Introduction
Cold coffee drinks have never appealed to me. Maybe it is because I have always preferred hot drinks in general over cold ones – unless it is a milkshake. But we recently had 30°c weather in the UK and my wife somehow convinced me to buy cold brew maker. Maybe the heat got to me but I purchased one after 10 minutes of research. The one I got and to review is the Hario Mizudashi Cold Brew Coffee Maker.
Confession time: I have not made much cold brew coffee in the past. I did attempt to make iced coffee a few times and they have tasted ‘meh’ at best. I am not one of those that looks down on cold brew coffee. But I just enjoy hot coffee so much that I am not that interested venturing out to the colder side.
But one of the things that drew me to the Hario Mizudashi is how easy it was to make cold brew with it. So I thought it might be of interest to people to see if this cold brewer is a useful thing to own. Let’s get into it.
How does the Hario Mizudashi work?
The Hario Mizudashi is a cold brew maker that requires the coffee to be steeped for a long time before you drink it. This is the opposite of Iced Coffee which is made with hot water but cooled with ice and enjoyed sooner. But cold brew is known to be less bitter and acidic with a smoother taste.
However, let me just say this cold brew maker is probably the easiest coffee brewer you will ever use. There is nothing complicated here. Add coffee into the filter cone and then add room temperature water. Stir until all the coffee is wet then put it in a fridge and leave it overnight. That is it. Also, when it is time to clean then it is again pretty easy. The bottom of the filter bit can be opened and the grounds disposed. A hard rinse washes away all the grounds and looks brand new again.
Okay I might have missed out few other details but the point is it’s super easy to make cold brew with this maker. Now the most important bit is definitely selecting the grind size of the coffee. The recommendation for all cold brews is to use coarser ground coffee. On my Wilfa Svart, I selected the French Press setting. You maybe need to try few batches before you get the right grind setting. There is definitely room for me to go a little finer next time too.
The other thing that is important but not crazy important is what ratio you use. Again, the general recommendation you see for cold brews is 60-65g of coffee to a litre of water. But I went for 32.5 grams of coffee over 500ml water as the brewers capacity was 600ml. I also left it in the fridge overnight and went up to 24 hours before trying it. Hario states it require minimal 8 hours but I have read it is better to wait a full day to extract the most flavour.
Additional Details:
- High Quality Heatproof Glass
- Permanent Filter
- 600ml Capacity
- Dishwasher safe
- Available in Red, Black and Brown
Does the Hario Mizudashi produce tasty cold brew?
The most important question: how did it taste? Well the Hario Mizudashi actually produced pretty decent tasting coffee that was refreshing with slight sweetness. There was no bitterness or acidity which is what your brain thinks you will get after a full 24 hours of steeping. It was very smooth too which tells me the Mizudashi did well to keep any coffee particles out of the actual brew.
There are plenty of ways to enjoy a cold brew, for me I just added some ice cubes as the day was really hot. The other way is to add a dash of cold milk which I don’t find too appealing. I think if you are adding milk then you need to make it a bit stronger. For me, I felt I could have ground the coffee a bit finer to extract a bit more flavour. There are ways to try different things with this brewer but for me it felt like the cold version of filter coffee therefore best enjoyed black.
In terms of what types of coffee to use, I went for a light roasted, natural Ethiopian with flavours notes of strawberry, pineapple and Turkish Delight (I know). It had floral and syrupy notes and was really pleasant to use. I have read through some quick google searching that dark or medium roasts are the preferred choice. That would bring out the nutty, rich and chocolate flavours. If you are using milk then that dark/ medium roasts seems the sensible choice. Going lighter interests me but just note that you do need to steep it for longer. But there are options to try all types of coffee.
Final thoughts…
The Hario Mizudashi was a pleasant surprise because for the price my expectation was low. Decent smooth, refreshing coffee that is super easy to make is always going to be a big tick in my books, There is a lot to like here and if you enjoy a cold brew and don’t mind the long, overnight steeping then this can be for you.
However, although it was a nice drink it was not a ‘wow’ drink for me. I remember adding this to my stories and concluded it by saying…”I still need a hot pour-over coffee.” Cold brews are known to have more caffeine but for me it is the fulfillment of coffee that satisfies me. It is still early days with this cold brewer and the result for the first time was good. But I am still not sure if cold brew coffee is for me.
That is also another thing, unless you love having cold drink throughout the year then this might just stay in the cupboard until those hot summer days. If you live in the UK then you know you know how many ‘hot summer days’ we actually get.
The Hario Mizudashi Cold Brew Coffee Maker is available on Amazon right now in different sizes and colours. Click this link to see the current prices. If you are interested in more colder coffee then check out our Iced-Latte recipe post here.
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