ealvar01 Senior Member Joined: 27 Oct 2011 Posts: 3 Location: NJ, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Fri May 11, 2012, 12:38pm Subject: Toddy Cold Brew
I just picked up a Toddy Cold Brew system on a whim at the mall. I've been pretty heavily interested in coffee for about a year now but have yet to experiment with could brew, so I figured I'd branch out right in time for summer.
Anyway, the instructions on the box are pretty minimal, as are most of the resources I've found on the internet. If anyone has any tips, techniques, or recommendations on how to get the best out of the machine, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Posted Sat May 12, 2012, 1:27pm Subject: Re: Toddy Cold Brew
I don't know what the instructions say, or the filtering method for the Toddy. It's basically a large immersion or infusion brew machine.
If the filter is permanent, then you'll probably be stuck with coarse grind coffee. In my experience, this will result in underextracted coffee - not bad, just lacking some in final flavor. Don't go overboard with exotic types of coffee and you'll get your best value.
How you set up the brew also depends on what you're doing with it. If you're diluting it with milk or ice cubes, then you'll want to brew it with a higher-than-normal brew ratio (i.e. more coffee to water than normal).
According to my notes, Toddy usually recommends a brew ratio of around 20% (for every liter of water, you would use 200 grams of coffee).
12oz of coffee is about 340g so Toddy's recommended amount of water would be in the neighborhood of 7-8 cups (1.6-1.8 liters or 1600-1800 grams). You'll get a result that is very strong but technically underextracted. The pH will be higher (i.e. less acid) as well.
Just my opinion, but this is a recipe for near-complete underextraction... but many people like the result so that's really what matters.
If the filter is replacable, or paper, and you have the time, then grind very fine, and use a more normal brew ratio of around 6% for straight coffee, 12% for double strength (for making iced coffee or coffee drinks). You'll get more of the coffee varietal flavor and better extraction, but the filtering will take a very long time, or can actually stall out.
I have made and still mess around with small batches of cold brew coffee. My best results are near-espresso grind, 6-6.5% brew ratio, and 24hr steep. I will either use a melitta cone filter or the Aeropress for filtering.
Experiment and have fun, and good luck!
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
There's a new-ish coffee shop in Kansas City called Oddly Correct that is making (and selling a lot of) bottles of a drink they call Hop! Toddy. It's Toddy-made coffee with hops (citra) in it. They say that the Toddy makes a relatively flat cup, so they were experimenting with the idea of putting something in it to brighten it up, so they chose hops. They add a small amount of a hop extract that they make (probably in the Toddy, too) and blend the two. I have a bottle in the fridge waiting to try, but it's supposed to be really good.
You can use a tea infuser or French press to easily do your own hop extraction. Just pick some hop cones up at the local brew supply shop or order online, if you want to try it yourself... could make for a fun summer of experimentation!
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