Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker 1.6 Liter- Customers Spoke, We Listened. Version 2.0 Now Available! Thicker, Stronger Glass Pitcher. Dual Layer Stainless Steel Filter w Microscopic Holes

This brewer is so much better than all the other systems I tried over the last weeks. I learned over the that making cold brew on your own is not as easy as it seems. Normal brewers with standard steel mesh filters let A LOT of coffee grounds leak into the coffee. So you either need to buy special extra coarse coffee grounds (which in my case did not really help at all), buy a ridiculously expensive coffee grinder (the cheap ones won't do, too much dust), or filter your cold brew after brewing to get rid of all the floating grounds... fun.FEATURES MOST OTHER BREWERS DON'T HAVE!I was hesitant to give Penguin a chance because of the cheap price, but I was pleasantly surprised how good it was when it arrived. All components are high quality and the system checks all the boxes:** Micro-mesh steel filter: there will be no coffee grounds in your cold brew. The filter is so fine that you cannot even see the holes. I am still using the system with extra coarse coffee grounds. The instructions say you can use a medium grind. Based on the fact that there is nothing leaking though the filter at all I would even say you can use just standard everyday grounds for pour over filter coffee. I'll start experimenting and due to that amazing filter I am not restricted to just the few beans that are available as extra coarse grind but can just use any coffee out there. I can even get just any cheap grinder and grind by own coffee - the filter will take care of the dust!** Airtight seal: for storage AND while brewing. Your blue cheese in the fridge won't do your coffee no harm. I'm serious - I don't like coffee that tastes like a combination of everything that happened to be in my fridge. And many other brewers have a loose filter sitting on top, sometimes even completely open for other stuff to fall in.** Easy to clean: the filter opens to the bottom and you can get rid off used grounds in seconds. The whole thing is even dishwasher safe.This brewer was designed to be used, not merely to be sold.HOW GOOD IS THE COLD BREW COFFEE?** The Penguin brewer has a ridiculous filter to body volume ratio. I got the 1.2 liter set, the filter holds roughly 200 grams (7 oz) of grounds (that's a lot) and the return is about 600 ml (20 oz) of ultra-strong coffee concentrate. I have to delude it with water 1:4 to make it "normal". One reason this brew is so strong is that the set comes with a filter holder that lets you drip out the super-concentrated essence that usually gets stuck in the grounds and is dumped into the trash. It just takes another 10 minutes after the brew is done to drain the entire filter.** You can use the grounds a second time (2nd brew) and it returns another 600 ml of really strong coffee (not concentrate, but I still have to delude it a bit).In total I can get over 3 liters (100 oz) of amazingly smooth tasting cold brew from a single fill (with admittedly high quality coffee grounds and two 18 hour brews). The first batch of concentrate can also be used to make mixed drinks (you do not have to delude it with water but can mix in all kinds of milk or use it for amazing high-quality cocktails). You can also drink it pure of cause if you want to die of a caffeine overdose - it tastes amazing. ^^ The second batch is what you are used to from your favorite coffee shop - just much better tasting because you are in control of the beans you use.WHAT I DON'T LIKE** Obviously the brewer only holds one batch of coffee at a time. You need a second carafe for the first batch while brewing the second one. I wished there was a way to just order a second airtight carafe form Penguin. But given the entire brewer is cheaper than what the single carafe is worth, I could just buy a second brewer. =P** You are stuck with 3 liters of pure cold brew coffee after the second brew. That's just too much for a single person. I cannot sleep any more. :D I wished the system was available in a smaller size. But my office mates are quite happy that I started to supply them with coffee. ^^** The bottom cap of the filter has a very rudimentary thread. I wished it would be more of a screw-thingy. But the fact that you can remove the bottom cap at all is just ingenious - I really should stop nitpicking. ;)tl;dr: GET THIS BREWER. You will not regret it. It's absolutely amazing. It not only has the best filter I ever saw but it is also of excellent quality and even looks stylish. Believe me, I had a couple of standard brewing systems and they all sucked compared to this one.PS: customer service... I really don't care where a product comes from, if it's a Chinese or European or American company. But I was a bit speechless when I got a polite and personal email from Atlanta. Someone from Penguin asking me if I was happy with the brewer. Like REALLY personal, not one of these standard automated "please don't review us if you are unhappy" emails. We emailed a bit back and forth. They genuinely stand behind their product, strive to make it even better and truly value all feedback. You feel the love and dedication that went into this brewer system. To the people of Penguin: you guys are amazing!

Product works great. Don't plan to remove the bottom cap from the filter. The filter body is not round when the cap is removed. Replacing the cap is extremely difficult to avoid crossthreading due to the fine shallow threads and the filter body being out of round. Otherwise a great product.

I have tried many different setups and so far this has been my favorite coffee brewer. I ordered the 1.6L version and use it with my Nitropress to make nitro cold brew.It is large enough to easily make two 500ml batches and the mesh helps keep the coffee clear of sediment which help keep the aerator of the Nitropress clean. I use a V60 to filter the coffee after it has been made and this brewer always has less slug in it which results in a faster filter time. Clean up is easy and quick.

After trying some 10 other cold brew alternatives, I finally found the perfect product to make my Cold Brew Coffee to perfection. Because it took me so long to find Penguin, over a year buying second class options, and because it is so hidden within Amazon, and I loved it so much, I decided to write an extensive review.It has all the key ingredients necessary:1. Dual Layer Micro Mesh with microscopic holes, so small (40 microns, or 0.04 mm) that, with coarse coffee, no particles get through. When I put it up to the light, I cannot see the holes.2. Mesh at the bottom of the filter, versus others that have a plain piece of metal.3. Instrument to help you raise the filter within the carafe to pour remaining coffee out of the mesh, at the bottom of the filter, recovering that remaining ¼ to ¾ cup that in other brands you lose. This alone increases your yield by 10 to 20%.4. Huge filter that allows for a super strong formula. In my 1.6 litter carafe, it appears that that put some 18 oz. of coffee and 36 of water. The water came so strong that after diluting it in a relationship of 3:1 yielded 108 oz.5. You can then brew a second time from the same coffee used before. This additional 26 oz. are similar in strength to the already diluted 108 oz. of the first brew. In total, as per my estimate the relationship is 144 oz. (fully 4 litters) from 18 oz. of coffee, or 8:1of pure, mostly acid free, and quite delicious coffee.6. The bottle has a small indentation to help you pour the liquid properly. That’s nice, although common to most other options.7. However, in spite of the indentation, it is airtight, I mean, airtight. To achieve it, it has three rubber bands (two for the filter and one for the lid), and the one for the lid is sufficiently wide to go way beyond the indentation, which is what makes it airtight (and where it differentiates from other options). When you put the lid you feel the pressure, it’s tight, tight all the way to below the indentation.8. Wide base that makes it stable.9. Your coffee only touches stainless steel and glass.10. It is aesthetically beautiful.11. Yields non-acidic, strong, good flavored coffee. In my case, most importantly, it yields lots of caffeine with no acidity; something that I had come to believe could only be achieved with black tea, which is not as good in flavor, as a good coffee can be.As far as I know, Penguin is the only brand offering points 2, 3 and 7. It also offers points 1, 8, and 10, each of which only few others provide, perhaps the top 15%, and those tend to be some 30% more expensive than Penguin.Minuses1. The carafe, in my opinion, looks quite fragile, particularly considering that it is huge, and that it is hard to clean it in the sink without accidentally touching anything. It may be borosilicate class, but I felt it so fragile and big, that I ordered a second one. I already know it will break, and I do not want to be again without it. On the plus side, for what it offers, it is quite inexpensive. Let me put this in perspective, I have invested way over US$1,000 in different mechanism to make quality coffee, and it seems that 80% of the time I will be drinking Penguin coffee, so, if it breaks twice a year, it would be still very attractive.2. I bought the 1.6-liter, and it’s huge. If you do not have a tall enough space in your freeze, or if you do not need 144 oz. of coffee (4 litters), I would definitely recommend the 1.2-liter instead.3. Once you finish the first brew, and if decide to go into a second brew (get an additional 36 oz. with the same coffee), you would definitely need a separate carafe to hold your coffee on the fridge. I bought two 32 oz. amber bottles from Sally’s Organic. I refrigerate it undiluted.4. My package came without the instrument mentioned in point 3 of the plusses. Wrote to them, and they promise to sent in by mail. Once received I will update my review.Recommendation to the Company:1. Considering how fragile the carafe seems to be, the great beauty and efficiency of the filter (which would be left unused in case the carafe breaks), and the fact that you would need a second carafe to perform the second brew, I would strongly recommend the manufacturers to sell a replacement Carafe in Amazon, perhaps even a separate offer of the same product but with an extra carafe.