Penguin Coffee- Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker 1.6 Liter- Customers Spoke- We Listened. Version 2.0 Now Available! Thicker

what our customer say this product:

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1. Dena Bagby Verified Buyer – 24 April 2024

   I had this product for less than a year. The metal piece that is used to pull the filter out of the pitcher broke and I have never been able to reach someone to order a new filter.
   Penguin Company itself was contacted by me with no response. Very poor customer service.
   Product does not last, and no way to re-order needed parts.
   

2. Simon Verified Buyer – 30 April 2024

   This brewer is so much better than all the other systems I tried over the last weeks. I learned over the that making cold brew on your own is not as easy as it seems. Normal brewers with standard steel mesh filters let A LOT of coffee grounds leak into the coffee. So you either need to buy special extra coarse coffee grounds (which in my case did not really help at all), buy a ridiculously expensive coffee grinder (the cheap ones won’t do, too much dust), or filter your cold brew after brewing to get rid of all the floating grounds… fun. FEATURES MOST OTHER BREWERS DON’T HAVE! I was hesitant to give Penguin a chance because of the cheap price, but I was pleasantly surprised how good it was when it arrived. All components are high quality and the system checks all the boxes: ** Micro-mesh steel filter: there will be no coffee grounds in your cold brew. The filter is so fine that you cannot even see the holes. I am still using the system with extra coarse coffee grounds. The instructions say you can use a medium grind. Based on the fact that there is nothing leaking though the filter at all I would even say you can use just standard everyday grounds for pour over filter coffee. I’ll start experimenting and due to that amazing filter I am not restricted to just the few beans that are available as extra coarse grind but can just use any coffee out there. I can even get just any cheap grinder and grind by own coffee – the filter will take care of the dust! ** Airtight seal: for storage AND while brewing. Your blue cheese in the fridge won’t do your coffee no harm. I’m serious – I don’t like coffee that tastes like a combination of everything that happened to be in my fridge. And many other brewers have a loose filter sitting on top, sometimes even completely open for other stuff to fall in. ** Easy to clean: the filter opens to the bottom and you can get rid off used grounds in seconds. The whole thing is even dishwasher safe. This brewer was designed to be used, not merely to be sold. HOW GOOD IS THE COLD BREW COFFEE? ** The Penguin brewer has a ridiculous filter to body volume ratio. I got the 1.2 liter set, the filter holds roughly 200 grams (7 oz) of grounds (that’s a lot) and the return is about 600 ml (20 oz) of ultra-strong coffee concentrate. I have to delude it with water 1:4 to make it “normal”. One reason this brew is so strong is that the set comes with a filter holder that lets you drip out the super-concentrated essence that usually gets stuck in the grounds and is dumped into the trash. It just takes another 10 minutes after the brew is done to drain the entire filter. ** You can use the grounds a second time (2nd brew) and it returns another 600 ml of really strong coffee (not concentrate, but I still have to delude it a bit). In total I can get over 3 liters (100 oz) of amazingly smooth tasting cold brew from a single fill (with admittedly high quality coffee grounds and two 18 hour brews). The first batch of concentrate can also be used to make mixed drinks (you do not have to delude it with water but can mix in all kinds of milk or use it for amazing high-quality cocktails). You can also drink it pure of cause if you want to die of a caffeine overdose – it tastes amazing. ^^ The second batch is what you are used to from your favorite coffee shop – just much better tasting because you are in control of the beans you use. WHAT I DON’T LIKE ** Obviously the brewer only holds one batch of coffee at a time. You need a second carafe for the first batch while brewing the second one. I wished there was a way to just order a second airtight carafe form Penguin. But given the entire brewer is cheaper than what the single carafe is worth, I could just buy a second brewer. =P ** You are stuck with 3 liters of pure cold brew coffee after the second brew. That’s just too much for a single person. I cannot sleep any more. 😀 I wished the system was available in a smaller size. But my office mates are quite happy that I started to supply them with coffee. ^^ ** The bottom cap of the filter has a very rudimentary thread. I wished it would be more of a screw-thingy. But the fact that you can remove the bottom cap at all is just ingenious – I really should stop nitpicking. 😉 tl;dr: GET THIS BREWER. You will not regret it. It’s absolutely amazing. It not only has the best filter I ever saw but it is also of excellent quality and even looks stylish. Believe me, I had a couple of standard brewing systems and they all sucked compared to this one. PS: customer service… I really don’t care where a product comes from, if it’s a Chinese or European or American company. But I was a bit speechless when I got a polite and personal email from Atlanta. Someone from Penguin asking me if I was happy with the brewer. Like REALLY personal, not one of these standard automated “please don’t review us if you are unhappy” emails. We emailed a bit back and forth. They genuinely stand behind their product, strive to make it even better and truly value all feedback. You feel the love and dedication that went into this brewer system. To the people of Penguin: you guys are amazing!

   

3. Dehve Verified Buyer – 7 August 2024

   This is my second cold brew maker and I like the glass container as opposed to those made of plastic. It does exactly what one would expect and looks nice. The filter works very well, no coffee grounds make it into the main chamber. The only problem with this is the metal filter itself. The bottom of it unscrews making it very easy to clean however it also gave me several small cuts on my hands and fingers. I’m not sure how it happened but somehow I got them while screwing the bottom back onto the filter body after cleaning. The metal edges around the cap, and bottom of the filter body are noticeably rough but I didn’t realize it was cutting me until a couple minutes after cleaning the filter. All but one or two were superficial and now that i am aware of this issue will be more careful next time. I like this product and definitely recommend it to anyone looking to get into cold brew coffee makers. The price is good and they appear to be a company who are interested in customer feedback to better their system. All good points, just be careful when cleaning the filter.
   

4. A. Currie Verified Buyer – 23 January 2025

   Edit: Two years after writing this review, I’m still brewing with it every week, and it looks and works as well as ever. This item truly feels like a “version 2” where the makers took feedback to heart and refined their design to make something flawless. A year ago, I bought a beautiful glass cold-brewer, with rubber seals, and a dishwasher-safe metal filter, from another brand… and this Penguin could be described the same way… except it’s worlds better, and I save so much time now: – I no longer spend an hour running the brewed coffee through paper filters to really get the grounds out, because the Penguin’s “micromesh” filter clearly looks and works so much better – I no longer have to coarse-grind the beans if I don’t want to, the filter works that well – I no longer have to prop up the filter in a second bowl to help drain it out, because Penguin actually included a riser that holds the filter above the pitcher for doing this effortlessly. The Penguin filter also has mesh on the bottom for better draining. – I no longer struggle to remove the grounds packed at the bottom of the filter, banging it upside-down over the trash, because it unscrews at the bottom. It’s like they read my mind. – I brew less often because it makes so much – it’s a concentrate that dilutes to make double, and it’s still strong. – I can even stick the filter with the grounds back in and let it sit another 24 hours for a second batch, which I couldn’t do with my last one without it tasting watery (you don’t dilute the second batch). ADVICE: Check the dimensions of the 1.6 liter pitcher, especially the height. It’s very tall and I had to tweak the shelves in our fridge for it to fit. See pictures for scale next to a milk jug. I love how much it makes. It’s just one of those products that actually lives up to all the positive talk in the product’s marketing. They say it’s been carefully designed and improved and I believe it. The only thing I wish it had is measurement lines on the flask so I can see how much I’m pouring. And maybe the riser could be a centimeter taller. SHARP? I just saw reviews complaining the filter has sharp edges. I aggressively touched every edge on my filter out of curiosity and can’t find anything sharp. Maybe they’ve improved it since then?

   

5. Jide’s Mom Verified Buyer – 24 January 2025

   A wonderful device!! I love this thing and it looks terrific too! Very easy to use, filter is fine enough to use normal store bought ground coffee with no grains coming through. I can make it on the weekend and have coffee concentrate for throughout the week. Cold brew coffee has so much less acid than normal coffee, it kick-starts your brain without that nasty/angry mood swing I get with regular brewed coffee (my husband is grateful LOL!). This company is terrific to deal with too! There was an issue with the filter and they are sending a replacement. I told everyone at work about this, and will be buying these for gifts this year for sure! I cant recommend this highly enough!!

   

6. Tina Verified Buyer – 9 February 2025

   So I really like this brewer and you can use the grounds twice which is a money saver. However the glass is super thin and while washing I hit the edge of the sink and it broke. 👎🏻👎🏻

   

7. Tessa Verified Buyer – 2 March 2025

   EDIT: After communication with the seller/manufacturer, They deemed that there must’ve been a quality control issue as the ring was supposed to be welded to the cylinder. They sent me a new filter unit right away. I set up and made coffee immediately upon receiving the new filter unit. I am incredibly happy with this product and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to try cold brew at home. The coffee (Black Gold) came out incredibly dense and for my taste needs to be 1 part coffee with 2 parts water. During the entire time of communicating with the seller, they sent different ideas on how to dilute the condensed coffee to taste the notes of flavors, like tasting notes in wine. That was very personalized communication and very much appreciated. The black gold straight from the decanter is smooth and delicious (I normally don’t like black coffee). However, to drink more than a taste, you should dilute it. I warm up the diluted black gold to drink it as bullet proof coffee. This changes the taste a little bit but that doesn’t bother me. Have not yet tried it over ice. Definitely get yourself a Penguin, because of the high quality and beauty of the unit. The decanter is stronger glass and doesn’t feel like it will break under normal use. If anything is awry with your order, their customer service is top notch and responsive. Prior 1star review: I just got this and can’t even use it. The top metal ring absolutely refuses to stay on the filter. 1) The filter came shaped as a triangle. After much manipulating to make it round again, the ring still pops off as soon as I get it on. 2) To top it off, it is incredibly difficult to get the ring down over the mesh filter part and that part bunches up. At one point I succeeded in getting the mesh tucked under the ring only to have the ring pop back off again….UGH!!!! So frustrated. I will contact the maker to see if it is user error or bad product. I will update this review if this gets resolved.

   

8. Jamie Verified Buyer – 3 March 2025

   I wanted to make iced coffee the right way, so I bought this and I’m so glad I did. If you don’t overfill it, no grounds will get in your coffee. I’ve never had a cold brewer for coffee, but I’m so pleased with this. It’s perfect and it’s beautiful.

   

9. ThoughtfulOptimist Verified Buyer – 6 March 2025

   Very disappointed in the filter. I tried it once. The bottom of the filter screws off in order to make it easier to clean, but I couldn’t get it back on and then noticed it sliced both my thumbs and I was bleeding. It was incredibly difficult to get the bottom correctly back on and now my thumbs were throbbing. I gave up on the filter and just use the pitcher for filter packs and it is good quality. The stopper lid is great.