| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 12 hr 25 min |
| Active: | 25 min |
| Yield: | About 1 quart |
Ingredients
- 2 (3-liter) plastic soda bottles, cleaned
- 1 utility knife (box cutter) with a locking blade
- 1 thumbtack
- 1 (10- by 2 1/2-inch) piece cheesecloth
- 1 large glass pitcher
- 2 rulers or paint stirring sticks
- 2 medium rubber bands
- 1 large (9 1/2-inch) paper coffee filter
- 1 small (7 3/4-inch) coffee filter
- 110 grams (1 1/2 cups) coarse-ground coffee
- 125 grams (1/2 cup) filtered water, at 200 degrees F (see Chef’s Note)
- 900 grams (about 7 cups) ice cubes, plus more for serving (optional)
Instructions
- I’m just going to say this once: BE CAREFUL. We’re hacking soda bottles with a box cutter here so take precautions, go slowly, and always cut away from anything that can bleed. There, I said it. Also (and I hope obviously), don’t let kids attempt this.
- Set the blade of the utility knife so that it’s sticking about a quarter of an inch out of its handle and cut the bottom 3 inches off both soda bottles. Discard the bottoms. Remove the bottle lids. Cut an asterisk-shaped hole in the first lid. (Try doing this with the cap upright rather than upside down. AND BE CAREFUL.) Use the thumbtack to poke a tiny hole right in the middle of the second cap. Screw both caps back onto the bottles. Wad up the cheesecloth and stuff it into the neck of the bottle with the asterisk-shaped hole.
- Place the bottle with the asterisk-shaped hole on top of the pitcher with the cap facing down and secure with the rulers and rubber bands. Place the coffee grounds into the large paper filter and set inside the bottle. Set this entire apparatus on top of a digital scale. Zero the scale, then slowly pour the water in a spiral over the grounds to bloom the coffee. This step should take about 30 seconds. Top with the small coffee filter, which will act as a diffuser.
- Nestle the bottle with the tiny hole, cap-down, onto the bottle holding the coffee.
- Zero the scale again and weigh the ice into the top bottle. Set your tower out of direct sunlight until all of the ice has melted and passed through the coffee, 10 to 12 hours. If you’re keeping an eye on the coffee-brewing process, you should see one drop of water moving through the coffee about every 7 seconds.
- Once the coffee is done brewing, remove the rig from the pitcher and discard or compost the coffee grounds. Serve immediately over additional ice, if desired, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Reviews
Coffee is AMAZING. It brings so much out of the coffee when taken black and much more able to come through when sweetener, milk/cream, or any other additive is mixed with it. Almost like how tepid liquor tastes more intense than iced, the flavors tasted through this way of making coffee is a lot more intense than hot brew – and we have a Chemex, machine drip brew, pods, etc.
Definitely putting a Cold Drip Coffee maker onto the registry after having been opened up to this. Thanks Alton!
Is it better than brewed coffee? I’d say so. Is it better than French press coffee? I’m not sure. Is it worth the extra trouble and the fact that you have to prep your coffee the evening before you want it? Maybe. That’s your call. I’m far from a coffee connoisseur, so I think the difference from brewed coffee is incremental, not a revelation.
Tip #1: I have no idea where to find 3L soda bottles, but 2L seems to work fine, although less coffee fits into the bottle. As long as you don’t cut too much off the bottom, all the ice fits into a 2L bottle, but it takes about 16 hours to all melt.
Tip #2: Note that the bottom filter is a paper filter, and the top one isn’t. I found that if you use a paper filter on top, the upper bottle eventually gets nestled in the paper-covered grounds and stops dripping.