The Best Cold-Brew Coffee Makers You Can Buy

Cold-brew makers aren’t like coffee machines. They don't push steam through a tight puck of coffee grounds or heat water to drip over them. Most cold-brew makers are simple devices, and that’s because cold-brewing coffee is a deceptively simple process. We don't actually need a cold-brew maker to do much. We don't want it to do much. It should stand back and let the water take its time to gently coax the subtlest, sweetest flavors out of your grounds. It's just coffee plus water plus patience. So during testing, we have to pay close attention to what the cold-brew maker does, and doesn't do.

I test a lot of devices for making coffee, and in my opinion, testing cold-brew makers is probably the trickiest. When something goes wrong with a batch of cold brew it's not always obvious what the cause is. It can be as subtle as an off flavor or a few too many dregs at the bottom of a cup. Sometimes it's even something else in your fridge that adds a weird flavor. That's why we test so thoroughly and really put these products through the ringer.

Be sure to check out our other coffee guides to round out your coffee tool set, like the Best Espresso Machines, Best Latte & Cappuccino Makers, Best Portable Coffee Makers, Best Coffee Subscriptions, and Best Coffee Grinders.

Updated April 2024: We added the Hario Mizudashi, Aeropress XL, Fellow Prismo, Fellow Shimmy, and Partners Coffee Cold Brew Pouches, and adjusted pricing and product descriptions throughout.

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The simplicity of the Mizudashi's design makes it an absolute joy to use. It’s an elegant, understated devices that works just as well for coffee as it does for tea. The reusable filter provides less filtration than a paper filter—which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The presence of microscopic coffee particles in a cup of cold brew will leave some sediment in the bottom of the cup, but they also provide a little more body to the brew itself. A silken mouthfeel that, in my opinion, helps the cold brew stand up to the addition of milk a bit better without getting watery.

The thing I love the most about the Mizudashi is its size. The 600-ml version is perfect for the amount of cold brew I usually want to have on hand, and the shape and build quality of the Mizudashi just makes me want to make cold brew, and that's an important quality. Hario is a Japanese company with a long history of making quality glassware, and it shows in the craftsmanship of this simple carafe.

Japan has a long history with cold brew, by some accounts going as far back as the 1600s. The Mizudashi is named after the cold-steeping method used for tea that was reportedly the inspiration for early Japanese coffee drinkers to first try cold-steeping coffee grounds. It's an acknowledgement of the history of this preparation method, and it speaks to the care and thought that went into the design of this cold-brew maker.

The WIRED Gear team has liked Oxo’s cold-brew coffee maker for years (8/10 and our WIRED Recommends). It’s a cold-brew connoisseur's dream rig that’s meant to sit proudly on your kitchen counter, and it's the best purchase if you want bucket-style immersion brewing that allows for greater experimentation.

Oxo’s maker produces up to 32 ounces of very fine coffee, with minimal sediment, that comes out far more concentrated (which means you’ll get more out of it) than pot-style brewers. It also has the potential to produce richer, more robust flavors, thanks to the design, which includes a “rainmaker” lid that trickles the water onto your grounds to let them soak up the water slowly. You’ll have to tinker with your recipe, though, and make sure to dampen your grounds for the right amount of time, or things will get bitter quickly.

After letting it sit on the counter for 12 to 24 hours, you flip a switch and your brew cleanly drains into the decanter. It also comes with a measuring lid. Perhaps most important, the coffee it makes is fantastic.

Yes, you can make good cold brew in an Aeropress! All you have to do is pour some grounds in the Aeropress and top them off with cold water all the way up to the 4 on the cylinder. Give it a stir, place the plunger in the top but don’t press down. At this point I’ve found I get my best results by putting the whole thing in the fridge overnight. Once it has steeped, put the fully loaded Aeropress on your cup of choice and press the plunger down about a third of the way. I like my cold brew small, over ice, with two to three parts milk. I find I can get three to four cold brews out of one steeping with this method, but I treat it like espresso and only use about one shot-glass-worth at a time for a full cup. If you like yours a bit stronger, you might only get about two big glasses of cold brew out of this method.

The Bruer opened my eyes to slow-drip cold brewing. I had trouble with the "Gosh! Dripo" slow-drip cold brewer (see the Not Recommended section below), but the Bruer turned me around. It makes a delightful, concentrated, virtually grit-free cold brew.

Instead of pouring a bunch of grounds into water and letting it sit, the Bruer lets water drip through the grounds using gravity. It looks a little bananas at first, but it's simple. You fill the bottom of a glass container with coarse coffee grounds. Below the grounds is a steel mesh filter. After you dampen those grounds, put a paper filter on top, snap in the silicone seal, and place the container into the glass carafe. Fill up the top section with water and ice, then twist the knob in the center to slow or speed up the drip—you want a drop per second—as needed.

It's not foolproof. You must follow the directions precisely, including using ice—and if your coffee grind is too fine, water may form pathways through it, like an ant colony. If what's dripping out doesn't look dark, or it's coming out quickly, adjust your tactics. It also holds only 20 ounces of water, and since it's made of glass, it's fragile. Some buyers have complained of drip-valve issues, but I have not encountered any yet. —Jeff Van Camp

KitchenAid doesn't make the absolute best cold brew I've had, but more care went into its design than almost any other pot I've listed. It's made of steel and thick glass, with a built-in handle and a spigot for dispensing cold brew—perfect if you have a shelf to set it on, in or out of the fridge. (There's an XL version that holds 40-ish ounces of coffee and has a stand to sit on the countertop.)

It has a stainless steel grounds tray (with a handle!) that you set in the larger glass container. Dampen your grounds, then fill it with water. It says it holds 28 ounces, but I easily fit 32. Let it sit for at least 12 hours, as usual (24 if you fridge it), and you're good to go. The steel filter is too porous and lets a lot of sediment through, but KitchenAid smartly has a textured bottom that lets the grit settle on the sides of the bottom. It doesn't seem to come through the spigot, so after my first gritty glass, the coffee was a lot smoother and quite rich.

I haven't had any issues, but a few users have reported the spigot leaking. —Jeff Van Camp

County Line Kitchen is a family-owned business in Wisconsin. Its Cold Brew Maker uses a trusty ol’ 2-quart mason jar and stainless steel filter basket to brew. It works much like the Coffee Gator, but you can make a ton of joe with it. You fill the basket with a lot of coffee grounds, pour up to 64 ounces of cold water through it slowly, and let it sit for 24 hours. When it’s done, take out the filter basket and use the lid to pour.

In my tests, the County Line produced relatively smooth cold-brewed coffee, though it was somewhat gritty, likely because the steel filter is a bit too porous (use coarse grounds). The instructions also tell you to shake the jar after adding water, but I found that a bit of coffee can leak out even if it’s sealed tight, which seems to be a common mason jar problem. Lingering grounds aside, if you want enough cold brew to last a week, this is a good way to get it. —Jeff Van Camp