Those of us who are true coffee lovers, are very particular as to its preparation. We all have our own likes and dislikes, and I’m guessing that those of us who REALLY love it wouldn’t be caught dead in a local coffee shop, because no matter how hard they try, when you’re serving the masses, your coffee is not going to be as good as that which is lovingly labored over at home. Putting that aside let me just say that I am a fan of cold brew as well as my morning espresso. I have a glass of cold brew every day, no matter how hot or cold it is outside. There is just something about that jolt of coffee goodness in the mid afternoon that I really love. When I saw this cold brew coffee and tea maker, I was both intrigued and skeptical. I’m old-school. I make cold brew in the fridge, overnight, using a 3 to 1 water-to-coffee ratio. I like it strong, I like it pure, I like it to have a clarity that can only be gotten through the cold brew process. I put this machine to the test this afternoon, honestly, not expecting much. Let me first warn you that you have to anticipate being in the mood for cold brew, because setting this on “extra“ it ran for nearly 45 minutes. I was not expecting that. Naturally, forty five minutes beats the pants off of something brewing in the fridge for 24 hours, nonetheless, it would have been nice for this to have been mentioned somewhere in the literature that came with the machine. Second, there is no indication as to whether you are supposed to put level scoops of ground coffee into the filter basket, or mounded scoops of coffee; those of us who like our coffee strong are not coffee scoop levelers. This, also, would have been nice to know. The instructions are clear and concise. I am not a fan of instructions, and generally dread reading them, but these weren’t bad at all. None of the components are dishwasher safe, so plan on washing them all by hand. I didn’t find this an issue, but some people might. The end result was a strong, but rather cloudy brew. (Photo A) I found this an interesting appliance to use, but when you compare the rather large footprint it will take up in my kitchen versus the current French press style of cold brew coffee maker that I am currently using (that resides in the fridge) that yields a much more pure coffee (Photo B), I’m not likely to give this a lot of use. It also only makes 5 cups versus the eight that I get out of my French press style. I have yet to try tea in it, and I will be doing that later. If the results are astoundingly different from the refrigerator method that I have been using, I will update this review. For now, I can only suggest this for people with a great love of gadgets.