests.
Pros
- The Espro Press P5 effectively strains unpleasant grit from the coffee it brews. The P5 can also create tasty cold brew coffee and even steep tea if you purchase an optional filter.
Cons
- The Espro Press P5 costs twice as much as conventional French Press coffee makers. Despite its steep price, the Espro makes half the amount of coffee as similar appliances.
One tried-and-true brewing method for making delicious cold brew is to use a French press, with the coffee steeping overnight. One drawback to the brewing process of these simple contraptions, though, is that they tend to have poor filters. The result is often a gritty drink -- solid coffee grounds suspended in a water solution, especially if you don't have a coarse grind for your coffee beans. The Espro Press P5 tackles the gritty coffee grounds problem by using two stainless steel mesh filter baskets. The extra level of filtration helps the P5 create cold brew coffee (or hot coffee) that's wonderfully smooth and flavorful. However, the beverage that the Espro brews isn't as concentrated as other products make. What is nice is that you can brew tea with the Espro just as easily.
Pros
- The Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker is affordable, easy to use and a snap to clean, and uses fewer beans to create tasty iced coffee. It's also small enough to conveniently fit inside refrigerator doors.
Cons
- Though it uses less coffee grounds per batch, the Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker brews a weaker drink than other home cold-brew gadgets.
Outside of an old-school Mason jar, it's hard to beat the low price of this Takeya cold coffee brewer. The BPA-free dishwasher-safe plastic pitcher comes with an airtight seal and has a slim profile made to slide into fridge door shelves. With its fine-mesh reusable filter, it's easy to clean and makes solidly satisfying cold brew coffee. If you want a strong, concentrated coffee, though, this product isn't your best choice, as this cold-brew maker produces a weaker drink than similar products.
If you want the convenience of Oxo's bigger cold coffee brewer in a more compact size, this kitchen gadget is for you. The pint-size Oxo Compact Cold Brew Coffee Maker shoehorns into tight spots around the home. Despite its petite stature, though, the coffee maker brews beverages just as concentrated as its larger sibling's.
Pros
- The Bialetti Cold Brew is compact enough to fit easily into the refrigerator for storage. It conveniently pours coffee from its glass pitcher for simple service. Its filter basket has a wide mouth to receive grounds and create less mess. Makes large batches of strong coffee concentrate.
Cons
- It's more expensive than basic cold-brew coffee pitchers.You need to drain its filter basket by hand.
Made to live in your fridge, the affordable Bialetti Cold Brew pitcher can pour directly into glasses. This coffee machine's internal stainless steel mesh filter basket has a wide mouth that accepts the coffee grinds without making a mess, while the airtight lid keeps the taste fresh when you're hankering for iced coffee. The concentrated brew it makes is strong, rich and packed with a pleasant coffee taste. The main drawback with this cold-brew maker is that you need to drain its filter into the carafe by hand.
Pros
- The Gourmia GCM6850 Cold Brew Coffee Maker makes carafes of chilled coffee quickly. It runs quietly and has less parts, and is easier to use than other fast cold brewers.
Cons
- The coffee it brews is weak. Faint markings on its lid make it tricky to lock shut.
Need your tall glass of cold brew fast? Then the Gourmia Cold Brew Coffee Maker is right up your alley. The vacuum pump-powered electric appliance can brew your beverage in 4 minutes flat. That's a ridiculously short time to create cold brew coffee in, but as you might expect, the taste of those 4-minute brews is weak. Fortunately, maxing the brew time out to 15 minutes produces a much stronger drink. And that's still not long to wait compared with the 12 hours of steeping that cold brewing usually takes.
Pros
- The Filtron Cold Water Coffee Brewer offers an affordable way to make cold brew coffee at home. The cold brew the Filtron makes is rich and delicious, and you can use either disposable or replaceable filters with it.
Cons
- The Filtron Cold Water Coffee Brewer is more complicated to use than other cold brewers thanks to its multi-chamber filter.
Looking for an affordable way to make cold brew coffee in big batches? The Filtron Cold Water Coffee Brewer creates a full 36-ounce carafe of potent cold brew concentrate that you can store in your fridge. Rich and tasty, the cold brewed coffee you pour from the Filtron is of excellent quality. Just be warned: This Filtron brewer has a relatively complicated setup, and the large size of the cold brew maker demands lots of counter space.
