What looks like a steampunk laboratory device is actually a Japanese Slow Drip Cold Brewer. It really is a sight to behold with the brass and wood construction, and the suspended spherical glass up top. It is handmade in Japan where apparently cold brew coffee originated. I don’t know if that’s true, but we will take Hammacher’s words for it. We are too lazy to check for something so insignificant. As long it makes good coffee that does not go bad in hours, we are good.
But why cold brew? Because, bitter coffee sucks. You see, subjecting coffee to heat result in it unleashing acid which is responsible for the bitter taste. Ice water, on the other hand, extracts a concentrated brew that helps to retain the natural flavor of the coffee, less the undesirable acid and hence, the lack of bitterness. Here’s how it works:
“Ice water in the 100-oz. glass sphere flows to a pair of nozzles with individual spigots that allow you to adjust the speed of the drip cycle from eight to 16 hours—the lower the speed, the stronger the coffee concentration. The top of each cylinder holds your preferred grounds and a replaceable cotton filter.”
Sounds simple enough. All you need is a little patience because, as you have read, it does take quite sometime to yield a cup of cold Joe. But the major boon here is, the coffee can be kept longer – for up to one week – simply by refrigerating it. It is stark difference from hot brewed coffee which often turns bad after a few hours. In case you want it hot, heating it up via say, microwave, will not degrade the richness and it will still be bitter-free, or so we read.
If you love a good cuppa of cold brew and also fancy your kitchen looking somewhat steampunk-ish, the Japanese Slow Drip Cold Coffee Brewer might be the contraption of choice, but only if you have $1,950 to spare because, that is how much Hammacher Schlemmer is asking in return for this exquisite coffee maker. As for me, I will pass on this one cos’ I am just a poor blogger.
Images: Hammacher Schlemmer.
Source: Geekologie.
