machines

It’s official, buying the Toddy was a brilliant idea.  Yes it’s basically a piece of plastic, a glass jar, a cork, and a round filter.  But I stick some coffee and water in it and forget it for 12 hours and then I have a full container of coffee for the fridge — enough for the week.  Any kind of coffee!  I am in heaven.  It may not be a “machine” in the traditional sense of the word but it’s by far my favorite coffee machine now.  More so than my espresso machine or my Senseo and it doesn’t even take power!

I admit it.  I liked the N.O. Brew iced coffee extract, but the thought of having to order coffee online every week or two or buying it in bulk online = not so appealing.  The coffee extract I’ve found locally is expensive.  So I searched online.  Of course I could cold brew at home (DUH) instead of making one cup of hot coffee in my Senseo machine and putting it over ice or worse, making a lot of individual cups then and then refrigerating them.  Now I could rig something up myself but I’m not so handy in the kitchen.  There are two home cold brewing options on the market:

and

Honestly?  I wanted the Filtron.  It seems to be older — “the original”, they make a commercial cold brewer.  Their carafe is plastic and having MS and sometimes being unsteady = less chance of breaking that.  The Toddy seems more well known as it’s sold in Seattle’s Best stores, but has a glass carafe.   It’s also cheaper and had shipping that was less than half of the Filtron.  I just couldn’t justify the added expense right now so I went with Toddy for now.  I’m hoping it will sit / fit over a plastic container I have already or I can find ones that will fit with it.

If you like iced coffee, as I do, either of these could be a nice way to make it at home.  I’ve always just brewed up hot coffee at home and refrigerated it.  It’s a pain in the butt.  Not that cold brewing won’t be — you’ll have to brew it for about 12 hours and then refrigerate it.  But it stays in the fridge for 3 weeks or so.  It can also be frozen for a few months.

Serving suggestions for iced = also freeze up some in ice cube trays, limiting that watered down coffee taste if you drink it slow or if you live someplace hot where the ice melts fast.

Of course you can rig something up with a jar and a sieve, but I’m not that brave and I’d probably make a mess of it.

Ohh and if you have a sensitive tummy but love coffee? This gets rid of the acidic flavors. So, it might not be for the die hard coffee drinkers who like that part. But I’ve had regular iced coffees and ones made with extracts / cold brewed both.. And I love it made this way.

If you’ve been wanting to try a Senseo machine (you know the individual pod machines) and haven’t yet… Here you go, have a coupon that they sent me in email to forward to my family and friends, you’re now my friends:

Available at SENSEOSTORE.COM only. When redeeming online, enter the following codes at checkout:

$20 off Original Machine is promo code FRIEND20
$30 off Deluxe or Supreme Machines is promo code SENSEO30

Offer ends 12/31/08. Not valid with any other offer. Eligible within the U.S. only.