The Best Iced Coffee Makers: Get Ready for Refreshing (2024)

I love iced coffee so much that I drink it multiple times per week year-round, even in the depths of winter. Of course, you can just brew hot coffee and pour it over ice. But then you’re stuck with watered down, severely diluted coffee that just tastes off. That’s why having a machine designed specifically for making concentrated iced coffee makes all the difference. It ensures you get a perfectly brewed, rich, and delicious iced coffee every single time.

Over the years, I’ve tested pretty much every iced coffee product on the market in my quest to find the absolute best iced coffee makers for home. I’ll discuss my top picks and explain what I love about them.

The Top 3 Best Iced Coffee Makers

1. Breville Precision Brewer — Best Overall
2. Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System — Most Affordable
3. Yama Glass Cold Brew & Iced Coffee Maker — Coolest Design

1. Breville Precision Brewer — Best Overall

The Breville Precision Brewer is hands-down the best iced coffee maker you can buy…if your budget allows for it. This seriously premium machine costs around $300, but it’s worth every penny if you’re a true coffee enthusiast that loves iced and hot coffee.

So what makes the Breville Precision Brewer so special? For starters, it brews using a precise temperature control system that gets the water between an ideal 197 and 204 degrees (F). This is the optimal brewing temperature range for extracting maximum flavor from coffee beans without making the brew bitter or burnt tasting. The machine actually has a digital display to show you the exact temperature and a dial to adjust it down to the degree.

Water quality is a huge factor in coffee brewing, so I love that the Breville has a special water filter that removes impurities. This ensures nothing interferes with the pure coffee flavors during brewing.

One feature that really optimizes the iced coffee brewing process is the ability to control bloom time and total brew time. Bloom time is how long the hot water and coffee grounds get to interact before the full brew begins. This allows the coffee to degas and the grounds to fully saturate for better extraction. You can dial in the ideal bloom time from 0 to 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, the brew time setting lets you customize exactly how long the brew cycle will last from 0-10 minutes. This gives you total command over the strength and extraction levels of your iced coffee. I typically use a 30 second bloom and 7 minute brew time for my iced coffee to get it nice and concentrated with a rich flavor.

The Breville Precision Brewer has settings for different brew styles, including an “Over Ice” mode that adjusts the brewing process to optimize extraction for iced coffee. And this is one of the few coffee makers that I’ve used that ACTUALLY brews a super concentrated cup that can stand up to dilution over ice in the carafe.

I also love the insulated carafe that keeps my iced coffee cold for hours. It has dual wall construction for superior temperature retention.

Breville covers the Precision brewer with a best-in-class 2-year repair warranty as well. You won’t find better build quality or long-term reliability in this price range.

2. Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System — Most Affordable

If the Breville Precision Brewer is too pricey, the Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System offers fantastic iced coffee capabilities at a much more affordable price point around $140.

As the name implies, this versatile brewer can make both hot and iced coffee. It has separate baskets with showerhead technology tailored for each style. The cold brew basket has a special design to saturate the coffee grounds fully during the extended steeping period. This slow extraction process results in super smooth, low acidity iced coffee.

This machine can make iced coffee and cold brew, making it a great option for those who love all types of cold coffee. To make iced coffee, you simply fill the brew basket with ground coffee, lock it into the machine, place your cup or carafe on the base, and select the over ice function. The brew is highly concentrated to stand up to dilution.

You do the same for cold brew, but you instead hit the cold brew option. Then let the Ninja go to work slowly drip brewing for anywhere from 4 to 15 hours depending on your taste preferences.

A brew strength control lets you choose between classic or rich concentration levels. The larger shower head thoroughly saturates more grounds for richer cold brew. An integrated milk frother transforms your iced coffee into indulgent coffeehouse-style drinks. You also get a double-walled tumbler and separate carafe so you can brew straight into insulated drinkware.

While not as fully customizable as the Breville, the Ninja does have programmable functionality. You can schedule brew times up to 24 hours in advance using the delay brew setting.

With its multiple size options and brew styles, the Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System is incredibly versatile. You can make iced coffee or cold brew concentrate along with traditional hot coffee in the same compact, easy-to-use machine. The stainless steel finish looks fantastic on the countertop too.

Ninja covers this brewer with an impressive 1-year warranty. For the affordable price and all the functionality you get, that’s excellent value and peace of mind.

3. Yama Glass Cold Brew & Iced Coffee Maker — Coolest Design

For people who really want to embrace the artistry and craftsmanship of cold brew, the gorgeous Yama Glass Cold Brew & Iced Coffee Maker is a perfect choice. This glass drip brewer makes delicious cold coffee right on your countertop while looking ultra stylish.

The Yama’s cold drip brewing process is similar to Japanese iced coffee and takes between 4 and 12 hours to complete. Chilled water drips through the coffee grounds at a perfectly measured slow rate for optimal extraction. This steady saturation produces wonderfully smooth cold brew with rich, complex flavor and zero bitterness or astringency.

Made of borosilicate glass and wood accents, the Yama looks like a work of modern art. It has a sleek tower design with several chambers that you assemble before brewing. The top chamber holds the ice water reservoir. Below that is the reusable stainless steel filter filled with coarsely ground coffee. And at the very bottom is the decanter to collect your fresh cold brew concentrate.

While the Yama brews, you can watch the water slowly make its way through the grounds, dripping out concentrated cold coffee into the decanter below. It’s a hypnotic brewing experience. An adjustable valve controls the drip rate so you can customize the brew time and strength to your tastes.

When brewing is complete, the decanter contains a potent cold coffee concentrate. Simply mix it with water or milk over ice to make smooth, refreshing iced coffee with no dilution or bitterness. The reusable stainless filter makes for very easy cleanup too.

At close to $300, the Yama is certainly an investment. But its stunning design and amazing cold brew results make it worth the splurge for cold coffee connoisseurs. This is both a beautiful countertop accessory and a professional-grade cold brewer.

Yama includes a 1-year warranty on the glass components, which provides peace of mind. But…this is glass, so you have to be really careful not to break it.

Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose an Iced Coffee Maker for Home

With so many iced coffee makers on the market, it can be tough to cut through the marketing fluff and figure out which one is truly right for your needs and brewing preferences. That’s why I’ve put together this detailed buyer’s guide covering the most important factors to consider when choosing an iced coffee maker.

Coffee Quality

When it comes to iced coffee, probably the single most important factor is just how good the coffee actually tastes. You’d think this would be a given, but so many iced coffee makers completely drop the ball and brew coffee that still ends up watery and flavorless once poured over ice.

The problem is that most coffee makers are designed primarily with hot coffee in mind. So they brew coffee at standard hot concentrations, maybe with slightly higher grounds-to-water ratios. But once you pour that brew over ice, it gets severely diluted as the ice melts.

The best iced coffee makers are purpose-built to extract coffee far more concentrated, to the point where it’s almost like an espresso shot in potency. That concentrated brew stands up to dilution from melting ice so the resulting iced coffee maintains robust, undiluted flavor all the way through.

Some iced coffee makers achieve this concentration using special brew baskets sized for lower water volumes and higher grounds saturation. More premium machines have settings to adjust bloom time and total brew duration for truly customizable extraction. The best brewers have precise temperature controls dialed into the optimal range.

Buying an iced coffee maker truly optimized for concentrated, undiluted iced coffee is the only way to get the rich, delicious flavor you crave. Avoid bargain coffee makers that are just trying to pass off slightly stronger hot coffee as an iced coffee solution.

Brew Time

Another factor that directly affects iced coffee quality but also the convenience of using the iced coffee maker is brew time. Basically, how long does it take your coffee maker to finish brewing a batch of iced coffee from start to finish?

Some iced coffee makers, like the Breville and the Ninja, can brew highly concentrated iced coffee in as little as 4 to 15 minutes depending on your preferred brew strength.

On the flip side, you have dedicated cold brew makers like the gorgeous Yama model. These use an ultra-slow drip process to extract incredibly smooth, low acid coffee over the course of 4 to 12 hours. The coffee is great, but…you might not always have hours and hours to wait for your iced coffee.

For some people, that extended brew time is a feature rather than a bug. The extremely relaxed extraction brings out incredibly nuanced flavor you just can’t achieve quickly. But other coffee drinkers simply want great-tasting iced coffee fast.

How quickly you need your morning iced coffee fix should certainly be a factor in deciding which type of iced coffee maker is right for you. If you’re often rushing out the door, a rapid hot extraction machine is way more convenient than having to plan 12 hours ahead with a slow drip cold brewer.

Brewing Capability

Do you only want an iced coffee maker for brewing chilled coffee drinks? Or would you prefer a more versatile machine that can handle both iced and hot coffee brewing?

Some machines like the Yama Cold Brew & Iced Coffee Maker I mentioned are dedicated cold brewers. They’re purpose-built with a slow extraction process optimized solely for making incredibly smooth, rich iced and cold brew coffee. These single-purpose brewers do one thing extremely well but can’t brew hot coffee.

More versatile options like the Breville and the Ninja give you the best of both worlds. In addition to making phenomenal hot coffee and cold brew using different modes, the Breville can even pull double duty as a pour over coffee maker. Its precise temperature controls and pre-soak functions allow for pour over brewing of premium craft coffee similar to what you’d get if you did it manually.

The ideal iced coffee maker for your home depends on whether you need hot coffee capabilities or are solely focused on iced and cold brew. Personally, I prefer the convenience of an all-in-one brewer rather than having separate machines for hot and cold coffee.

Wrapping Up: The Best Iced Coffee Maker for Home

After extensively testing and research, I’ve arrived at what I believe is the best iced coffee maker for home: the Breville Precision Brewer. Provided your budget allows for its price tag it simply can’t be beaten in terms of coffee quality, both hot and iced.

This premium machine is an iced coffee powerhouse with customizable bloom times, adjustable brewing duration, precise temperature controls, and special modes specifically for optimizing iced coffee extraction. The Breville can even do manual pour over brewing. If you’re a die-hard iced coffee fanatic who wants total control over every brewing variable, the Precision Brewer delivers unmatched quality.

For a more affordable option, check out the Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System. And if you’re aiming for looks and only need something that can brew delicious iced coffee, the Yama Glass Cold Brew & Iced Coffee Maker is probably best for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use my regular drip coffee maker to make iced coffee?

While you can brew hot coffee and pour it over ice using a standard drip machine, the results will likely be disappointing. Regular coffee makers aren’t designed for the high extraction needed to prevent watered down, diluted iced coffee as ice melts. Dedicated iced coffee makers concentrate the brew much more for robust flavor over ice. Using a regular machine leads to weak, subpar iced coffee. If you do need to use a regular drip machine, brew hot coffee and then leave it in the fridge to cool before adding ice.

How much coffee do I need for iced coffee?

With an iced coffee maker optimized for high extraction, you generally want to use a 1:4 or 1:5 coffee-to-water ratio by weight. So for every 1 gram of ground coffee, use 4 to 5 grams of water. This high grounds ratio ensures the concentrated brew can stand up to dilution from ice without getting watered down. Start with a 1:5 ratio and adjust stronger if needed based on taste.

Do iced coffee makers take longer to brew than regular coffee makers?

Brew times for iced coffee depend on the specific type of iced coffee maker. Fast brewers like the Breville Precision Brewer use hot extraction and can make concentrated iced coffee in under 10 minutes. Slow drip cold brew machines like the Yama take 4 to 12 hours for proper cold extraction. So some are relatively quick while others require more patience for incredible smoothness.