Slow drip · cold
Cold water dripped through grounds one drop at a time over hours. Different from cold brew immersion, and cleaner.
Cold drip — Kyoto-style — passes cold water through a bed of coffee one drop at a time over three to eight hours, using a tall tower with a valve.
Cold brew is immersion: grounds sit in water for 12 to 24 hours and are then filtered. Cold drip is percolation: fresh water passes through the bed continuously and never sits.
The results are genuinely different. Cold drip is cleaner, brighter and more tea-like, with more acidity preserved. Cold brew is rounder, heavier and sweeter, with acidity suppressed.
Neither is better. They are different drinks from the same beans.
Too fast and it is weak and sour. Too slow and it takes all day and can go stale in the vessel.
Check it after ten minutes — the rate drifts as the head of water drops.
Cold drip improves in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours. It is noticeably better on day two.
Keep it sealed and cold, and drink within a week.
Towers are expensive and beautiful. The brewing is not more difficult than cold brew — it is just slower and more attentive.
The equipment this actually requires — not a shopping list, the shortest route to doing it properly.
39 mm nitrogen-hardened burr · hand · filter & espresso
The hand grinder others are measured against, and priced accordingly. Grinds better than electric grinders at twice the money, and asks for your arm every single morning.
Best for: One or two exceptional cups a day, travel, and anyone who values the object.
≈ $340 / £270 / 290 €
2 kg × 0.1 g · auto timer · V60 footprint
Built around the V60 rather than adapted to it: the footprint fits a dripper and a carafe, and the timer starts on its own when the first drops land.
Best for: Pour-over and immersion brewing, where a timer matters more than refresh speed.
≈ $60 / £50 / 55 €
