Laatst bijgewerkt 12 August 2026
Most people who go looking for a cold brew coffee maker from OXO arrive with the same complaint: the mason jar experiment worked, sort of, but straining it through a cloth left grit in the cup and a mess on the counter. The OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker is the brand’s answer to exactly that frustration, and it solves it with a two stage filter and a release switch instead of a strainer and a prayer.
This review looks at the brewer the way a careful buyer would: what the design actually does differently, what owners keep saying after a summer of use, and where a countertop appliance built around a glass carafe asks something back from you. It is an assessment of the product’s design and of recurring themes in owner feedback rather than firsthand use of our own.
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Quick Answer
Is the OXO cold brew coffee maker worth it?
- Yes, if you care about a clean, low sediment concentrate and you want the straining step handled for you rather than improvised over the sink.
- The paper filter is what makes the cup so clear, and it is also a consumable you will keep buying, so factor that into the decision.
- Skip it if counter and cabinet space are tight, or if you want to brew and store in one simple pitcher that lives in the fridge door.
OXO Cold Brew Coffee Maker at a Glance
The OXO brewer is an immersion system split into two parts: a brewing container that sits on top of a glass carafe, with a switch that releases the finished coffee downward through the filters when steeping is done.
| Category | What to know |
|---|---|
| Brew method | Immersion, steeped at room temperature or in the fridge, then released through the filter into the carafe below |
| Materials | Glass carafe with a lid, plastic brewing container and lid, stainless mesh filter |
| Filtration | Two stages: a fine mesh filter plus a paper filter, which is what gives the cup its clarity |
| Water distribution | A perforated top spreads water over the grounds instead of pouring it in one spot, so the bed wets evenly |
| Output | Concentrate, meant to be diluted with water, milk, or ice before drinking |
| Cleanup | Several parts to rinse, and the paper filter gets discarded with the grounds |
| Ideal for | Drinkers who want a clear, sediment free concentrate and like a repeatable process |
| Less ideal for | Small kitchens, minimalists, and anyone who resents buying consumables |
OXO also sells a more compact version of the same idea for people who brew smaller batches, which is worth knowing about if the full size unit looks like too much hardware for your counter.
What the OXO Cold Brew Maker Gets Right
Clarity is the headline. Cold brew is forgiving about a lot of things, but sediment is the flaw people notice most, especially in the last inch of the glass. Running the coffee through a paper filter on top of the mesh removes the fines that a mesh alone lets slip past, and owners consistently mention that the resulting concentrate looks and tastes cleaner than what they got from a jar and a strainer. If you drink your cold brew black over ice, that difference is the whole point.
The second strength is the process itself. Water goes in through a perforated top that spreads it across the grounds rather than punching a channel through them, and when the steep is finished you set the brewer on the carafe and flip the switch instead of wrestling with a soaked filter bag. Small design decisions, but they are the difference between a ritual you keep and one you abandon in August. Getting the grind right matters just as much, which is why a burr grinder set to a coarse setting is the single best upgrade to pair with it, as covered in our guide to the best coffee grinders for cold brew.
Where the OXO Cold Brew Maker Falls Short
Size is the first honest limitation. This is a two piece system with a stand, a brewing container, a carafe, and lids, and it does not disappear into a cabinet the way a pitcher does. Owners in small kitchens often describe it as living permanently on the counter, which is fine if you brew weekly and less fine if cold brew is a summer habit. The glass carafe also asks for the usual care that glass asks for.
The second is the consumable. Paper filters are what make the cup clean, and they are also something you have to keep in the cupboard. Some owners run the brewer with the mesh filter alone to avoid that, accepting a slightly heavier cup in exchange, which is a reasonable trade but worth knowing before you buy. Finally, this is a concentrate maker, so every serving involves dilution. If you would rather pour and drink straight from the fridge, a ready to drink style pitcher suits you better.
How It Compares
Against the Toddy Cold Brew System, the OXO is the tidier, more modern take: Toddy brews a bigger batch and uses a reusable felt filter that gives a rounder, softer cup, while the OXO gives you a cleaner one with less filter maintenance. Against the Takeya Cold Brew Maker, the comparison is clarity versus convenience, since the Takeya brews and stores in one plastic pitcher that fits a fridge door but filters through mesh only. And against the Hario Mizudashi, the OXO is the concentrate machine and the Hario is the glass carafe you pour straight from. Where all of them sit relative to each other is mapped in our best cold brew coffee makers guide.
Check It Out
How we chose: the standard full size OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker with the glass carafe is the configuration nearly all owner feedback describes, and the one most buyers in this category are comparing.
🏆 The Clean Cup Benchmark in Cold Brew
An immersion brewer that handles the part everyone hates, straining, with a mesh and paper filter combination and a one switch release into the carafe. The concentrate it produces is the clearest thing in this category short of a slow drip tower.
✅ Two stage filtration gives a notably low sediment cup
❌ Takes real counter space and keeps you buying paper filters
Who It Is For, and Who Should Skip It
Buy the OXO if you drink cold brew regularly enough to justify a dedicated setup, if a clean cup matters more to you than counter space, and if you like the idea of a concentrate in the fridge that you can turn into an iced coffee, an iced latte, or a cold brew soda depending on the day. It rewards a coarse, even grind and a steep somewhere in the usual range, which for most people lands between twelve and twenty four hours.
Skip it if your kitchen has no room to spare, if you brew cold coffee only a few times a season, or if you specifically want ready to drink coffee rather than a concentrate to dilute. Those preferences point toward a simple pitcher, and there are good ones.
Alternatives Worth Considering
Three directions, depending on which OXO limitation matters most to you.
🍶 Bigger Batches, Softer Cup
The classic American home cold brew system, built around a brewing bucket and a reusable felt filter that owners describe as producing a rounder, mellower concentrate. It makes a large batch at once, which suits households where more than one person drinks it.
✅ Big batch output with no paper filters to buy
❌ The felt filter needs careful rinsing and storage, and the set is bulky
🧊 Simplest Fridge Door Option
A sealed pitcher with a mesh filter core that lets you brew and store in the same vessel, no carafe transfer and no consumables. The trade is a mesh only cup and a plastic body instead of glass.
✅ Brews and stores in one piece that fits most fridge doors
❌ Mesh only filtration lets more fines through than paper
🔍 Glass and Minimal
A slim glass carafe with a long mesh filter that brews in the fridge and pours straight into the cup, usually at ready to drink strength rather than as a concentrate. The choice for people who want glass and very few parts.
✅ Glass carafe, small footprint, quick to clean
❌ Modest batch size and a mesh filter that shows fines
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the OXO cold brew maker make concentrate or ready to drink coffee? Concentrate. You dilute it with water, milk, or ice to taste, which is why one batch stretches further than it looks in the carafe.
How long should the coffee steep? Treat steep time as a range rather than a rule. Many people land somewhere between twelve and twenty four hours, with longer steeps giving a heavier cup, and OXO’s own instructions are a sensible starting point.
What grind size works best? A coarse grind is commonly recommended for immersion cold brew, because fine particles both muddy the cup and slow the filter. A burr grinder helps more than an expensive brewer does; see our cold brew grinder guide.
Do you have to use the paper filter? No, the mesh filter works on its own. Owners who skip the paper generally report a fuller but slightly heavier cup, so it comes down to how much sediment bothers you.
How does it compare with a simple pitcher brewer? The OXO wins on clarity and loses on footprint and simplicity. Our cold brew roundup sorts the category by how much hardware you actually want on the counter.
The Bottom Line
The OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker earns its place by fixing the one step home cold brew always got wrong, which is straining. The mesh and paper combination gives a clean concentrate with very little sediment, and the release switch turns a messy job into a five second one. Accept the counter space and the paper filters and it is one of the easiest recommendations in the category.
Check out the OXO cold brew maker