Cold brew spends most of its life in the fridge. This guide covers what decides a cold brew maker when the fridge is small, who each of three makers suits, and when you don't need one at all.

First, you may not need one

Cold brew is coffee steeped in cold water for a long time and then strained. Cold brew in a jug you already own makes it with a lidded jug, a sieve and a paper filter, and calls a dedicated maker "a convenience rather than a requirement". A maker saves you a straining step and gives you a vessel shaped for the job. It does not make a different drink.

So the question is whether that convenience is worth a shelf in a small fridge, and which shape of convenience fits your shelf.

What decides it when fridge space is tight

The first thing is what goes into the fridge. With some makers the whole brewer goes in. With others only the finished coffee does, and the brewing parts stay in the cupboard.

The second is batch size against how often you brew. A smaller vessel means brewing more often. You can stretch it by making a concentrate and diluting it in the glass rather than in the jug. The jug guide notes that undiluted concentrate keeps its flavor longer than a ready-to-drink batch, so a small vessel of concentrate lasts more glasses and more days.

The third is height, and here the makers differ. Takeya's page prints a height, a width and a depth with each axis labeled, so you can check it against your shelf (check which size the figures describe). OXO and KitchenAid print none with the axes labeled, so no figure in this guide can tell you whether they clear it. Either way, measure the gap between the shelf and the one above it, with the door shut, before you buy.

The fourth is glass or plastic. Glass lets you see whether the grounds are wetted through, a point the jug guide makes. Plastic suits a crowded shelf where a glass jar might get knocked.

The three picks

Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker, 1 Quart: for the reader with room for one jug

Takeya describes this cold brew maker as one system for brewing, storing and serving, so the same pitcher steeps the coffee, sits in the fridge and pours it. The 1 quart size holds 32 fl oz, and Takeya also sells a 2 quart version. The pitcher is Eastman Tritan, a plastic, and Takeya's product page states a limited lifetime warranty.

Takeya's own store sells both sizes, and the checked price of the 1 quart, the seller and the day it was read are on its card. The 1 quart has the lowest price in this guide.

It suits a small fridge where one jug has to do everything, for a reader who wants fewer parts to wash.

It gives up glass, and with it the view of the grounds. And because one vessel does every job, the next batch waits until this one is drunk.

OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker (1272880): for the reader who wants the filtering done

The brewing card for OXO's maker starts with 10 oz of coffee in the brewing container. You then place the part OXO calls the rainmaker on the container and pour 40 oz of cold or room-temperature water around it. The card says that batch yields 24 to 28 oz of concentrate, enough for 12 to 14 drinks once diluted. The filter is stainless steel and the carafe is glass.

Because the brewing container and the glass carafe are separate pieces, the brewer doesn't have to live in the fridge. The coffee does, in the carafe.

Its checked price, the seller and the day it was read are on its card.

It suits a reader who wants coffee filtered in one pass and has cupboard space for the brewing parts between batches.

It gives up simplicity and a clear warranty. It has more parts than the Takeya, and neither OXO's brewing card nor its product page states a warranty.

KitchenAid 28 oz Cold Brew Coffee Maker (KCM4212SX): for pouring from the shelf

The tap is the point of the KitchenAid. A stainless steel easy-pour tap on the glass brew jar lets you pour a glass where the jar stands instead of lifting and tipping a full jar. KitchenAid's manual also lets the batch steep at room temperature, so the jar only needs the fridge once the coffee is made.

The manual's concentrate dose is 9 oz (250 g) of coarsely ground coffee to 42 oz (1.25 L) of water, steeped in a stainless steel steeper. KitchenAid gives it a one-year full warranty from the date of purchase.

Its checked price, the seller and the day it was read are on its card.

It suits a reader who drinks cold brew concentrate every day and wants to fill a glass straight from the jar.

It gives up simplicity and price. Beside the Takeya's pitcher it adds a steeper and a tap, and at its checked price it costs four times the 1 quart Takeya.

The trade-off

Every maker here trades a straining step for a vessel you have to store, and in a small fridge that vessel is the scarce thing. The jug you already own takes up the same shelf and asks for one more pass through a paper filter. If a batch comes out gritty from any of the three makers, that second pass through paper, as the jug guide describes it, is the fix.

Before you buy

  • Check the model on the listing: OXO's is 1272880, and KitchenAid's starts KCM4212, followed by a color suffix.
  • Measure the shelf height with the door shut.
  • If the cold brew is for iced drinks, coffee ice cubes keep the glass from going thin, and iced coffee, four ways shows where cold steeping sits against the other three methods.