{"id":411,"date":"2013-08-20T21:54:40","date_gmt":"2013-08-21T04:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.danshapiro.com\/blog\/?p=411"},"modified":"2025-09-18T00:43:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T07:43:56","slug":"what-i-learned-from-the-breaking-bad-percolator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danshapiro.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/what-i-learned-from-the-breaking-bad-percolator\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Learned from the Breaking Bad Percolator"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those of you who caught my talk at Ignite 21 already know that I’m a thoughtful coffee convert, going from 1-2 cups per week to 2-3 cups per day when I discovered that I was a fast caffeine metabolizer<\/a> by having my DNA sequenced, leading me to buy a bunch of bluetooth peripherals and breathe while sleeping again.\u00a0 (What can I say; the talk covered a lot of ground).<\/p>\n

I’ll post the talk in a week or two when it’s available online, but after extolling the virtues of my coffee consumption mechanism of choice over and over again, it’s time to put it on line.<\/p>\n

For most people, coffee is a lifelong habit.\u00a0 Suggesting improvements is like optimizations to their shampooing technique… it’s just not really a subject of life that’s much open to change.<\/p>\n

But I was going at it from a fresh slate.\u00a0 I always liked coffee, but had never mustered up the necessary commitment to get a really good addiction going.\u00a0 As a result, I drank it when it was around, and didn’t when it wasn’t.<\/p>\n

That was going to have to change.\u00a0 My inspiration was this piece of sculptured magnificence, which was named “Yama Northwest Glass 25-Cup Cold Brew Drip Coffee and Tea Maker, Black<\/a>” by its creator, but which I will refer to henceforth as the “Breaking Bad Percolator”.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One of the Google Kirkland coffee bars (yeah, ‘one of<\/a>‘) features this piece of caffeinated elegance.\u00a0 I became a regular, and it’s output was sublime.\u00a0 And holy henna, was it ever strong.\u00a0 12 ounces and I was ready to go. A second cup and I was a useless, quivering blob for the bulk of the afternoon – only made that mistake once.<\/p>\n

The wonderful nature of this thing is due to two factors.\u00a0 First, it turns out that you’re supposed to dilute the output of this amazing contraption 3:1 or more with water, but nobody told the barristas. (If you still work there, please don’t!)\u00a0 Drinking cold-brew coffee without diluting it first is AWESOME, more or less akin to putting four shots of espresso on ice in intensity (ask me how I know). Second, because cold brew has less acidity – you get more of the acid out of the beans with hot water (Wikipedia says it<\/a> so it must be true) – so it’s far, far smoother than the aforementioned espresso on the rocks.<\/p>\n

And as a bonus, you can bulk-brew it and it keeps wonderfully for more than a week.<\/p>\n

So after deciding to take the summer off<\/a>, I decided I had to replicate the magical output of this machine at home.\u00a0 And the iteration began.<\/p>\n

I began low-tech.\u00a0 I got a giant mason jar, added 12 oz coffee and 7 cups of water, shook, and left it over night.\u00a0 The next morning was tasty but gritty.\u00a0 Filtering it to drinkability took ages: I would sieve it, pour it through a paper cone with the help of one of these<\/a>, and then do it again because the first time left a weird scum. The first filtering took forever because the paper clogged up, so I had to tend it constantly, pouring more in.\u00a0 But it tasted pretty good.<\/p>\n

My next effort was a Bodum Iced Coffee Maker<\/a>, which has been helpfully discontinued. It’s basically a french press with a larger capacity and a cap so you can leave it in the fridge all night without putting the stink of the coffee bean your kids yogurt.\u00a0 I tracked one down, ordered it… and the seal had cracked.\u00a0 (Discontinued – probably sat in storage forever).<\/p>\n

Not to be dissuaded, I tried a regular coffee press.\u00a0 Eh.\u00a0 Still had that scum on top, so I still had to do a pass with the filter.\u00a0 Not as bad, but still not coffee nirvana.\u00a0 Around this time I tweeted:<\/p>\n

Iterating to cold brewed coffee Nirvana. Salvation remains elusive. pic.twitter.com\/90Z33y124u<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dan Shapiro (@danshapiro) April 22, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which lead to a nice twitter exchange with Corey Doctorow, where I discovered his treatise on radical hotel room coffee independence<\/a>. And there he goes mentioning the Toddy again.<\/p>\n

If you’ve spent more than a few seconds investigating cold brew coffee methods, you’ve discovered the Toddy monstrosity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s uuuugly.\u00a0 And cheap, at only $35.\u00a0 The instructions looked like voodoo, involving ‘layers of coffee’.\u00a0 But the reviews… well, I suppose I should give it a shot, right?<\/p>\n

…and I’m a convert.<\/p>\n

It takes me about 5 minutes to prep enough coffee for the entire week.\u00a0 The liquid ichor that drips forth is as good as anything I’ve had, perhaps just shy of the BBP.\u00a0 It’s $35.\u00a0 I hide it when it’s not in use.\u00a0 It’s ugly, goofily designed (the handle slides off; there’s no lid), but damn it WORKS.\u00a0 And it works fast.\u00a0 And it works deliciously.\u00a0 It’s so good that when I want hot coffee, I zap a mug full of cold brew, because it’s better than making “fresh” with my now-defunct french press.<\/p>\n

A quick note about beans before I wrap this up: garbage in, garbage out.\u00a0 I tried a dozen blends with multiple different brewing systems, and the bad ones turned in to terrible iced coffee, the good ones turned in to\u00a0 brown magic.\u00a0 Middle Fork Roasters<\/a> is outrageously delicious, locally produced (if you’re in Seattle), and the best I’ve found.\u00a0 Any decent bean will do nicely.<\/p>\n

So, then, here then is my recommendations: Get the cheapest solution (Toddy) or the most expensive (Hama).\u00a0 Do not lollygag about in the middle.\u00a0 Hama for looks and the last 5% of excellence; Toddy to get your joe on with a minimum of fuss.<\/p>\n

And if you’ve got a long night ahead with little to do of consequence… then, and only then, try a second glass.<\/p>\n

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