OXO Brew Rapid Brewer

radio_babylonUnited States

it works and is awesome, but how the heck DOES it work? seriously, i want to know.

i love this thing. originally, i was looking for something that would allow me to be completely off-the-grid when it comes to making coffee. i live in a corner of the world where power is not guaranteed from moment to moment, so boiling water or running the grinder (i have a manual to cover that) may not always be an option. i had heard that this thing makes excellent coffee even with cold or room-temp water in 5 minutes and thought, ok sure, i dunno how thats going to work, but ill give it a shot. and i will admit, i was skeptical. tbh... i STILL dont entirely understand how it does what it does with cold water (and i do mean COLD, 33 degree water even)... but damned if it doesnt work, and produce some fine tasting cups of coffee to boot. a little experimentation was required to get the best (for my tastes) results, but now that ive got it dialed in, i am very impressed with the results. speaking of, its a bit difficult to describe what comes out of this thing. made cold, its not exactly like a 12-24 hour cold brew... its certainly not espresso, and its not really like a traditional hot brew (pour over, filter, french press, or otherwise)... i dunno HOW to put it, exactly. first, when they say it produces a concentrate, they arent just whistling dixie, you do NOT want to drink this stuff straight. right from the press its black as coal-tar and half as thick, and will definitely put hair on your chest. however, cut down with ice, milk, and cold water, and damn thats a tasty cup. or, several really. depending on how strong you like your coffee, youre going to want to cut it down AT LEAST 2 parts to 1... and probably as much as 3 or 4 parts to 1. however, that said, i would NOT follow the box instructions for making it cold. it wants WAY too much coffee, most of which is wasted by their recipe. they recommend 40g, but using 25g yields something indistinguishable from the 40g dose. however, for this to work, youll want it a bit finer than they recommend. on my electric 36-step grinder, i put it on one step up from the absolute finest grind, but your mileage will vary depending on your grinder. its not espresso-fine, but its damn close to it. i put the 25g into the basket, needle it, level it, then tamp the holy hell out of it, like HARD. i then add the recommended amount of water and let it sit the 5 minutes. at the end of the 5 minutes you should have juuuust a bit in the cup, 1/8 to 1/4 inch at most. any more than that, and you need to go finer. at this point, pump it 5-6 times and it will run about 2/3 of the water through. 2-3 more will get the last of the water through followed by a satisfying hiss that lets you know youre done. of course, your tastes may be different than mine, but personally i find this gives great super-drinkable results without using as much coffee. made hot, i do pretty much the same (25g, same grind) but only the 2 minutes. youll have a fair bit more drip through in that 2 minutes as well, but thats fine dont sweat it. itll pump through quite a bit easier as well. but, again, the end result is a really tasty super-drinkable concentrate. itll taste a bit different than the cold, but pretty close. and probably, the closest thing id compare it to is what you get out of a moka pot, although a LOT stronger. ive also found its GREAT for cooking. the concentrate packs a TON of coffee flavor without a ton of liquid, allowing for a lot of versatility. i made a coffee cheesecake with a cold concentrate made as above and it was OUTSTANDING. im really looking forward to experimenting with this aspect of the brewer. its also quite ergonomic, stores compactly with everything self-contained (dont forget to stow the tamper in the water chamber) making it great for travel. im going to knit a little drawstring cozy for it for when i want to toss it in my day bag or suitcase :) tl;dr: if youve fallen down the rabbit-hole of weird coffee stuff, you owe it to yourself to put this in your collection. its fast, portable, power-free, versatile, and just... oddly cool and interesting. in the grand spectrum of coffee gear, the price is right too, so you cant hardly go wrong. and hey, if you dont like it, repack it and gift it for christmas to someone :)

WrethaOffGrid✨🌟⭐😎United States

Go for it!

First off, I'm not a daily coffee drinker, more like a once or twice a week after dinner coffee drinker, I drink it for the flavor more than a "have to" kind of thing. That being said, I need to have great tasting coffee. I have quite the collection of different coffee making apparatuses, from simple stainless steel pour overs (surprisingly tasty coffee comes from those), to French presses, a couple of different cold brew devices, a couple of different Moka pots, and an AeroPress. I also tend to grind my own beans. I love making coffee in each of these coffee making devices, but at this time, my absolute favorite is the Oxo Rapid Brewer. I find it makes pretty good coffee, and the ease of use and cleanup afterward is also a major perk. Even though I really enjoy coffee in all of my other coffee devices, I have been known to want a cup of coffee but chose to not make it only because of the fact that it was either going to take too much time/effort to get it set up and/or the cleanup afterward. Enter the Oxo Rapid brewer. I love the fact that it can make hot or cold brew, and the cold brew takes only a few more minutes than the hot. I have been experimenting with adding a dash of cinnamon to the coffee bed before tamping, I'm going to try cocoa powder next. One thing I do that is a bit extra, since I have an AeroPress, I have lots of those paper filters for it, I do use one in my Oxo Rapid brewer, only to make it easier to clean out and it helps keep the metal filter from getting clogged. I don't know for a fact that it will get clogged, I'm only going by past experience with stainless steel pour over devices, they have a very fine metal filter and eventually the very fine coffee grounds do slow the coffee from going through. I am doing this in a preemptive manner. I also reuse the paper filter a few times, I did that with the AeroPress (don't judge) and it works just fine, I rinse it and reuse it a few times with no issues. If I remember correctly, the maker of the AeroPress said in an experiment to see how many uses he could get from one, he got 100 uses out of 1 paper filter, I wouldn't go that far, but I see nothing wrong with reusing it a few times. 👉👉👉<<<<EDITED TO ADD>>>>👈👈👈 I have pretty much stopped using the Aeropress filters every time, I still use them on occasion, but mostly not. I found that it doesn't clog at all, cleanup is easy, I just "knock" out the grounds into the trash and rinse out what remains. Sometimes I'll toss the grounds into my garden. I do not notice any cloudiness or fines in my coffee when made without the filter. Back to the regularly scheduled program, I find that the Oxo Rapid brewer works great for me, it makes tasty coffee, it's easy to use, easy to learn, easy to clean. It makes a concentrate which I use for a larger cup of coffee, I like to add either half and half or milk, some water and a bit of maple syrup for sweetness. I have found it makes just the right amount for me, but if need be I could share or since it brews so quickly, I could easily make 2 batches back to back. It doesn't leak, it makes more than enough for me, the unit feels sturdy, I'm not concerned about dropping it. Cleaning it is a breeze, I just knock out the coffee grounds, rescuing the paper filter, I rinse everything and let it dry in my dish drain. It is super stealthy too, no worries about disturbing anyone if I decide I want a quick cupper in the middle of the night. My only "issue" is I purchased a few bottles of coffee concentrate just before ordering this, it's hard to decide which I want to use, I am going to have to make myself use up my coffee concentrate (I don't want to waste them, they are good too). I am enjoying using this method to make my own coffee concentrate, maybe I'll hang on to one of the empty bottles and refill it with the brewed coffee concentrate. If you are on the fence about buying this, don't be, it's worth it, the price is right and the method is fun and makes a tasty brew.

gbernUnited States

OXO Brew Rapid Brewer is a must buy for coffee

At some point within the 6 weeks of owning the OXO New Rapid Brewer, it has become my default method of brewing coffee. The versatility of its core mechanic brings out the flavors across roast levels - and what you get is a rich but light tasting brews with good mouth feel. The Rapid Brewer produces coffee concentrate. You then add water to dilute the concentrate to your preference. Oxo's recommended recipe is 20 grams of coffee to 160 grams of water yielding about 115 grams of concentrate. That's enough for 2 cups of American style coffee. But here's the versatility - in the mood for an espresso style drink? Then don't dilute the Oxo recipe. Or better yet try a recipe of like 22 grams coffee to 80 grams water. And wow - you get a well textured full flavored espresso like drink. Espresso-like, because the Rapid Brewer is not a high pressure system, so it isn't espresso. But the mouth feel and taste is in that region. Espresso fans would call this a "soup" style espresso - where the goal is to generate high flow rate rather than high pressure. Ideal for light to medium roasts. And the Rapid Brewer can produce cold brew coffee. Not my thing, so I've only done it a couple of times. Cold brew in 5 minutes is remarkable. The brew method is simple. Add your ground coffee either by weight or to the fill line in the basket. Screw on the clear water holder. Fill water by weight or to the fill line. Screw on the plunger. Wait ~ 2 minutes and then start pumping. Again, this is not a high pressure system, so pumping is easy and it's over quickly. Clean up is very quick. The puck in the brew basket is dry - just knock it out into trash, wipe with a towel. Unscrew the pump. Done. I see a lot of comparisons to the Aeropress. I own 2 aeropresses. Not that it's a competition - but I much prefer what I can get from the Rapid Brewer. It's a richer mouthfeel. It's a fuller flavor. I will say that I use the aeropress filters in the Rapid Brewer to get a clean brew. They fit great. So yes, I highly recommend the Rapid Brewer. For cheap money, you get a system that produces excellent coffee. I'm sippin an Ethiopian Americano style coffee as I write this review, and I wish I could share it with you all. Cheers!

Sherry QUnited States

Fun, easy, delicious brew!

I have several types of coffee makers, and this may be my favorite. It’s easy to operate, easy to clean, and makes smooth, rich, very concentrated coffee. Some things to know: 1. The pump may need priming the very first time you use it. You can tell it’s primed if you feel some resistance and see the water level decreasing while pressing the pump down. 2. Press the pump repeatedly until all the water empties. I pump until I see foam coming out (that’s just my preference). 3. The coffee is highly concentrated, and the manufacturer suggests adding 2-3 parts water to it. I like very strong coffee, so I only add less than 1 part water. My daughter adds none. I suggest you add water to suit your own taste and health needs. 4. Cleaning: a. Rinse the plastic coffee cup with water b. Rinse the top and bottom of the water receptacle c. The coffee grind receptacle is easy to clean if you gently scoop the grinds out with a spoon, wipe it down with a dry paper towel, and rinse with water. OR it’s also safe to place all 3 of those parts on the top shelf of the dishwasher. Do NOT rinse the pump. — The only drawback I see is that the device doesn’t produce more coffee. But, it’s probably enough for people who need to dilute it more than I do.