Dripo Iced Coffee Maker

There must be a million ways to make coffee. And sometimes it feels like I've tried them all. But then something new comes along that's at least a little bit different. In this case, the new thing is the Dripo Japanese-style iced coffee maker.

Among the many styles of coffee makers, this is the style that slowly drips cold water onto coffee grounds to make a smooth, less-acidic cold coffee. This one suggests not only using cold water, but using ice.

In order to get the grounds thoroughly wet, there's a small round piece of coffee filter paper than you can put on top of the grounds. Or, you can wet the grounds first, before you start the dripping. If you don't do either of these, the water tends to run around the grounds rather than wetting them completely and extracting all the flavor.

I've used this to make both iced coffee and to make a concentrated cold brew to add to hot water to make hot coffee. My very first effort, the coffee was a little too weak, so I added more grounds for my next batch. Inexplicably, the water took a crazy long time to drip. Then I checked the directions again, and you can control the speed of the drip by tightening or loosening the container. Problem solved.

Now, I know what I'm doing, and I'm happy with the coffee I'm making. And ... I had a brainstorm. I can assemble this thing and put it in the fridge and let it work its magic in there overnight.

I'm mostly using this to make the more concentrated coffee that I combine with hot water. I have a larger cold brewer, but this one is handy for making flavored or specialty coffees. Because although that hazelnut coffee I bought a while back is tasty, I don't really need it every single day.

This would be great for making coffee while traveling, too, since it wouldn't take more space in your luggage than a regular travel mug or water bottle. In the hotel room, all you'd need is cold tap water to make your coffee. How easy is that?

Overall, this works well. It also comes in a fun box that is shaped like a milk carton, so it would be fun to wrap as a gift.

Who's it for: Coffee drinkers.

Pros: Works well, compact.

Cons: If you drink a LOT of coffee, you might want a brewer that makes more coffee.

Wishes: Can't think of anything at the moment.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.