Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Coldwave


Iced coffee has always been easier for those adept at planning. Whether it's cold brew with it's overnight brew time of around 12 hours or regular hot coffee chilled in the freezer for an hour, making iced coffee takes time. For those of us wanting it done fast and/or fresh, that usually only leaves the option of flash brewing your coffee, basically brewing a double-strength pourover straight over the correct volume of ice so that the finished iced coffee results in the correct brew ratio.

But the folks at IceColdNow have created another means of immediate chilling that really takes a lot of the planning and complexity out of good iced coffee. Their gadget, dubbed the Coldwave, consists of a BPA-free plastic pitcher and a freezable insert. The insert looks like a lid with lots of long, closely-packed rectangles hanging down (when turned over, it looks like a densely packed city). The key lies in the small spaces between the rectangles, with each alley increasing the surface area interaction between the frozen rectangles and the coffee, resulting in a cool down of 16 ounces of hot coffee in a matter of two or three minutes.

Not one to be won over by rhetoric, I was pleased to take a Coldwave for a spin to see if the claims were true. The pitcher and insert both looked as advertised, appearing legit and well made. Per the instructions, I washed everything initially and then once dried off, I stuck the insert in the freezer. After a few hours, the insert was frozen and I set to work on the coffee.


Wanting to avoid coffee silt, I brewed the coffee via pourover using a rinsed paper filter. Once brewed, I dumped in the coffee into the pitcher and slowly added the insert. The chilling started fairly quickly, with the pitcher growing cold almost instantly. As promised, after about two minutes, the coffee was ice cold. Pouring the coffee into a 16 oz glass, I sipped the now chilly coffee without adding any ice and found the coffee flavor quite excellent, with no flavor degradation due to the rapid chilling or interaction with any of the components of the Coldwave. Clean-up also proved a breeze, with quick rinse of the insert and sticking it back in the freezer.

Simply put, the Coldwave delivered on my hopes. It proved easy to use and efficient in transforming my piping hot coffee into an icy brew. As for planning ahead, the only piece that required preplanning was making sure the insert was frozen prior to chilling the coffee (and since I plan to just leave it in the freezer, there's little thought needed). Also, as an added bonus, any beverage can be chilled with the Coldwave so you can quickly chill room temperature soda or hot tea into ice-cold drinks.

Check out the Coldwave, especially if you like drinks made cold fast without dilution.


note: Coldwave was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.

1 comment:

Jane E said...

Looks like a great new coffee system to use! Iced coffee is a great option - especially in the warmer months. Being able to make it easily from home like this is ideal, as you can use your favourite fresh beans. One of my personal favourites is We Are Little's: https://www.wearelittles.com.