When summer temperatures hit their peak, my go-to morning pick-me-up is a cold, tall glass of cold brew. I own a couple of dedicated cold-brew coffee makers (and three hot coffee machines—please don't judge me; I cover everything coffee at CR), but you don't need a machine to make your own cold brew. All you need are two lidded jars or pitchers and a coffee filter. 

Actually, there is one other thing you need: time. Cold brew takes hours to make. Automatic machines can speed up the process, but coffee made using the no-frills method below must steep for at least 12 hours, says Patrick Main, beverage innovator at Peet's Coffee. He's created all the company's signature beverages over the past 20 years, and he makes a heck of a lot of cold brew at home, so we hit him up for some tips. Here's our tried-and-true no-frills method:

Step 1: Get a Pitcher or Large Mason Jar
As long as it can hold more than 3 cups of water, it'll do.
Step 2: Add Ground Coffee and Cold Water
You can use any blend of coffee you prefer. Coarse, preground coffee is fine, but if you can, grind your coffee fresh (preground coffee loses flavor over time due to oxidation). Main says to add ¼ pound of coarsely ground coffee (roughly 1½ cups) for every 3 cups of cold water. Yes, that's a lot more ground coffee than you would use when brewing with hot water, but you need extra because coffee doesn't extract as efficiently in cold water.
Step 3: Stir
Mix the coffee and water using a spoon until all the coffee is saturated.
Step 4: Let It Steep for at Least 12 Hours
Main brews cold brew at room temperature and lets it steep for at least 12 hours. The warm ambient air temperature helps extract a "broader spectrum of flavors" from the ground coffee than if you put your cold brew in the refrigerator, he says. "It's fine to brew in the refrigerator, but the coffee will extract more slowly, so I would recommend letting it steep for around 18 hours," Main adds.
Step 5: Filter the Grounds out of the Coffee
Place a paper coffee filter over an empty jar or pitcher and slowly pour in the coffee to remove the grounds. If you have a funnel, put the filter in that to make it easier.
Step 6: Dilute the Concentrated Cold Brew and Serve!
Your cold brew is highly concentrated. If you like very strong coffee, you could just add ice and any milk or sweetener. If you prefer a milder brew, dilute it using a 1:1 or 1:1.5 ratio of cold brew to water.

Finally, don't forget to store any leftover cold-brew concentrate in a sealed container in the fridge. Main says it will be good for up to two weeks.

Great Grinders and Brewers for Cold Brew

If you'd like to up your cold-brew game with a burr coffee grinder and dedicated cold-brew coffee maker, we know just the gear to get. Here are two grinders and two brewers that had exceptional performance in our tests.

Quick Take
73
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Grinder

Price: $145

Coarse grind performance
Ease of cleaning
Noise
See all Coffee Grinders Ratings

CR's take: The Baratza Encore Conical Burr Grinder performs especially well in our tests for coarse- and fine-ground coffee, making it a great choice for espresso as well as cold brew. This machine is very easy to clean and convenient to use, though it's somewhat noisy. And though the Baratza allows for precision with 40 individual grind settings, it's more expensive than the other models here and lacks features such as the ability to select a preset number of cups and an auto-stop feature to halt grinding after a certain number of cups or minutes. 

Quick Take
75
Bodum Bistro Electric Burr Coffee...
Recommended

Price: $100

Coarse grind performance
Ease of cleaning
Noise
See all Coffee Grinders Ratings

CR's take: The Bodum Bistro Electric Burr Coffee Grinder does well in all our grind tests, but it stands out for its coarse-grind performance, where it receives an Excellent rating. This model is easy to clean but not as convenient to use as other top-performing models because of unclear markings on its controls. The Bodum is also one of the two noisiest grinders in our tests—we're talking about as loud as a vacuum cleaner. But because you use your coffee grinder only for a minute or two at a time, the noise is more of a nuisance than anything else. This model features 12 grind settings, an auto-stop feature, and a timer.

Quick Take
73
Cuisinart Automatic Cold Brew...

Price: $80

Convenience
Ease of cleaning
Taste
See all Cold-Brew Coffee Makers Ratings

CR's take: Want cold brew without the long brew time? Consider buying the Cuisinart Automatic Cold Brew Coffeemaker DCB-10. It performs better than automatic models that cost almost twice as much. It does well across all our tests, and it's the only model to receive a Very Good rating for ease of cleaning. Most parts are dishwasher-safe, unlike the other models in its class. This Cuisinart comes with a glass carafe (not plastic, like those in certain competing models) and brews in 25 to 45 minutes.

Quick Take
78
Primula Burke Cold Brew Coffee...
Recommended

Price: $20

Convenience
Ease of cleaning
Taste
See all Cold-Brew Coffee Makers Ratings

CR's take: The Primula Burke Cold Brew Coffee Maker PBPBK-5101 is the most inexpensive cold-brew coffee maker in our ratings—and it's one of the best. It receives an Excellent rating for convenience. This Primula comes with a glass carafe, and most of its parts are dishwasher-safe. It's the only model that calls for a full 24-hour brew time, but you might find the results to be worth the wait.