Hario ‘Mizudashi’ Cold Brew Coffee Pot, 1000ml, Red

I absolutely adore this little cold brew jug. This is the perfect size for a one coffee a day one person home and tends to last me the whole week. I mainly drink iced coffee and mix the concentrate 50/50 with water or milk when I’m drinking it (it’s meant to be diluted as it’s “concentrate”). If you have a bit of a stinky fridge like I do at the moment (it’s chorizo, basil and cheese season), just cover the lid with clingfilm to prevent any unwanted smells getting in. It’s just incredibly easy to clean and don’t forget to save and dry your coffee grounds to fertilise your plants!

I’ve gone through four different ways of making cold brew coffee, and I find this to be the best method so far.

First, the other methods I’ve tried: I’ve filled up a lidded plastic 2L pitcher with loose grounds and water filled to the brim, left it in the fridge overnight, and filtered it through a paper filter supported by a mesh strainer. It gave a large amount of very clean-tasting coffee, but the filtering process was extremely labor intensive and clogged up several paper filters each time. I also needed to dirty up four different sizes of measuring cups to get through it all. I later changed up that method to hold the grounds in a fine mesh bag and secure the bag’s drawstring to the pitcher’s lid. The idea was to try to get a clean coffee without all the hassle, but that change didn’t really do any good. Floating grounds kept finding their way out of the bag, and I’d have to pull out multiple paper filters again.

Fed up with methods using containers and other objects I already had, I eventually settled on a different specialized system that cost more than this one. Not even going to name it, because I later discovered it was not only a drip cold brew system that caused a lot of channeling, but a very disappointing one with numerous other problems. It also left behind a very gritty coffee almost as bad as my mesh bag attempt.

I ended up picking the 1000 mL Mizudashi based on a James Hoffman video I watched, and my hard requirements that it must be an immersion cold brew system, fully self-contained, able to produce a clean coffee with minimal to no grit, and produce enough coffee to be worth the time and effort while still fitting inside my fridge. While I still think this model could be substantially improved on that last point (it is much too tall for its volume, so 4 stars ease of use) it is far better than what I’ve used so far. Maybe a mason jar approach would make better use of space, but I had no faith in the mesh baskets available for those. The Mizudashi’s plastic mesh basket is much finer than any other I’ve seen, and I can get away with much finer grind sizes than cold brew typically calls for. It does leave behind some gritty sludge at the bottom, but this won’t end up in the coffee I’m drinking unless I disturb the pot enough for the coffee to pick the sludge back up. I would buy one of these as a gift to someone new to cold brew coffee, but if they have limited vertical space in their fridge, I would consider the smaller version instead, as this is taller than a 2L bottle of soda. I think an updated version would make better use of space if it was shorter and wider.

PLEASE UPDATED INFORMATION AT END OF REVIEW (CHANGED RATING EXPLAINED)
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(Original review)

I was not sure what to expect when I got this coffee pot. I have the similar pot for cold brew for tea 

FORLIFE Mist Glass Ice Tea Jug , 50-Ounce, Turquoise

so I thought that this would be a great addition to our kitchen. I am absolutely in love with the cold brew tea pot and use it constantly. I am still not sure I am as fond of this coffee pot as I thought I would be, however.

WHAT IS THIS POT LIKE?
In contrast to the Mist Tea Jug, this pot has a silicone type filter in it which is more like synthetic cheese cloth. The filter is reinforced with hard plastic and the rim sits in the rim of a very tall and narrow glass pot. This pot can be used hot or cold, but not on direct heat to my understanding. The lid snaps on, but is not air tight. The handle is at the top making it easy to pour. I have the red option.

When storing on the door of the refrigerator, I am a bit nervous about the height of this pot. It seems almost a bit unstable due to the narrow bottom vs the long height that it has. It does not tip over easily, but if someone were to suddenly jerk the door of the refrigerator open, I am not so sure that this pot will not tip off the shelf.

HOW TO USE THIS POT
The directions are in Japanese with illustrations, but even when translated, I do not like the coffee made in this pot using the instructions enclosed which require 80g of coffee and a very long brewing time of up to 24 hours.

I prefer to use medium coarse ground coffee filled HALFWAY up the see through area. That translates to approximately 6 Tablespoons of ground coffee. Then I gradually pour filtered water over top which is room temperature. I leave this to sit in the kitchen at room temperature, not the refrigerator. If I want to drink it sooner, then I will grind it finer- right between medium and fine. If I am going to leave it in longer, then I will grind it the medium coarse setting. It is important to stir the grounds a few times to get them brewing well. If they are not stirred up, they will clump at the top like a big plug and not do much of anything.

If we want to drink it sooner with the medium fine grind, we will drink this from after 15 minutes to a half hour of making it. We warm it up on the stove since it is still winter weather, and then either make bullet proof coffee out of it, or traditional coffee with sweetener (we use honey) and cream. We will often add just a little bit of boiling water just to make it the right concentration.

We will leave it in the brewer about 4 hours tops- not longer than that. I find that the caffeine content is too high for me and I don’t like it. My husband does not like the taste of it after 4 hours either and loves it when I stop brewing at 4 hours, although he does like it after 15 minutes or so too. (If he has a cup, I just add more water to the filter to brew the four hours after that and it is still fine)

HOW DOES THIS COFFEE POT PERFORM?
I do not like coffee made in this the traditional way. Perhaps this summer when my husband and son enjoy iced coffee this will get more use. I bought it primarily for that reason. However, I was interested in trying the cold brewed coffee for the more alkaline behavior in the body. IT is very smooth and great tasting if I use the brewing method I listed above. When using the instructions as laid out the caffeine content ruins the coffee for me. I just don’t like it. Even diluted way down I am not fond of it.

HOW EASY IS THIS TO CLEAN?
If you clean this right away, it is easy to clean. Immediately when I am done brewing, I remove the filter with the coffee grounds and the bottom screws off. I quickly knock the grounds into the compost and then clean the filter with a gentle brush brush using GENTLE motions. Too hard and rough will ruin this filter. I only keep the coffee in the pot in the refrigerator for two days as it is not air tight so it will get stale quickly with that refrigerator taste.

THE BOTTOM LINE
This coffee pot makes one of the most smooth and not bitter coffees that I have ever had. I like it even more than french press coffee, although I did find that the french press cold brewed coffee seemed to taste a bit better than this pot, perhaps I need to compare again side by side. Warmed up, it is wonderful tasting for regular coffee drinking or even bullet proof coffee. Although it does not make much coffee, and has to be made every couple of days, it is one way to have coffee that is smooth and not bitter without babysitting it to a degree.

I am still not in love with this coffee pot. It is good and I will use it, especially in the summer when the guys love their iced coffee, but for me, it just isn’t that WOW. Perhaps as I continue to work with it, I will change my feelings about it, but after a week of constant use and experimentation, I am still on the fence about my feelings for it. I like it- sort of. And the coffee is really good. But is it worth it? I am just not sure yet.

I am rating this four stars, but will update with more information as I continue to experiment with this and find our favorite way to use it.

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UPDATE (4-2016)
The above is my original review, but I have changed my review to five stars. I have learned that for our needs, using fine/med grind works perfectly. I only leave the grounds in the pot for 4 hours max and then take them out and store the pot in the refrigerator. We warm the coffee up on the stove, or if preferred, drink it on ice. If using about 33% water added to it, it is perfect.

My problem was that I was trying to use this heated up for bulletproof coffee a lot and I really am not that fond of it in that application. This seems to taste better with sweetener and a touch of cream if desired in it. I really like it better that way.

For heat brewed coffee, I prefer bulletproof preparation. With cold processed, I prefer cream and sweetener instead. The finer grind leaves a tiny bit of sludge in the bottom of the pitcher but it is not that much and the coffee is smooth and clean. Coarser grind does not release enough flavor for us and left about the same amount of sludge.

UPDATE- REPLACEMENT FILTER
I wanted to get a backup filter for this coffee maker. I found the page for it, and it was brown just like this one was. When I sent for it, I was surprised to see that the bottom had a screen in it instead of the solid bottom. It still twisted off. The coffee brewer works so much better with it than the original. It has a tiny bit more sediment but works much faster. I love it.

They have since changed it to the green tea strainer part so apparently something was amiss when I ordered it. I still am glad, however, as I do prefer the screen bottom over the solid

Here is a link to the replacement part in case you want to try it too:

Strainer of HCC-12DG

Nice jug – fits inside the refrigerator door easily. The instructions were in Japanese, but luckily there are plenty of demonstrations of how to use this item on YouTube!
The filter is easy to clean after – just tip the used grounds into the bin and rinse thoroughly in water.
Use your coffee sparingly apparently there’s a lot of caffeine in cold brew coffee. The coffee you make in this jug is intended to be diluted when you serve it (at least 50/50 with hot or cold water – you can microwave / heat the cold brew coffee to suit).
I take the filter and coffee grounds out the jug after 24h to prevent any bitterness developing in the coffee. The coffee will last a week or more in the fridge.
Some people suggest filtered water makes a nicer brew. They are probably right. I just use tap water for convenience.

Instructions weren’t in English but it’s so simple I’m not bothered by that.

Very well made. Just about fits in the dishwasher. The coffee basket has a removable base so it’s easy to clean.

Thoroughly recommend.

I didn’t rate “flavour” because I don’t like eating glass and plastic.