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Toddy Cold Brew Coffee Maker
By
Published: May 20, 2009
Category:
Food and Wine
Southerners mastered the art of cold brewed "sun" tea ages ago, but it wasn’t until 1964 that Todd Simpson mastered the technology of cold brewed coffee.
I distinguish between "art" and "technology" because the purist in me refuses to believe there is poetry and music in coffee that has not been ground fresh and kissed by water just shy of boiling.
I have now cold brewed several decanters — decanters!!! — of coffee the Toddy way, and I must admit I was half wrong.
Yes, you can cold brew coffee into a kind of syrup, add water and heat — microwave, I guess — and have a steaming drink you can call coffee. And you can congratulate yourself on your economy, because if you had made a whole pot, you would not likely have quaffed it all; with the Toddy, you just pop the decanter back in the fridge and you’ve got tomorrow morning’s cup ready to go. And you can keep your decanter of Toddy-brewed coffee chilled for up to two weeks.
And….but my fingers won’t let me type more on this notion. To economize on hot coffee is a false economy. Hot coffee is a precious colloid, and should never be reduced to a commodity. Toddy-brewed hot coffee may be splendid, but something close to religion prevents me from trying it.
Iced coffee? A whole other matter. Wet a filter, push it into the brewer, add some cold water, then some coffee that’s been ground not too fine, and more water, and, finally, more coffee — and go away for 12 hours. On your return, remove the plug at the bottom of the brewer. The room-temperature coffee will filter into the decanter. It’s strong stuff — as I say, almost a syrup — and that industrial strength is a major asset when you add ice. Bracing? To say the least.
The Toddy is said to reduce acid by 67% and, I assume, cuts caffeine as well. A pity. You can get around this — and save money — by using the coffee grounds twice. The second time around, I’m told, acidity and caffeine levels increase. Hard-core coffee drinkers, take note.
On hot summer days, when the humidity rises and Nature is begging you to nap, iced tea will refresh, but it won’t revive. Toddy-brewed iced coffee — plucked from the cold, ready to serve in seconds — is a sensible and potent alternative, better and cheaper and less caloric than anything you can get at Starbucks. In the interest of your productivity and mental acuity, I commend it.
To buy the Toddy Coffee Maker from Amazon.com, click here.
To buy the Toddy Coffee Maker from Peace Coffee, click here.
For Head Butler’s guide to great coffee, click here.
