The Toddy

One of the other birthday gifts I received (aside from the BIG one), was a Toddy. I asked for the Toddy because I'd heard rave reviews about it from a number of people, and I'm a huge fan of coffee so am always looking for ways to have an even tastier cup of joe.

This is what the Toddy looks like in action. A bit strange, eh?


What you're seeing here is the final step in the cold-brewing process.

Cold-brewing is a way to maximize the flavor from freshly ground coffee beans, without getting a cup full of bitter acid and oil. (This, by the way, is particularly good for folks who have stomach troubles or other ailments. Or for those who aren't all that into the bitter flavor of coffee.) Plus, it doesn't involve any electricity at all, except for the refrigerator power for storing the brewed coffee.

Basically, what you do is insert a small filter into the white portion of the Toddy you see above (it comes with two filters, which last quite a while). Then, following the directions, you add a pound of freshly ground arabica coffee beans and cold, filtered water.

After that all you do is let the mixture sit on your counter for about 12 hours. Once the cold-brewing is complete, you remove the plug from the bottom of the Toddy and slip it on top of the carafe (which is included).

There you have it—concentrated coffee, ready for making hot or cold coffee drinks. The Toddy coffee stores in the fridge for up to two weeks without losing its flavor. Making a hot cup is as easy as adding one part coffee to three parts hot water (or whatever ratio you like).

One word of warning: The Toddy coffee really is smooth. So smooth that it takes some getting used to, because it's easy to think the coffee you made is weak because it doesn't have that telltale coffee bite. Conservative Boy and I ended up going through our first batch of Toddy coffee much more quickly than expected, and I think it's because we were adding so much more coffee to each cup trying to get to what tasted "right."

Anyhow, it's easy and delicious and oh so smooth. And after waiting those 12 hours, it makes morning coffee time a piece of cake—just heat up some water, add some of the concentrated coffee, and there you have it, no waiting for the coffee pot to finish its work.