The OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker brings out more flavors from beans than other brewers we tried and has the most thoughtful features for brewing and storing your coffee with ease. The OXO, on balance, produced the most consistent results of all the models we tried, with the least amount of hassle. Some panelists weren’t fond of certain flavors it brought out, but others named the OXO’s brew their favorite.

Over multiple rounds of testing, the OXO consistently produced the most flavorful cup of cold-brew coffee of any model we tested. This was the case both when we used OXO’s suggested recipe and dilution ratio (40 ounces of water to 10 ounces of grounds—or 4 parts water to 1 part grounds by weight—watered down 2.5:1) and when we used a standard recipe (4.5 parts water to 1 part grounds by weight, watered down 3:1). Using just the metal-mesh filter seems to bring forth a bigger flavor than using one of the optional paper filters that come with the OXO.

In each of our taste tests, panelists generally agreed that the OXO brew’s flavor was the strongest. One noted that it had a “bigger body” than other brews, while others described it as “punchy” and “kinda strong for a hot day,” as well as “vegetal and earthy.” And in our most recent rounds of tasting with Wirecutter staffers, the majority of tasters gave the OXO coffee their highest marks. That said, not everyone loved the strong flavor—some of the coffee professionals who participated in our original tests were unimpressed, although they also told us they didn’t particularly like cold brew in general. If you think you’d prefer a smoother, mellower brew with less acidity and punch, consider getting the Filtron brewer, our runner-up, instead.

The OXO was the easiest cold-brew maker to use and clean. To brew, you fill the upper reservoir with coffee grounds and then pour water into the reservoir’s perforated lid. This ensures that your grounds are evenly saturated and allows the coffee to “bloom” if it’s freshly ground. Instead of resting directly on top of the carafe, as in the Filtron maker, in the OXO the reservoir sits on a dedicated, wide stand. So when it’s time to drain the concentrate, you simply place the glass carafe beneath the brewer and flip a switch to drain your coffee through the OXO’s mesh filter, avoiding the messiness of pulling a cork, as on other models. You can even flip the switch back up midstream to pause and pour yourself some concentrate before it fully drains. When it’s time to clean out the machine, you can easily unscrew the base. You can pop out the mesh filter and rinse it off, too. The OXO’s carafe is made from thermal-shock-resistant borosilicate glass and has a spout for easy pouring. It looks nicer than a plastic carafe (such as the one that comes with the Filtron brewer) and fits better on a refrigerator shelf than the tall jug provided with many competing models. It’s also more helpful than other coffee vessels we tested, thanks to extensive volume markings that let you easily measure out water for brewing.

Used according to the instructions, the OXO should produce about 24 to 28 ounces of coffee concentrate (although we’ve sometimes gotten closer to 33 ounces), which OXO suggests diluting using 2 ounces of coffee concentrate with 4 to 6 ounces of water or milk. By this measure, it yields about 12 to 16 servings of cold brew, enough to get you through the week. (If you want to be able to brew a little more, our runner-up, the Filtron brewer, makes about 32 ounces of concentrate.)

Since you’ll leave your cold-brew maker out for hours at a time while your coffee grounds steep, it’s worth considering both how the appliance looks and how high it stands. The OXO is sleek, with rounded edges, and we find it more attractive than the utilitarian-looking Filtron. And at about 15 inches tall when fully set up, it will fit on the counter under most cabinets. The brewer is also covered by OXO’s Better Guarantee, so if you have any issues with it under normal household use, OXO will replace it or refund you.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker is sold with a handful of optional paper filters, which you can use in addition to the reusable mesh filter. The company says these filters aren’t required but can help to create a smoother brew with less silt at the bottom. In our 2020 tests with the paper filter in place, we didn’t notice any problems with draining, and we haven’t heard any concerns about blockage from our long-term testers. But when we used the paper filters in our 2016 tests, the OXO didn’t drain properly: It almost immediately slowed to a drip, and we got only a few ounces of concentrate because a silty mudflat of grounds covering the paper blocked its flow. An OXO representative had confirmed a slower drain time with the paper filter in place, but he said he’d never seen the stream completely stop, as it did in our original tests. The manual does recommend using coarse grinds, so following that instruction (and using a burr grinder instead of a blade grinder) may prevent these issues.

Also, the OXO’s glass carafe is admittedly less durable than the Filtron’s plastic one. But if yours breaks, you can purchase a replacement for $20.