Finished coffee concentrate drips from the brewing pitcher of a Toddy cold-brew system. The Toddy, now 40 years old, can also make tea and extracts far less acid from beans than drip coffee.
The notion of cold-brewed coffee sounded to us, frankly, weird.
After all, heat seems intrinsic to the coffee process. Why would you possibly want to leave grounds soaking for half a day in an ugly plastic pitcher, like so much Kool-Aid? There's only one possible reason we were willing to try the Toddy coffee system, one of a handful of cold-brew options available: It works.
Really, really well.
The more you think about it, the more clear it becomes that hot-brewed coffee is by no means a culinary dictate. I personally gave up drip coffee for espresso years ago, finding that filtration brought too little flavor and too much caffeine into the mix.
Others find regular coffee too acidic. Of the estimated 54 million Americans who suffer heartburn, according to the National Heartburn Alliance, three-quarters say it can be caused by beverages.
Cold-brew systems largely solve these problems, which may be why Toddy claims 20 to 30 percent of its customers are coffee lovers who find regular brews too much to stomach.
No heat, no plug It's not an immediately comfortable transition. The technology is profoundly low-tech: a plastic pitcher with a fabric filter, sitting atop a carafe that catches the finished product. No electricity needed, just gravity, a pound of ground beans and nine cups of cold water. That and 10 to 12 hours steeping time.
"We live in a culture that almost demands something be complicated," says Brett Holmes, a partner in Houston-based Toddy Products. "It's got to have a plug."
The resulting concentrate is strong stuff. Toddy recommends three parts of either hot or cold water to one part concentrate, depending on how you like your coffee, not unlike an Americano.
During a two-week test in the MSNBC.com newsroom, the 3-to-1 ratio was rarely used, given our preference for maximum coffee in minimum time. My own fave was 1-to-1 with cold nonfat milk.
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03:30 PM
PFF
System Bot
ryan.hess Member
Posts: 20784 From: Orlando, FL Registered: Dec 2002
cold coffee? Not for me. Gave it up when I was 6. But, in my never ending, always insaitiable thirst for knowledge-where's a link to this awful sounding contraption?
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08:13 PM
Aug 21st, 2004
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
cold coffee? Not for me. Gave it up when I was 6. But, in my never ending, always insaitiable thirst for knowledge-where's a link to this awful sounding contraption?
Originally posted by Boondawg: The question is, would you still drink coffee if you knew that they were NOT beans, but PITTS? Hmmmm.....Fresh Roasted Coffee Pitts.
Yes.
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02:10 PM
ryan.hess Member
Posts: 20784 From: Orlando, FL Registered: Dec 2002
That looks very interesting, I love my coffee in the morning and look forward to the fresh brew at work...but this might be something if I can brew it on Sat or Sun and have it at home all week... hmmmmmmmmmm coffeeeeeee........
Okay... well here's what I did... I put about 2 tablespoons of coffee grounds in with a cup of water, with a dash of cinnamon, shook it up, and let it steep overnight... Took the filter-holder-dealie off the coffee machine, put in a filter, and filtered my cold brew. 1:30 in the microwave, and seasoned to taste. My thoughts? Weak coffee. Tried again, adding more coffee, and let it steep 24 hours, and still pretty weak. Tastes pretty good though, kinda like a weak starbucks frappuccino So I donno..... I'm not one for following directions, but maybe I need more coffee grounds.
