Get ready to head into summer! As Schools close, the highways fill up with travel, and everyone hits the pools, it’s an absolute must to find a drink of choice to give you that smooth refreshment with a caffeine boost. Sure, you could go with the regular sugar crazed Soda or even pull through a drive through for an good but overpriced iced beverage of choice – Or you can reach into the right side of your brain and get a little creative, learning a few quick tricks to make some amazing coffee, developing a simple solution to that perfect drink you’re craving.
In The Coffee Brewing Experiment Part I, the experience was about Mason jar brewing, which is cost effective and fun. If you haven’t tried to brew in a mason jar, you are missing out! It is a great experience and shows how simple coffee brewing is. As we continued our experiments with coffee brewing, I realized there are cleaner, even faster ways to brew phenomenal iced coffee. The best part of this session: Brewing quality coffee in a large quantity with very little time and effort. Devin Balram again joined me as we tested the Toddy Cold Brew System. Let’s dive in for more details…
The Toddy Cold Brew System – $34.95 via Amazon
First, let me say that I absolutely love the Toddy after using it. It has actually been around since 1964 and has a strong following. Yet, if you aren’t a diehard fan, you probably still haven’t heard of it. Chris and I had the opportunity to participated in a Toddy taste test at the Chicago Coffeefest in 2013- Both of us thought it was a unique contraption, and vowed to look into it down the road– well here we are down the road! The toddy makes an iced coffee concentrate, which is perfect for an individual or family who goes through a lot of coffee in a week. It also is great for an event or when friends come over to the house. Once I made it, I actually took it into my day job and shared it with my peers—it made for a great week of coffee – Some used Ice, Some brought in almond milk to mix it with – yet everyone enjoyed it. The toddy removes 67% of the acidity which is huge benefit for people with acid reflux. With hot coffee, a lot of acidity is brought out in the flavor, while in brewing iced coffee, acidity is lost giving iced coffee more of a natural sweetness. The toddy does a great job of maximizing the flavors (We used Mission Arabica’s Guatemalan for our experiment) while toning down the acidity. Their claim of removing 67% of acidity definitely tasted true. There are many different ways to use the Toddy, one of which is brewing Tea instead of coffee.
The Toddy has a few parts- A White brewing container, a cork that plugs the bottom of the brewing container, circular shaped filters specifically for the Toddy, and a Glass Decanter with lid.
1.) You’ll want to check two areas before getting started. First, place the circular filter in the bottom of the brewing container. Second, ensure the cork is plugging the bottom properly so no coffee drips out while it sits/brews.
The Toddy Filter is placed directly over the Cork
2.) Grind 12 ounces of coffee on a course setting.
Grinding the coffee on a course setting
3.) (Needed: 12 Ounces of Coffee/ 7 Cups of Water) Pour 1 cup of water to cover the bottom of the Toddy brewing container. Then, add 6 ounces of the ground coffee throughout the water so it soaks in. You’re going to repeat this process like you’re doing layers in a shepherd’s pie- Continue to pour in water (3 cups this time), then another 6 ounces of coffee, and finally 3 more cups of water about five minutes later. The idea is to ensure that all the coffee is properly soaked in water. You’ll create a “mud like” texture with the ground coffee and water. I layered mine a little more than above, probably doing 6 layers of water then coffee instead of the 3 it recommends. I really wanted the coffee to saturate with the water. If you just dump in the 12 ounces of coffee, then water, you’ll create dry spots within the ground coffee and you’ll lose both flavor and strength of the concentrate
Layer the coffee and water to ensure there are no dry spots in the brewing container
4.) Cover the brewing container with plastic wrap to ensure nothing can get into the top. Tip: Place a rubber band around the plastic wrap to provide the best type of “lid”
5.) Let it sit in the fridge for 12 hours. Side note: this is not one you want to forget about. At 12 hours, the concentrate you’re making is already very strong. If you let it sit longer, it only get stronger. I love strong coffee– even at 14 hours, it was pretty strong already.
*Now, you’ll get the decanter out. The bottom of the brewing container will sit on top of the decanter.
6) Pull the cork out and place the brewing container on top of the decanter. Over the next 10-15 minutes, your coffee concentrate will fill the decanter. After its done filtering, you can place the lid on the decanter, putting it in the fridge until you’re ready to enjoy!
The Cork has been removed. The concentrate now fills the decanter.
This is how the brewing container looks after the concentrate is done filtering.
Your concentrate is ready! Remember – 2 Parts to 1 Part Concentrate!
As mentioned, the concentrate is extremely strong. I have been known to drink concentrate straight, but I highly recommend you follow Toddy’s recommendation of two parts Ice, Milk, or Soy to 1 part of concentrate. This makes such enjoyable, smooth coffee that I plan to take my Toddy with me on vacations this summer and make sure we have a concentrate in the fridge for days we have to run out the door or decide to head to the pool.
I love that the Toddy has been around since 1964 – It means its fit multiple generations well and is going to be around for years to come! With that said, make sure you order yours here, as well as a few extra filters, and some Mission Arabica Coffee for the best experience as you kick off your summer right!