Start here · 3 items
The minimum kit
1 · Maker · Bodum
BEAN Cold Brew Coffee Maker, 1.5 L
1500 mL · Immersion
2 · Coffee · Equator Coffees
Cold Brew Blend, Fair Trade Organic
340 g bag
3 · Scale · Etekcity
EK4150 Digital Kitchen Scale
Want a grinder, a finer scale and a concentrate maker? See the upgrade kit →
A research roundup from published specs, not hands-on testing.
Cold brew needs four things: a vessel, coffee ground coarse, something to weigh with, and time. The minimum kit gets you a full batch with no grinder, and the calculator tells you how much to weigh out. The upgrade swaps in a grinder, a finer scale and a maker that gives you concentrate.
Jump to: Minimum kit · Upgrade kit · A grinder in between
The minimum viable kit
Three items. Compare other vessels in the best cold brew makers, and other coffee in the best beans for cold brew.
Bodum · Maker
BEAN Cold Brew Coffee Maker, 1.5 L
1500 mL · Immersion · Mixed
- Who it's for
- Anyone starting from nothing who wants a full batch from one pot.
- Why it's here
- A plunger lid tops this 1.5 L immersion brewer, and the carafe is BPA-free plastic (17 × 11.5 × 22 cm). Every part is dishwasher-safe, and Bodum says to brew for 12 to 24 hours.
- The tradeoff
- A 1.5 L batch uses a lot of coffee and needs a day's notice.
Equator Coffees · Beans
Cold Brew Blend, Fair Trade Organic
- Who it's for
- Someone with no grinder who still wants coffee ground for cold brew.
- Why it's here
- A medium-roast Mocha Java blend with a Coarse Grind (Cold Brew) option, 12 oz (340 g), Fair Trade Organic. Equator's notes are chocolate ganache, candied orange peel and raspberry.
- The tradeoff
- Pre-ground coffee goes stale sooner than whole bean, and a big batch can use a large share of a 12 oz bag.
Etekcity · Accessory
EK4150 Digital Kitchen Scale
- Who it's for
- Anyone brewing by weight for the first time.
- Why it's here
- It reads in 1 g steps up to 5 kg (11 lb), has a timer that runs to 99 minutes 59 seconds, and comes with a detachable stainless steel bowl. Makers publish their recipes by weight: Toddy's is 12 oz of coffee to 64 fl oz of water, OXO's is 10 oz to 40 oz.
- The tradeoff
- It reads to 1 g, which is plenty for a cold brew dose but no help if you start weighing small hot-coffee doses later.
The upgrade kit
Four swaps. A concentrate maker, a grinder, a finer scale and whole bean. The gift guide is the one to send if someone’s buying this for you.
OXO · Maker
Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker
1183 mL · Immersion · Stainless mesh · Mixed
- Who it's for
- Someone who has outgrown the one-pot batch and wants concentrate.
- Why it's here
- OXO's manual uses 10 oz (284 g) of coarse coffee and 40 oz (1.2 L) of water for 12 to 24 hours, then a switch drains it into a borosilicate glass carafe through a stainless mesh filter. OXO puts the yield at 24 to 28 oz of concentrate.
- The tradeoff
- It's 24 cm square and 37 cm tall, and only the glass carafe goes in the dishwasher. Toddy and Filtron, in the maker roundup, are the other concentrate options.
Baratza · Grinder
Encore
Plastic
- Who it's for
- Someone ready to buy whole bean and grind it on brew day.
- Why it's here
- Electric, with 40 mm conical steel burrs, 40 grind settings and a range of 250 to 1,200 microns, so the coarse end suits cold brew.
- The tradeoff
- It's the biggest purchase in this kit, and at 34 cm tall and 3.1 kg it stays on the counter, since lifting it in and out of a cupboard gets old.
Hario · Accessory
V60 Drip Scale
Plastic
- Who it's for
- Someone who wants the scale to also work for hot coffee.
- Why it's here
- A 2,000 g capacity, a built-in timer and 0.1 g steps up to 200 g. The platform is 12 × 19 cm and the whole scale is 2.9 cm thick.
- The tradeoff
- Cold brew doses run past 200 g, where the 0.1 g steps stop, so you'd pay for precision this kit doesn't use. It also isn't water resistant.
Peet's Coffee · Beans
Baridi Blend
- Who it's for
- Someone who has the grinder and wants one bag that works every time.
- Why it's here
- Peet's medium roast of choice for cold brew in its coffeebars, with notes of citrus flower, blackberry syrup and cocoa. The bag is 16 oz (454 g).
- The tradeoff
- It's whole bean only, so it works once the grinder is in the box. A 16 oz bag is more than the first few batches will use.
A grinder in between
If you want whole bean but the Encore is more than you want to spend, there are two other ways in.
Cuisinart · Grinder
Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill (DBM-8P1)
Mixed
- Who it's for
- Someone who wants an electric grinder in a lower price band.
- Why it's here
- An 18-position selector that runs from ultra fine for espresso makers to extra coarse for French presses, with a removable 8 oz bean hopper and dishwasher-safe parts.
- The tradeoff
- At 27.3 cm tall and 2.1 kg it's a counter appliance, and only some parts are dishwasher-safe.
Hario · Grinder
Skerton Pro Ceramic Coffee Mill
Mixed
- Who it's for
- Someone who wants whole bean on a small budget and doesn't mind the work.
- Why it's here
- Conical ceramic burrs, an adjustment nut, and a borosilicate glass catch bowl that holds 100 g.
- The tradeoff
- You pay for the lower price in effort. A batch bigger than the bowl is ground in rounds, and you do it again every brew day.
Newsletter · Free cheat sheet
Get the Cold Brew Ratio Cheat Sheet
One page: ratios, dilution and batch sizes, from the same numbers as the calculator. A few welcome emails follow, then a note when something new goes up.
Check your inbox to confirm.
We sent a link to . Confirm it and the cheat sheet comes with the confirmation. Nothing after a few minutes? Look in spam or Promotions.
We email a link to confirm, and every email has an unsubscribe link. Privacy
