We've been talking a great deal about iced coffee lately, but it is after all a place where many of us spend extra cash, buying cold drinks at the coffee shop when it's actually easier and best of all tastier to make iced coffee at home. You've read about how to make it with a mason jar and cheese cloth, but we also can't help be smitten with The Toddy. Here's why.
Now before we sing the praises of this all white cold brew coffee making system, we have to tell you about our failure to brew our own, without it. Our wet grounds didn't stay where we wanted them, the coffee didn't stay where we wanted it to and although we've been known to make a mess in the kitchen, no matter how many times we tried, we just weren't successful. The mason jar method just wasn't for us. So we broke down and bought The Toddy and have had smooth sailing ever since!
The Toddy holds 9 cups of water and 1lb of coffee. You layer the coffee and water into the large reservoir, alternating them to help wet all the grounds without stirring. In the bottom there's a plug and a filter (which is reusable) to keep things in.
We've been setting our coffee to brew at night and it's ready to drain in the morning, a process that takes about 30 minutes. A carafe with air tight lid is included to catch the drips from the reservoir that sits snuggly on top while brewing. The coffee concentrate will keep for several weeks in the fridge and months in the freezer. We like to keep them frozen in cubes for easy use in sauces and rubs for other dishes in the kitchen.
To drink we mix 1 part coffee concentrate with 3 parts water/milk, all over ice, for the smoothest cup of joe we've ever had! Using the Toddy gives us the ability to make a much larger amount of concentrate, which eliminates the need to make a batch more than once a week, sometimes two! It's perfect for parties and makes brewing ahead of time a snap. It can also be used to cold brew tea, although we haven't road tested that one!
We haven't had a single spill, slosh, sploosh, clogged filter or problem since we started using it. Although some might still stick with the mason jar method, The Toddy lived up to all of it's internet hype, cult followers and has kept us well caffeinated (although cold brew coffee has 1/3 less caffeine than traditional hot brewed coffee)!
Related: Good Eats: The Ultimate Coffee Cup
(Image: Sarah Rae Trover & Toddy Outlet)
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How is iced coffee made in a french press (i.e., let the grounds steep in the french press overnight, similar to what you do with a Toddy)?
We have used Toddy for about 5 years, We usually leave it brewing at least overnight and 24 hours if we can. The result if very full-bodied yet low in acid.
I would expect French press used that way to yield good results; the Toddy filters the grounds.
last night i ground my coffee (a little more than i usually use), filled my french press with the usual amount of water, put on the top and put it in the fridge. this morning i pushed the plunger and voila! perfectly iced coffee. i added a few ice cubes, some simple syrup and skim milk. delicious...
I use my french press with the 1/3 coffee to 1 1/2 cups of water ratio for overnight ice coffee and it is perfect every time for me.
http://whitneyinchicago.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/better-than-dd/
I take home a lot of Starbucks filter packs at hotels during the week--you know, the ones for the four cup coffee maker in your hotel room. On the weekends, I stuff them in a pitcher with water, place in the fridge. I just pour what I'll use and by the end of the weekend it's all gone.
I've been meaning for weeks to try cold-brewing with my French press...it seems like a perfect vessel! Maybe I will finally get around to it this week.
Perhaps overly simplistic, but I just make my coffee in my normal perculator the night before. Normal strength adding the amount of sweetner I like. Put it in the fridge overnight and in the morning I just add cold milk.
If I want something a lot colder, I just make milk ice cubes and blitz that up with the cold coffee.
Oh lordy--say it isn't so! This thing brews low acidity coffee?? I've suffered from acid reflux disease for nearly 10 joe-less years. Just this morning I was waiting for the subway wondering if I could go on another day without a rich cup of java to greet me at sunrise. Can anyone verify this low-acid claim?
Alyssa:
The trick on low acidity is cold brewing. The Toddy does that, but I've found it to be a little of a pain--makes great coffee though. Want to try cold brewing in a french press to see if it's any easier.
The result, using the Toddy at least, is a low acid coffee concentrate. It's used most often for making great iced coffee, but it also can be used by adding hot water to make great hot coffee.
cet2055,
Thanks for the insights! I thought it sounded a bit complicated and a tad laborious, but perhaps I'll give it a shot.
Alyssa - The Toddy website has the verifications on the low acidity. I have horrible acid reflux issues myself and Cold brewed coffee helps out 10 fold!
If my apt redesign turns out well AND I'm able to enjoy a cup of coffee on my new couch, I'm sending flowers to all!
Has anyone using the Toddy had issues with the filter clogging? Love making the cold brew, but the filter process doesn't seem to be working well. And haven't used the [new] filter long, maybe less than 20 batches. I flush the filter well after every use and store it in the fridge to keep from hard drying. Any ideas to improve filter rate?
Vynnie, we haven't had a single problem with our filters, so I'm sorry I can't be more help. The package directions tell you to switch filters after just a few uses, so you might try changing to a new one to see if it helps to clear up the issues you're having!
I, too, scoffed at buying a system that I could just "recreate" with a mason jar, coffee filter and rubber band. But the Toddy makes all the difference! So much easier and less messy! If I didn't cold brew this way, I probably wouldn't do it at all.
Watched my parents make toddy all the time as a kid...now I watch my husband put it together once a week and am enjoying a sip of it's delicious results right now.
Vynnie -- are you stirring the grounds? Are you grinding the beans too fine (it's supposed to be coarse ground, as though for a french press). Both of those could be your trouble.
French press cold brewers -- I tried this before I bought my Toddy and had terrible results. Bitter and muddy tasting. But more power to you if you got good results.
I really do love how easy and neat the Toddy makes things -- and how you can make a nice big batch.
If y'all didn't know, you can get the system at Borders bookstore/Seattles Best cafe, and usually there's a pretty good coupon deal going on there. I used to work for a Borders and that's how I got addicted to coldbrew -- all of Seattle's Best iced coffee is done Toddy style, and if you haven't had one of their hand-shaken cold brewed lattes get your booty over there and enjoy one.