Toddy Coffee Maker Review

My dream is to have a never-ending supply of coffee. The Toddy makes this a reality. All I have to do is is put ground coffee in the Toddy, go to sleep and in the morning I have coffee.

OK, it is not quite that easy but almost. You put the plug in the bottom, put in the wet filter and add 2 cups cold water. pour in half a pound of ground coffee. I have used Folgers, not fantastic but OK. Ideally you will coarsely grind half a pound of Arabica beans for this step. Get this even and add 5 cups of water slowly - you are creating a layer or mat of coffee here. Then sprinkle the other half pound of ground coffee on top. At this point I cover the Toddy with a small plate and wait for 5 minutes. I am letting my grinds soak up some of the water so that I can add the rest. After my grinder is clean and my timer has gone off, I take the plate off and very slowly add 2 more cups of water.  Using the back of a large tablespoon I press down on the top of the coffee to make sure everything is wet. Do not stir or you will never get your Toddy to drain. Trust me on this, it is no fun having to scoop coffee and grinds to a funnel lined with cheesecloth. A word about my using a plate to cover my Toddy. I do not leave any food uncovered in my house. The Toddy company does not supply a lid. My salad plates fit perfectly.  I have a friend who uses foil but that seems so wasteful to me. If you feel safe in yourself leaving it uncovered, do so.

Twelve or so hours later, twist the plug out of the bottom. Make sure you do this over the carafe or you will make a mess. It takes around ten minutes to drain. Put the carafe in the fridge and you have coffee. The deal with the grounds. Do so immediately. I cannot stress this enough. Coffee grounds left out will grow mold. At least in Houston they will. If they grow mold you will have to buy new filters. I put the grounds in my compost pile, when I remember.

Now is the time to make drinks. What you have on your hands is beautiful coffee essence. My favorite summer drink:

2 oz Vanilla syrup ( I use Sugar free)
2 oz Coffee essence
milk
Fill quart jar with ice, add syrup, coffee. Top off with milk. Shake or blend and enjoy.

For Winter:

1 oz vanilla syrup
3 oz cinnamon syrup
4 oz coffee
14 oz milk
Heat coffee and milk separately in microwave. Blend vanilla syrup with milk in 20 oz mug. Mix cinnamon syrup with coffee and pour into mug. Enjoy.

If you need a caffeine jolt: sweeten to taste and drink. the Toddy company says to water it down but before I started adding milk to my coffee, this is how strong I drank it. After I pressed my French Press, it was half grounds. The Toddy, being cold brewed, has less acid than other coffee my cholesterol is lower since I switched.

You can also use this coffee for any recipe that calls for cold espresso or cold strong coffee. Great for tiramisu.

Oh, another thing I forgot to say is that everything is dishwasher safe except the filter which is just rinsed and kept in a plastic bag in the fridge. All in all, a great way to have a never-ending supply of coffee.