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At my friends coffee shop they make cold brew with an elaborate laboratory glassware setup that drips ice-water through a filter. Looks pretty neat and sciencey

At my friends coffee shop they make cold brew with an elaborate laboratory glassware setup that drips ice-water through a filter. Looks pretty neat and sciencey. They got 4 of these devices running all the time in the back room. I was telling him all the other shops in town just fake it, he should put one of the devices out front so people can see his cold-brew is for real.

dahart 2y ago
That is awesome! I would absolutely love it if more cafes did this. Let us know where it is so we can go patronize.
giancarlostoro 2y ago
I would literally go to a shop doing this, like as often as possible. As a coffee lover, this is peak coffee shop. He could even double down and make Breaking Bad references around the shop, since thats what this makes me think of. I'm guessing it's not in Florida, or I would ask you for the address. He should at least get a window into that backroom installed or something to that effect.
samcheng 2y ago
I think this is called "Kyoto-style slow drip" coffee. I agree with you that the contraption should be in plain view of the customers! I remember being really interested in a cup of Kyoto-style one day, only to be told to make a reservation and come back tomorrow... it was worth the wait.
- Spivak 2y ago
  It seems to be a niche taste among my friends, yes it's sour and bitter that's why I like it!
bobthepanda 2y ago
To be fair all you need to actually make cold brew is a pitcher and a cheesecloth or some other filter. The absence of an apparatus does not make it fake.
- bananskalhalk 2y ago
  Chilling warm brewed coffee is definitely faking it. And I presume all places selling "cold brew" is faking it so this guy is losing money by not showing off doing real cold brew with his apparatus.
  - bobthepanda 2y ago
    I’m not talking about chilling warm brewed coffee. All you need to make cold brew coffee is soak coffee grounds in cold water. Whether that is in a mason jar or through a thousand dollar complex laboratory setup is entirely an aesthetic choice. https://www.loveandlemons.com/cold-brew-coffee/ https://www.loveandlemons.com/cold-brew-coffee/
    - klyrs 2y ago
      My favorite route to camp coffee is running this GSI filter backwards: https://gsioutdoors.com/products/h2jo-filter https://gsioutdoors.com/products/h2jo-filter Put a week's worth of grounds in the bottle, screw on the filter, pour in some cold water, steep for 24h, and transfer to another bottle. If somebody wants "drip" strength they can cut it with water, hot or cold.
  - janalsncm 2y ago
    It’s a market for lemons at this point. Unless you can see an expensive apparatus or observe them soaking the coffee, there’s no way to know if it’s correct, and as a customer it means it’s risky to buy if you care about the difference between refrigerated hot coffee and cold brew.
    - deadlydose 2y ago
      Risky to buy? It's not real estate it's a cup of coffee. And if you're worried about people faking it, just buy a $2 mason jar and make some in the fridge while you sleep. I don't get the fascination with paying exorbitant prices and constantly complaining when it's next to zero effort to make it at home, cold or hot. And the best part is you get to choose where your beans come from, you don't have to worry about the political slant du jour of the coffee shop, and you can do it all for a fraction of the price even when using the most expensive beans.
this_steve_j 2y ago
Perhaps the Yama cold brew tower CDM25 is the device you saw. It is used at many fine establishments including my kitchen, and I also have the smaller CDM8. The numbers 8 and 25 correspond to the number of cups of diluted 1:1 cold brew that it produces in a single cycle (6-12 hours). https://yama-glass.com/collections/cold-brew-towers https://yama-glass.com/collections/cold-brew-towers
- lytfyre 2y ago
  If any HNers are looking for a cheap entry point into the style without spending $250+ on a beautiful bunch of laboratory glass ware, there's the puckpuck[1], which sits on top of an aeropress and turns it into functionally the same device as the Yama towers - slow controlled valve dripping cold water at a controlled rate onto a bed of coffee and a paper filter over the course of hours. I've found it a nice way to play with the style without investing the money and space. Still want one of those towers if I ever see them cheap though. [1] https://puckpuck.me/ https://puckpuck.me/ - no connection, just a customer.
  - AdamJacobMuller 2y ago
    I have a toddy, produces excellent quality cold brew. https://www.amazon.com/Toddy-THM-Cold-Brew-System/dp/B0006H0JVW https://www.amazon.com/Toddy-THM-Cold-Brew-System/dp/B0006H0...
tedmiston 2y ago
> At my friends coffee shop they make cold brew with an elaborate laboratory glassware setup that drips ice-water through a filter. Looks pretty neat and sciencey. Likely the Yama cold brew tower [1]. [1]: https://prima-coffee.com/equipment/yama/yamcdm25sbk-yama-pp https://prima-coffee.com/equipment/yama/yamcdm25sbk-yama-pp
shagie 2y ago
One that I'm aware of - Black Blood of the Earth - https://www.funraniumlabs.com/the-black-blood-of-the-earth/ https://www.funraniumlabs.com/the-black-blood-of-the-earth/ > Fast forward 14 years. An acquaintance working and living in Japan went on holiday and discovered a bar with this exceptionally beautiful rig for the preparation of Viennese Triple Cold Extraction Coffee. Upon sampling this, he felt that, and I quote, “I could see colors that weren’t in the visible spectrum, and could vibrate through walls.” I looked at this I said to myself, “Hey, you’ve got enough virgin laboratory glassware lying around the house that you could probably build something like that.” Probably several somethings, actually, but that’s beside the point. It has a picture of the original glassware in Japan and his first iteration in the kitchen. A sibling comment links to Yama glass ... which is out of Taiwan. The similarities might not be coincidence.

dahart 2y ago

That is awesome! I would absolutely love it if more cafes did this. Let us know where it is so we can go patronize.

giancarlostoro 2y ago

I would literally go to a shop doing this, like as often as possible. As a coffee lover, this is peak coffee shop. He could even double down and make Breaking Bad references around the shop, since thats what this makes me think of. I'm guessing it's not in Florida, or I would ask you for the address. He should at least get a window into that backroom installed or something to that effect.

samcheng 2y ago

I think this is called "Kyoto-style slow drip" coffee. I agree with you that the contraption should be in plain view of the customers! I remember being really interested in a cup of Kyoto-style one day, only to be told to make a reservation and come back tomorrow... it was worth the wait.

Spivak 2y ago
It seems to be a niche taste among my friends, yes it's sour and bitter that's why I like it!

bobthepanda 2y ago

To be fair all you need to actually make cold brew is a pitcher and a cheesecloth or some other filter. The absence of an apparatus does not make it fake.

bananskalhalk 2y ago
Chilling warm brewed coffee is definitely faking it. And I presume all places selling "cold brew" is faking it so this guy is losing money by not showing off doing real cold brew with his apparatus.
- bobthepanda 2y ago
  I’m not talking about chilling warm brewed coffee. All you need to make cold brew coffee is soak coffee grounds in cold water. Whether that is in a mason jar or through a thousand dollar complex laboratory setup is entirely an aesthetic choice. https://www.loveandlemons.com/cold-brew-coffee/ https://www.loveandlemons.com/cold-brew-coffee/
  - klyrs 2y ago
    My favorite route to camp coffee is running this GSI filter backwards: https://gsioutdoors.com/products/h2jo-filter https://gsioutdoors.com/products/h2jo-filter Put a week's worth of grounds in the bottle, screw on the filter, pour in some cold water, steep for 24h, and transfer to another bottle. If somebody wants "drip" strength they can cut it with water, hot or cold.
- janalsncm 2y ago
  It’s a market for lemons at this point. Unless you can see an expensive apparatus or observe them soaking the coffee, there’s no way to know if it’s correct, and as a customer it means it’s risky to buy if you care about the difference between refrigerated hot coffee and cold brew.
  - deadlydose 2y ago
    Risky to buy? It's not real estate it's a cup of coffee. And if you're worried about people faking it, just buy a $2 mason jar and make some in the fridge while you sleep. I don't get the fascination with paying exorbitant prices and constantly complaining when it's next to zero effort to make it at home, cold or hot. And the best part is you get to choose where your beans come from, you don't have to worry about the political slant du jour of the coffee shop, and you can do it all for a fraction of the price even when using the most expensive beans.

this_steve_j 2y ago

Perhaps the Yama cold brew tower CDM25 is the device you saw. It is used at many fine establishments including my kitchen, and I also have the smaller CDM8. The numbers 8 and 25 correspond to the number of cups of diluted 1:1 cold brew that it produces in a single cycle (6-12 hours). https://yama-glass.com/collections/cold-brew-towers https://yama-glass.com/collections/cold-brew-towers

lytfyre 2y ago
If any HNers are looking for a cheap entry point into the style without spending $250+ on a beautiful bunch of laboratory glass ware, there's the puckpuck[1], which sits on top of an aeropress and turns it into functionally the same device as the Yama towers - slow controlled valve dripping cold water at a controlled rate onto a bed of coffee and a paper filter over the course of hours. I've found it a nice way to play with the style without investing the money and space. Still want one of those towers if I ever see them cheap though. [1] https://puckpuck.me/ https://puckpuck.me/ - no connection, just a customer.
- AdamJacobMuller 2y ago
  I have a toddy, produces excellent quality cold brew. https://www.amazon.com/Toddy-THM-Cold-Brew-System/dp/B0006H0JVW https://www.amazon.com/Toddy-THM-Cold-Brew-System/dp/B0006H0...

tedmiston 2y ago

> At my friends coffee shop they make cold brew with an elaborate laboratory glassware setup that drips ice-water through a filter. Looks pretty neat and sciencey. Likely the Yama cold brew tower [1]. [1]: https://prima-coffee.com/equipment/yama/yamcdm25sbk-yama-pp https://prima-coffee.com/equipment/yama/yamcdm25sbk-yama-pp

shagie 2y ago

One that I'm aware of - Black Blood of the Earth - https://www.funraniumlabs.com/the-black-blood-of-the-earth/ https://www.funraniumlabs.com/the-black-blood-of-the-earth/ > Fast forward 14 years. An acquaintance working and living in Japan went on holiday and discovered a bar with this exceptionally beautiful rig for the preparation of Viennese Triple Cold Extraction Coffee. Upon sampling this, he felt that, and I quote, “I could see colors that weren’t in the visible spectrum, and could vibrate through walls.” I looked at this I said to myself, “Hey, you’ve got enough virgin laboratory glassware lying around the house that you could probably build something like that.” Probably several somethings, actually, but that’s beside the point. It has a picture of the original glassware in Japan and his first iteration in the kitchen. A sibling comment links to Yama glass ... which is out of Taiwan. The similarities might not be coincidence.