Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker Review

Are you craving cold brew coffee? Well, making cold brew coffee just got a whole lot easier with the simple brewing process offered by the Takeya cold brew coffee maker. Skip the lines at the local coffee shop and make some sweet cold brew right in the comfort of your own home.

Read on for our in-depth review of the Takeya cold brew coffee maker, one of the most straightforward and affordable cold brew coffee makers to use.

SUMMARY: The Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker

• Affordable friendly budget pick
  
• Easy to use, maintain, and clean
  
• Simple design with just three BPA-free parts

If cold brew is what you want, this is the device to use. Just buy coffee grounds that are best for cold brewing, add filtered water, and let it sit from 12 to 24 hours. Especially when the weather gets hotter during the summer months, having cold iced brewed coffee in the fridge is great!

– Customer Review, Michael Lim, Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker Owner

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The Takeya Patented Deluxe Cold Brew Coffee Maker Review

Perfect for entry-level home baristas and cold brew coffee connoisseurs, the Takeya patented deluxe cold brew coffee maker is beginner-friendly with its simple care and three components.

Any ground coffee is compatible with this cold brew coffee maker. It is up to you to decide on the kind of coffee roast you wish to use for your cold brew coffee.

Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker Review

• Ease Of Use
• Coffee Flavor
• Capacity
• Price

4.6

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Ease Of Use – 5/5

Takeya cold brew coffee makers are as easy to use as they get, consisting of only three removable parts: the mesh filter, the airtight lid, and the pitcher.

Takeya cold brew coffee maker’s filter is made out of stainless steel with a fine mesh material. This is connected to an airtight lid that is also leak-proof and lockable to preserve the flavors and freshness of the cold brew coffee contained within. The pitcher consists of a BPA-free, glass-free, metal-free, and shatterproof Eastman Tritan material with a non-slip silicone handle and a slim bottom to slide into most refrigerator doors. 

Takeya cold brew coffee maker has a light design and it is easy to both handle and transport. Despite its sleekness, you should check the dimensions of your refrigerator doors before purchase to ensure that this coffee maker will fit with ease. Even if it does not fit in the doors, the lid locks securely enough to allow the Takeya cold brew coffee maker to be stored on its side.

Upon first purchase, the Takeya cold brew coffee maker already comes pre-assembled, which makes for a beginner-friendly introduction to being able to make a cold brewed coffee. The design is functional and intuitive. You have control over how much coffee and water to use, so it is easy to experiment and play around to find the best ratio for your homemade iced coffee. All you have to do is measure, pour, swish, and store. The only thing to handwash is the filter. It is recommended to use a funnel when filling the mesh filter with coffee to avoid a messy cleanup. 

The nature of this removable filter prevents coffee grounds from getting into the water. Store the Takeya cold brew coffee maker in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours depending on your personal preferences for the intensity of the resulting brew. The Takeya cold brew concentrate can be kept in good condition for up to two weeks in the refrigerator and used for all manner of cold or hot coffees.

For a helpful take, check out this YouTube video reviewing the Takeya cold brew coffee maker.

Coffee Flavor – 4.5/5

The Takeya shares some similarities with the Bodum cold brew coffee maker as they both resemble a French Press and they both brew coffee via immersion. The quality of the Takeya cold brew coffee maker’s immersion brewing method results in a smoother coffee brew with no oxidized taste and less acidity despite making a strong coffee. The taste will appease any cold coffee drinker regardless of whether the brew is enjoyed black or with some extra water or milk of your choice to dilute the flavor. The addition of any sweetener of your choice is always encouraged.

To make extra coffee concentrate, put the filter in a glass after swishing it around in the Takeya cold brew coffee maker and let the coffee drip out of the coffee grounds for about an hour. This coffee concentrate can then be added back into the pitcher and shaken into the iced coffee brew. Once removed from the fridge, the resulting Takeya cold brew concentrate will be richer in taste. (1)

With regular hot coffee brewing, boiling water in the pitcher quickens the method of extraction. The cost is that the chemical structure of the coffee is altered by heating the coffee’s natural fats and oils (2), which makes for a more bitter flavor after cooling. When using a cold brewing coffee process, the length of time spent in the fridge allows the Takeya cold brew coffee maker to extract the natural fatty acids and bitter oils from the coffee in a way that hot water cannot attain without changing the composition of the coffee brew. 

Due to the nature of the Takeya cold brew coffee filter used, some sediment may remain at the bottom of the pitcher, like the remnants of leaves at the bottom of a tea maker. The taste will not be affected, but to avoid the inevitable muddy texture of the last few sips, opt to not use the remaining 10% or so of your Takeya cold brew coffee. We have deducted half a point for the minor inconvenience this causes. The last thing you want is to ingest a fine particle or two.

Capacity – 4/5

Takeya cold brew coffee maker comes in two different sizes for your brewing preferences, holding a capacity of 1 or 2 quarts, or 32 to 64 fluid ounces of cold brew coffee. The larger sized pitcher comes with an extender attachment for the mesh filter. 

Measure out the recommended 7 tbsps. of coarsely ground coffee for the 1 quart size, or 11-14 tbsps. of coarse grounds for a more smooth and delicious flavor in the 2 quarts size. If you are using the smaller version, add 3 cups of water to make 4 servings of coarsely ground coffee. For the larger version, use 7 cups to make 8 servings of cold brew coffee. Adding one cup or half an inch less of filtered water than the max capacity of the Takeya cold brew coffee maker pitcher, regardless of its size, allows for the filter to go into the pitcher without overflowing. 

Some customers only get 5 cups of coffee worth out of a full 2 quarts of prepped cold brew coffee instead of 7 cups of coffee as advertised. This is because lots of water gets pushed out when the coffee grounds in the filter get submerged, so the coffee maker cannot contain it all. We have deducted a point for this (not having enough coffee brew may as well be a crime!).

Price – 5/5

Takeya cold brew coffee maker is one of the cheapest options out there compared to others for making homemade cold brew coffee, specifically the one available in the 1 quart size. It comes with a 1 year warranty and it is one of the most affordable coffee makers available.

Fortunately, due to the nature of the Takeya cold brew coffee maker’s mesh filter, you will save money by not having to constantly buy a paper filter for the coffee grounds in every cold brew. However, the savings that come with the filter also come with a price, so to speak, with the cold brew coffee’s quality. There is the possibility of residual sediment in your final coffee brew.

Do Not Buy The Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker If…

• You are looking to brew large batches of cold brew concentrate – this is where the Toddy T2N cold brew system comes into play. With this cold brew coffee maker, you can brew up to a week’s worth of cold brew coffee every time. It is almost as easy to set up, use, and clean as the Takeya cold brew coffee maker. For more details, check out our review of the Toddy cold brew coffee maker.

• You want a 100% hassle-free cold brew experience – as easy as the Takeya cold brew coffee maker is to use, the Oxo cold brewer takes simplicity to a new level. It stays right on your counter with a switch ready to be flipped, allowing you to go do other tasks and let it do its thing. It will be done with your cold brew coffee before you even know it.

• You need a filter that is not made out of stainless steel – the stainless steel filter of a Takeya cold brew coffee maker has the risk of leaking coffee grounds into the water, so a paper filter is usually the desirable alternative. For more information on a coffee maker that uses both paper and wool filters to ensure one of the best cups of cold brew coffee with a surefire smooth taste minus any remaining coffee grounds, read our review of the Filtron cold brew system.

• You want quicker cold brew coffee – if 12 to 24 hours seems like too much time with the Takeya cold brew coffee maker, then check out our Hario Mizudashi review where we detail a coffee maker made out of heat-resistant glass that does the whole cold brewing process in just about 8 hours. It is the quickest one out there, along with the Hario cold brew bottle.

• You’re a coffee geek – the Yama cold brew tower is the “kid in a candy store” equivalent for coffee connoisseurs in terms of controlling every step of the cold brew coffee-making process. It is expensive, it is impressive, and it is a far more advanced coffee maker than the Takeya cold brew coffee maker. It is like contemporary art that is also functional for making cold brew. If you are looking for some more great ideas, take a look at our detailed guide of some of the best cold brew coffee makers for alternative options.

The Verdict

For an affordable, BPA-free, and low-maintenance cold coffee-making experience, the Takeya cold brew maker guarantees a strong coffee with minimal effort. It comes with three dishwasher-safe simple parts, fits in most refrigerator doors, and keeps your Takeya cold brew coffee fresh for a full fortnight. However, if this is not the right fit for you, cold brew coffee- or fridge-wise, that is perfectly alright. The possibilities for cold brew coffee are virtually endless.

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