Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Takeya Patented Deluxe Cold Brew Coffee Maker, Two Quart, Black

Easy and Cheap Way To Make Cold-Brew Coffee

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2018

Size: Two QuartColor: BlackVerified Purchase

I've always preferred cold drinks to hot ones so imagine my joy when companies started selling pre-made cold-brew coffee in the grocery store. At about $7 per bottle though, it was costing me more to buy it that way rather than brewing my own hot coffee and adding ice. It wasn't until I was perusing YouTube and saw one of my favorite YT'ers pouring her own cold-brew out of a refrigerated container. I immediately toggled to Amazon in a search for one similar and I found this product. After comparing prices and reviews, I decided to give this one a try. 3 weeks and several brews later here are my takeaways:

Pros: Easy to clean and use, coffee tastes great, not going back to buying pre-made!

Cons: Durability seems fragile as the soft foamy plastic on the handle is coming up already, it will leak if you don't screw the lid on tight so beware, since it has to brew laying down it takes up more space in my small fridge than I'd like

Overall though, it's a much cheaper alternative to pre made cold brews and you can control the strength and taste of your coffee by selecting the brand/grounds/roast you want and by adding more or less ground to the filter.

Special Note: I read through a lot of reviews and it seems the main issue most people had was the coffee grounds seeping into the liquid. It appears from reading the replies from the manufacturer and by my own experience with this, that they have created a smaller mesh filter and have stopped shipping the product with the old style. The new style is so good that I'm using fine ground coffee and have had NO grounds in my end product. So please disregard older comments about this issue if you're ordering this for the first time.

Another main issue is about the leaking but if you screw the top on securely and shake any excess out into a sink before placing it back into the fridge that will prevent leakage. For just in case, it's good to have a paper towel under your brewer when placed on its side.

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Reviewer

A lot of flaws

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2019

Size: Two QuartColor: BlackVerified Purchase

First off, due to the weight and volume that the coffee grounds add, you do not yield 2 quarts of coffee. I make my coffee on the weekend so that I don't have to deal with it on weekdays when I'm busy getting ready for work. I thought 2 quarts would give me 4 servings (I drink at least 2 cups of black coffee in the morning) but it only gives me about 3 servings total.

Secondly, there is no fill line indicated anywhere on the pitcher so you'd have to eyeball how much water you are putting in (unless you pre-measure your water, which is an extra annoying step I don't want or need). The instructions say you pour water up to 3/4 of the bottle (before coffee) but that depends on how much coffee you have in the filter because once the coffee grounds absorb water, of course they add volume to the total. So you end up with more or less water than you want and have to adjust it accordingly, which means you have to screw and unscrew the filter and pull it out or tilt the filter so you can pour your water. More annoying additional step. You can draw a line with a sharpie on the bottle but that's besides the point. The brewing system needs to be where you put the coffee first and then pour the water over the coffee, without having to mess with the lid, etc., not the other way around.

Thirdly, the spout malfunctions every time. It is poorly designed. When you pour your coffee, it ALWAYS drips outside the spout, making a mess, not to mention, wasting my expensive coffee.

Fourthly, they claim this is a top rack dishwasher safe. Think about it. In what dishwasher top, could this long pitcher possibly fit vertically? If you lay it flat horizontally, does that clean the inside of the bottle? Of course not. What a stupid claim is this?

Lastly, the overall pitcher feels flimsy and has a slight sticky feel (I don't know how to describe this). It certainly does NOT feel like it is a BPA-free material (in comparison with other quality bottles made by Nalgene).

Not. At. All impressed whatsoever. Definitely not worth the $.

I do not recommend.

522 people found this helpful

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Jessica M.

Should've bought it sooner!

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2017

Size: One QuartColor: BlackVerified Purchase

Great cold brew system! We had been putting off getting one for so long. We have a keurig and simply put brewed coffee in the fridge overnight. But as our keurig seems to be dying, it was time to explore other options. I wish we had done it sooner! This system is so easy to use - add your coffee of choice and water, place it in the fridge and wait for the next day. That's it!! So easy, great tasting coffee that goes far enough for both of us. It easily fits on a shelf or the door. We're considering buying a second because of how much coffee my husband drinks or if we have company.

UPDATE:
After a couple weeks of use I've noticed 2 flaws to call out. When inserting the filter into the water the grounds sometimes pop up to the top of the filter. This causes the grounds to get stuck and not submerge fully into the water to brew properly. I'm not terribly picky and haven't noticed a huge difference in taste or quality. The fix is easy - insert the filter into the water slowly and if needed tap the filter firmly on the side of the carafe. With a firm tap the grounds should fall to the bottom of the filter.

Also, when you insert the grounds into the carafe and twist shut it will push water out if you’ve overfilled it which some reviewers have identified as “leaking”. Simple solution is to screw on the top and tip it over the sink to pour out any excess water. Once that’s done I haven’t had any problems with leaking.

Given that these issues are easily fixed, have become 2-3 extra seconds of my routine, and there is no noticeable difference in taste/quality, I'm leaving my rating as 5 stars.

726 people found this helpful

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Yeassss!!! #coldbrewlife

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2020

Size: One QuartColor: BlackVerified Purchase

This Takeya cold brew coffee jug is wonderful! I know a lot of people use Mason jars, however, I wanted something easier to grab from the fridge and more lightweight (and cheaper!). I have used Takeya products before and have been impressed with their durability as well as the easiness of cleaning them. This cold brew jug has only 4 pieces; the jug, the handle, the lid, and the coffee filter. The coffee filter has an extremely fine mesh and it has not let through even the finest of coffee grounds. It is really easy to clean! The filter, after filling it with your favorite coffee (I find non-flavored coffee to taste best during the cold brew process) then screws into the lid. After you have filled up the jug about 85% of the way with filter water, you place the filter (already attached to the lid) into the water filled jug and screw it on! The coffee will have a great flavor within 8 hours, however, it is most potent by 24hrs and stays fresh up to 72hrs in my opinion. Remember, you are brewing a coffee concentrate as about 1 cup of grounds are used to brew. Mix with 2 parts water or you will... well, be like me that didn't read the directions and was up until 3am with a caffeine high, lol. Overall, I am really pleased with this purchase!

If you found this review and pictures helpful in making a decision regarding purchasing this item, please let me know below :)

202 people found this helpful

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C. C. Ingersoll

Lightweight, great filter and you can't beat the price!

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2017

Size: One QuartColor: BlackVerified Purchase

I'm really liking this cold brew maker. At first I was saddened that it is 100% plastic and not glass but I realized that you could take something like this hiking/camping with you if you're the type of camper that needs their coffee right away when they first get up. I used to use a plain press-pot as my cold brewer but it'd leave sludge in the last cup; this has an extremely nice filter that is very fine and the whole thing is very easy to clean.

Recommended tips: If you just fill the filter and then dip it into a full carafe of water the grounds will all be pressed up against the top of the lid. I personally fill the filter and place it in the empty carafe, then pour water through the filter and grounds until the carafe is full. Then I remove the filter and screw it into the cap and replace it back into the carafe. Shake a bit (just to be sure) and refrigerate!

313 people found this helpful

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DT

Make great cold brew coffee for less

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2017

Size: One QuartColor: BlackVerified Purchase

I purchased this to make cold brew coffee at the office. My coworkers and I were going to the local siren at least 3-4 times a week for our afternoon pick me up. It was starting to become a serious drain financially. We all chipped in to get this pitcher and take turns buying beans. Get them ground for a French press, or super coarse, and you'll have a pretty good replica. The instructions for making cold brew are pretty easy. Of course you'll get some micro grinds that will make its way through the filter but that's to be expected. If you're OCD about it, you could pour it through a strainer or paper filter. Or just let it settle and pour gently. We've seriously cut down our caffeine expenditures by 50-75%. Now if we could figure out a way to order out less :)

518 people found this helpful

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Sam

Perfect for anyone.

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2017

Size: One QuartColor: BlackVerified Purchase

Pros:
extremely easy to use and clean. Like it's ridiculously easy.
Sturdy product, I intentionally tossed it while empty and full just to "test it" doesn't leak and didn't break.

Con:
Low capacity of fluid.

So for anyone new to cold brew use this, I highly advise it. Use it as you wish... However...
What I do is:
Brew coffee for about 20-30h.
Pour coffee into large container.
Mix milk, creamer, and flavouring into container.
Drink it all in one go cause it's so delicious... Kidding. It last me a day or two. But I drink a lot of coffee.

Now, remember cold brew coffee is extremely potent. (I'm a chemist... Trust me)
It is way more smooth and while I haven't tested the caffine content it seems higher, or maybe that's cause I drink more.

Now, again I remind you it's potent. Add about 1:4 water to coffee and when done brewing dilute coffee with regular coffee, milk, or whatever.

Highly advise using cold brew in place of hot coffee on all occasions.
Heat it up if ya want hot coffee. It's still great.

561 people found this helpful

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Doug

Pick a robust coffee and use a course grind, results are great

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2017

Size: One QuartColor: BlackVerified Purchase

I read the reviews carefully before ordering this item and since we enjoy strong coffee was concerned we might be disappointed, we were not. The results were a strong smooth ice coffee we both enjoyed very much. Coffee selection. We chose Costco Costa Rica whole beans which we ground at the store using the course setting. For actually brewing I pretty much followed the instructions. I filled the filter to just above the filter material (very near the top) and didn't bother to measure how many tablespoons that equated too. I filled the pot as full as I could get it with filtered water and swirled the water around 2 or 3 times during the brewing process. Total brew time was about 18 hours. I poured the cold brew through a standard coffee filter to remove the sediment and served it in two 16 glasses each about half full of ice. I added half & half my wife used Baileys. Final results were great.

288 people found this helpful

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Max

Flawed design for the 2Qt model

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2018

Size: Two QuartColor: BlackVerified Purchase

This review is for the 2 Quart model. Hard to believe the company overlooked the design so much for what could’ve been a great product. The mesh/filter is the same size as the 1 quart model (holds about 14 TBsps). Problem with that is the other 14 TBsps coffee recommended for the larger 2 Qt design sits on top in the plastic “extender” provided. Basically water never really seeps through completely, resulting in basically the top 14TBsps coffee being wasted. I can imagine the 1 QT design works fine. But this is so flawed. The whole idea behind cold brewing is total immersion. I hot bloomed the coffee for a min and used slightly less coarse coffee to make up for this. Overall, I really wanted to love this , but ended up very disappointed.

77 people found this helpful

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Daniel Davis

All about the ratios.

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2020

Size: One QuartColor: BlackVerified Purchase

So I have both the 1 quart and 2 quart versions of this. At first I used the instructions with the amount to tablespoons for each, but found the taste and strength lacking compared to cold brews I would have from ones from coffee shops. After reading on the internet, I got a better understanding on ratios of coffee to water. Here are some things I learned.
1) If you grind your own beans, you want it a bit coarse, this will help with extraction and prevent coffee grounds ending up in your brew.

2) If you have a measuring scale, this will help to replicate success every time. (they are like $10 on Amazon, I already had one for other food stuff already)

3) The makers are 1 quart and 2 quarts, which coverts to approximately
- 1 quart = 32 oz = 946 mL
- 2 quart = 64 oz = 1892 mL

4) Most Cold Brew Ratios say 1 part coffee to 8 parts water (1:8) all the way to 1:4 for stronger concentrates.
This is where I have an issue with the Takeya brewer. The included filters are not wide enough to back enough coffee grounds. The filter are the same for both the 1 Quart and 2 Quart sizes, with the 2 quart size having the extension piece. Filling the filter up to the brim, you can fill to just over 100 grams, I got to about 104 grams.
- At 104 grams, a 1:8 ratio needs 832 mL of water. At a strong 1:4 ratio, it's 416 mL. Which means a brew would get you approximately 28 oz or 14 oz for a strong brew. For a 1:8 ratio concentrate, that's about 3/4 of the bottle and less than 1/2 for a strong concentrate.
- It's even worse for the 2 quart size, even if you fill up the coffee bean into the filter and the extension, you can get about 140 grams or so... but who knows if the beans in the extension are being extracted. At 140 grams a 1/8 ratio is 1,120 mL of water, and 1:4 ratio is 560 mL. At 1:8 ratio concentrate, you get about half the capacity of the bottle, but to let it brew overnight, you have to leave if on its side in order for water to be in contact with the coffee, which it barely covers and is impossible with the 1:4 ratio.

With the proper ratio, you get a great tasting and strong cold brew to your preference. The issue is the size of the filter and amount of coffee you can fit in it. The 1 quart version is usable, especially at a 1:8 ratio, but the 2 quart version is not really usable because you can't utilize enough coffee for it. I'm currently using the 1 quart version to brew for now and and the 2 quart to contain my brew to repeat another brew in the 1 quart. I'll continue to use this for now until I find a better option.

42 people found this helpful

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5 star		79%
4 star		14%
3 star		5%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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