Cold Brew Bottle

A cold brew bottle is the simplest way to make cold brew: a bottle with a mesh filter in its neck. The best known is Hario’s Filter-in Coffee Bottle, a glass bottle shaped like a wine bottle and sold as a 650 ml bottle. You put coffee in the filter, fill the bottle with cold water and leave it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, give it a gentle shake and pour. Because it’s brewed weaker than a concentrate, you drink it as it is. Here’s how to use one, following Hario’s own instructions.

The short version

• A bottle with a filter in the neck: coffee in the filter, cold water in the bottle.
• 55 g of medium-fine coffee and water to the line, about 700 ml, in Hario’s recipe.
• 8 hours in the fridge.
• Shake gently and pour: no straining.
• Drink it within 2 to 3 days, Hario says.

How does a cold brew bottle work?

It’s immersion brewing in the fridge. The coffee sits in a fine mesh strainer that hangs from the spout down into the bottle, surrounded by cold water. Over several hours, the water slowly extracts the coffee, and the strainer keeps the grounds out of your glass, so there’s nothing to strain. Because it brews in the fridge, it’s ready cold.

The Hario bottle is heatproof Hario glass, with a polyester mesh, a polypropylene strainer frame and a silicone spout and stopper. It’s made in Japan, and Eight Ounce Coffee lists it at 30 cm tall and 8.4 cm wide.

How much coffee and water should I use?

Hario’s recipe:

	Amount
Coffee	55 g, medium-fine, dark roast
Water	Up to the line, about 700 ml, cold
Ratio	About 1:13
Steep	8 hours in the fridge

Retailers vary. Gourmet Kava suggests 50–55 g for the bottle, and up to 60 g for a stronger brew. Crema, a Finnish retailer, suggests a lighter 5–6 g per 100 ml of water, for 12 to 30 hours. Hario also recommends water with little chlorine smell, and soft water if you use mineral water.

What grind size should I use?

Medium-fine, according to Hario’s instructions, which also suggest a dark roast. Some retailers suggest coarse instead. If you get sediment in the bottle, go a little coarser; if it’s weak, steep longer or add more coffee.

How do you use a cold brew bottle, step by step?

These are the steps from Hario’s manual:

1. Fill the strainer with 55 g of medium-fine coffee.
2. Fit the strainer to the spout with a 90° turn, then push the spout onto the bottle with both hands until it clicks.
3. Pour cold water gently through the strainer, with the stopper out, up to the line (about 700 ml).
4. Put the stopper on and tip the bottle gently from side to side so the coffee and water mix.
5. Fridge for 8 hours.
6. Shake it gently before pouring, take the stopper out and pour, over ice if you like.

Some retailers, such as Gourmet Kava, suggest lifting the strainer out once it has brewed. Hario warns that the coffee can come out of the spout fast if you tip the bottle sharply, so pour slowly.

Cold brew bottle vs other cold brew

	Cold brew bottle	Toddy	Cold brew in a jar
Makes	Ready to drink	Concentrate	Either
Ratio	About 1:13	About 1:5	1:4 to 1:16
Brews in	The fridge	Room temperature	Either
Straining	Built-in strainer	Pull the stopper	Strain it yourself
Batch	About 700 ml of water	About 1.65 L of water	Any size
Keeps	2 to 3 days	Up to 2 weeks	Depends on strength

How long does it keep?

Keep it in the fridge and drink it within 2 to 3 days, Hario says, because it oxidises over time. Hario actually advises drinking it as soon as you can. It doesn’t keep as long as a Toddy concentrate, which Toddy says lasts up to 2 weeks.

How do you clean it?

Hario’s manual says the bottle can go in a dishwasher. By hand, use a soft sponge and mild detergent, not scourers or abrasive sponges, which can scratch the glass. Tip the grounds out of the strainer and rinse it gently: Hario warns not to press hard on the mesh from outside, as it can break.

General guidance only. Glass can break: handle the bottle with care, carry it by the glass, not the spout or stopper, and keep cold brew in the fridge and throw it away if it smells or tastes off.

Cold brew bottle vs other methods

• Cold brew: the full guide to cold brew in a jar.
• Toddy cold brew system: a big-batch concentrate.
• Japanese iced coffee: brewed hot, straight onto ice, in minutes.
• Coffee bags: another fuss-free steep, served hot.

Explore every cold method in the cold chapter.