I've tested cold drip on the bruer,


as well as the cold brew on the Hario


The cold drip results in a cleaner, stronger coffee than the cold brew.
The cold brew results in a "dirtier", higher acidity coffee.

With both coffees being extracted in cold water, why is there such a big difference in terms of taste?

If i'm looking to make a cold coffee concentrate, to be diluted with water/ice/milk later, which method should i use?

I would speculate that the drip method is cleaner because of filtration, the coffee is extracted but the toddy method probably results in more undissolved solids suspended in the brew giving it a muddier flavor.

I favor the drip method myself for cold brew, using a Bruer, and do a hot bloom to get more brightness and sweetness out, but still prefer the flash brew methods using a Chemex with a metal Cone filter. The flash brew seems to work with more coffees while the cold drip requires a good coffee to bring out a tasty brew. Here's a couple recipes I use, I prefer bright coffees, often from Africa for cold coffee to retain as much of the bright and sweet flavors in the brew.

Bruer Cold Drip Hot Bloom
50 g coffee
100 g hot bloom
300 g ice
300 g cold water

Double "Alcatraz" Iced Chemex (recipe may be halved)
80 g coffee
566 ml Water
392 g Ice

Thanks for testing both of those!

I'd say whichever you like better you should use. Were you using the same coffee & grind for both? Do you think perhaps the Hario was over-extracted and would benefit with a chunkier grind?

I'm assuming you realize that the immersion method (the Hario) produces concentrate that should be diluted.

My guess would be that the Bruer is better at taking the fines out of your final brew, that would be the grit. FWIW you could always pour the concentrate through a filter or fine screen before using and that would help.

It seems to me that since the Bruer makes a (slightly less than) 24oz cup it works for one, maybe two people. You could set it up the night before and have your brew in the morning but once it's gone, your next cup is arriving in 6+ hours!

My last comment about the brewer that I've never used (I hate when others do this... but here I am!)- 60grams of ground coffee would make over 32oz of drip coffee using the 1oz dry coffee for every 16oz of brew. So getting less than 24oz out of that amount of coffee seems like it uses a lot. To be fair- perhaps adding ice would level the difference, and I would assume you could always use less coffee. And, of course, if it's better... well that's better!

My brew ratios with the Bruer are not outrageous: 14:1 or 700 grams water to 50 grams coffee, but even this can be tweaked to ones preference. At the 2015 SCAA Expo, the Bruer team disclosed that they're working on a larger model but I didn't press for a timeframe on this. They brew up the the coffee that they serve at events using a bunch of Bruers in parallel and their coffee always tastes pretty sweet even without doing a hot bloom.

Chris- Thanx for the info. That would be good (larger version). For coffee shops the concentrate route works out very well, a larger Bruer would probably still be a home use item. I guess a larger version would be tough.

Do you know- is that paper filter on the top of the coffee there to spread out the water drops for even extraction? I was confused by a filter on top of the ground coffee!

As a happy, satisfied Toddy user who hates sludge in the cup I have to add that the toddy leaves a small, very small amount of fines in the decanter. I use the toddy to brew concentrate which I then dilute at 2:1 (1/2 cup of concentrate to 1 cup of water) for my iced coffee. There is a compressed felt filter that the brew must pass thru to get to the decanter which I rinse in cold water and store in the fridge which gets used for 10 brews before being discarded.

There is much less (read none) fines in my iced coffee then from the metal filter in the Bonavita Immersion dripper which i tried for hot coffee. I still continue to use brown Melitta paper filters in my dripper for that reason.

I would expect that criticism of methods of coffee prep be from users rather than guesses.

I'd say whichever you like better you should use. Were you using the same coffee & grind for both? Do you think perhaps the Hario was over-extracted and would benefit with a chunkier grind?

Actually i experimented both coffees with brew ratios of 1:10, and same grind setting 4Z on my baratza forte
With a full immersion coffee extraction process with the Hario Mizudashi i feel that a small change in grind setting will play a too big role in extraction? (Since the coffee is immersed for >=24hrs).
My problem is that even after a 24hr immersion, i still feel that the coffee is underextracted on the Hario (tastes light and high in acid), and is unable to give me a balanced coffee, much less a concentrate, whereas the bruer is much more able to do so, even with the much shorter brew time.

FWIW you could always pour the concentrate through a filter or fine screen before using and that would help.

Thanks for the tip, Richard!

I would speculate that the drip method is cleaner because of filtration, the coffee is extracted but the toddy method probably results in more undissolved solids suspended in the brew giving it a muddier flavor.

I have not tried the toddy method (mine is coming in a week or two), but doesn't the coffee run through a filter as well?

I believe that the top filter is to help spread the drops out. I also use a paper filter on the bottom too, just personal preference. I hot bloom, then stir the grounds with a spoon and then tamp the coffee down a bit before putting the top filter on. If you go much higher than 50 grams it can be hard to see the drips because of the water vapor from the hot bloom, so you may want to set the drip first.

Regarding suspended solids, that comment applies more to simple full immersion cold brew, not a toddy. I've tried full immersion with small batches and filtered it through an Aeropress for a quick cold brew. Didn't take to it, but it's easy, something you could do at work.

Single-Serve Cold Process Aeropress
10 g coffee
150 ml cold water
1 ice cube
Soak in 8 oz Jelly Jar for 3 hours
Filter through AP

Toodook-

Consider tightening up your grind setting for the immersion brew, my experience is that there is never one grind setting to rule them all.

The Toddy system has that polyester filter that really helps (as pointed out already) reduce sludge. There is a paper filter option for the Toddy system, but I believe it's for the larger system they have. That's worth looking into if you're not happy with the set up you get.

Chris- For $35 or so that Aeropress can be pretty versatile!

Hal- You are exactly right.