Cold drip coffee is made by dripping water through coarsely ground coffee. The brew has a unique flavour profile with low acidity and a soft, full bodied richness that makes all coffees shine.
It can be enjoyed diluted or not, mixed with milk, cream or ice and lasts for a week or so in the fridge. Compared to cold brew, which is steeped (full immersion brewing) rather than dripped, cold drip coffee has more flavour clarity and balance, with a lighter body.
The Cold Bruer is a cold drip brewer designed by two Santa Cruz, Calif., inventors: Andy Clark and Gabe Herz. The project was launched on Kickstarter September 10, 2013 with a goal of $30 000.
In only one month, the project attracted 3024 backers and upon completion on the 10th of October 203, had raised $193 539 – over 300% of the target, making this product one of the most successful coffee devices to be crowdfunded.
For good reason too: the Cold Bruer is a simple, effective and beautiful device. The Cold Bruer is a compact and easy to use alternative to traditional cold drip towers.
Made from Borosilicate glass, stainless steel and food-grade silicone, there are two parts to the Cold Bruer that fit together neatly into a package that’s 26cm tall. The top part holds ice water, coffee and the dripper valve and the lower vessel is a carafe to hold the finished brew.
Using the Cold Bruer is simple: coffee is added to the lower part of the upper chamber and a paper AeroPress filter is placed on the grinds. The paper filter disperses the drips of water, making sure the water flows evenly throughout the coffee. Then the coffee is pre-wet with a small amount of brewing water. Next, the dripper valve is installed, set to closed, then water and ice are added. Now open the valve, set the drip rate, put on the lid and come back in 4 -6 hours.
When brew is finished, the dirty parts go in the dishwasher and the lid can be used as an airtight cover for the carafe.
COLD BRUER – BREWING GUIDE
The coffee:water ratio we suggest you start with is 1:12 – with some practice, it will become easy to adapt your recipe to suit different coffees and personal preference. The maximum brewing capacity of the Cold Bruer is 700g. As with most brewing devices, it works best at maximum capacity. If you are brewing a smaller batch you will need to adjust the drip speed to maintain the overall brew time.
Grind your coffee to a medium setting – about the same as manual pourover.
You will need:
- A Cold Bruer
- Acaia scales
- Freshly roasted coffee
- Aeropress filters
- A grinder
- Filtered water
- Ice (made with filtered water!)
How to:
- Install the mesh filter and silicone ring on the bottom of the coffee chamber.
- Add 60g ground coffee to the chamber and shake to level. Try not to get any coffee on the sides and make sure you don’t get any on the rounded edge at the top where it becomes wider – this may stop the dripper valve sealing properly. You can use an AeroPress funnel to make it neat and a small pastry brush is effective if you make a mess.
- Drop an AeroPress filter onto the surface of the coffee.
- Gently pour about 60g of water onto the filter to pre-wet (or ‘bloom’) the coffee.
- Add the dripper valve assembly and set to the closed position.
- In a separate jug or pitcher, mix equal parts water and ice to make 700g total weight. This is your brewing water.
- Pour the brewing water into the top chamber.
- Turn the dripper valve anti-clockwise to set the drip rate. We recommend about 1 drip per second.
- For best results, we like to place the Bruer in the fridge to brew.
- Wait 4 – 6 hours. Total brewing time is a function of both drip rate and grind size. As with all brewing, coarser grinds lead to faster brews and vice-versa. Around 6 hours seems to be ideal for most coffees.
- Give the coffee a thorough but not splashy stir to mix it with as little aeration as possible.
- If you are using a VST Refractometer to check extraction, we suggest aiming for a TDS of 2.
- Enjoy your cold drip!
Store excess coffee in either a sealed bottle or in the Bruer, with the lid pushed down to exclude excess oxygen.
Coffee will keep well, if refrigerated, for 1 -2 weeks – longer, if it’s not exposed to any oxygen.
NOTE:
You can bloom with hot water to increase aromatics and acidity while decreasing the “wineyness” of the brew. This works especially well with bright, fruity coffees. When doing this use about 100g of water at 95-100ºC and let it sit for 10 minutes or so before installing the valve.
Cleaning:
- Remove the top chamber.
- Remove the dripper valve.
- Remove the silicone ring and metal filter.
- Shake the Bruer sharply over the bin and the grinds will fall out.
- Put all the parts in the dishwasher.