The OXO Rapid Brewer is designed to quickly and easily brew both hot and cold coffee concentrate. Photo by Howard Bryman
Whether for cocktails, frappes, baked goods or speedy mornings, coffee-as-ingredient is big business these days. The number of bottled concentrated coffee products is on the rise in stores and online, and with the Rapid Brewer, housewares brand OXO delivers a simple means for anyone to create their own fresh hot or cold concentrate using any coffee at home, in minutes.
For aficionados who prioritize quality over convenience, the Rapid Brewer is also a fine choice, capable of producing a nuanced presentation of any bean or blend dialed in on the device.
It easily achieves OXO’s stated goal of brewing in a hurry. And for those willing to explore beyond the bounds of OXO’s instructions, there’s also remarkable potential for excellent longer-style brews through an innovative method using the Rapid Brewer. At $39.99, with all these options plus its lightweight, durable and portable construction, there’s almost no reason not to give it a try.
The OXO Rapid Brewer is lightweight, durable and portable. Photo by Howard Bryman
It’s not without its faults, though these are easily overcome — chief among them being that not only will OXO not tell you how to do the longer brews, but elements of the Rapid Brewer’s design are actually a hindrance to this potential.
We’ll dive more deeply into the brewer’s strengths — and its its secret superpowers — in a minute. First, I reached out to OXO to learn more about the brewer as it stands, including where it came from and why.
OXO Then & Now
A classic American story of ingenuity and success, OXO was founded in New York in 1990 by the father and son team of Sam and John Farber, whose goal was to create easy-to-use and ergonomically pleasant kitchen tools.
The Farber family eventually sold OXO to the General Housewares Corporation, which, in 2004, sold it again to Helen of Troy, another family-founded American company born in 1968 in El Paso, Texas, where its operations headquarters remain to this day.
Via email, OXO told me the Rapid Brewer was developed over a recent period of 18 months through a collaborative inter-departmental process involving product engineers, marketing staff, industrial designers, coffee consultants, and others. The leader of the dedicated team overseeing the project was Associate Engineering Director Chris Diskin.
Diskin, a New York-based engineer, has been rising in the ranks at OXO for more than eight years. The company said he “has been instrumental in the creation of many of our coffee products,” adding, “We also collaborated with expert baristas to ensure the brewer meets the highest standards of coffee brewing.”
Indeed, OXO has proven that it takes coffee seriously. Its electric coffee makers are certified by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), and the company makes both manual and electric grinders; its Cold Brew Coffee Maker is beloved by critics and customers alike, and the company also makes the Pour-Over Coffee Maker with Water Tank, a dead simple tool for effective manual brewing at home. Why make another manual brewer?
“We wanted to create a new manual brewer that could deliver an even more versatile and rapid brewing experience,” OXO told me. “The Rapid Brewer offers more versatility since it can be used to make cold brew and hot brew — and it can brew concentrate, which can be used to make lattes, cocktails, or other specialty drinks.”
Quick And Sweet, Right Out Of The Box
Intuitive and forgiving, the brewer is easy to use, clean and store. With coffee ground a bit coarser than espresso-fine and a good tamp with the included tamper, a 5-minute cold brew in the Rapid Brewer is a smooth and aromatic treat. More time might be better, but five minutes gets it done.
The water chamber (and its carafe) is small but allows you to achieve a reasonably latte-esque experience. Photo by Howard Bryman
The concentrated hot brew it produces stands up well as a “bypass brew,” i.e., something akin to an Americano with additional hot or cold water added after brewing.
Instant gratification fans will also love how a splash of cool water on top of the hot brew not only fleshes out the drink to fill a mug but also immediately drops the temperature into the optimal sipping zone — no need to wait for that first morning cup to cool.
Adding hot or cold plant-based or animal milk yields a reasonably latte-esque experience, and there’s certainly no harm in quaffing the Rapid Brewer’s straight shot. It’s less intense and less demanding than espresso, and I had multiple coffees glow in this preparation with a vibrant punch of flavor and the full body typical of brews through metal filters.
Great In A Sprint, But Not Without Hurdles
Of the five-piece system comprising the pump, water chamber, filter chamber, tamper and carafe, one piece — the pump — cannot be submerged. As it is threaded onto the top while brewing, it takes some mindfulness to remember to remove it and not simply place the entire apparatus in the sink after brewing.
The OXO Rapid Brewer’s pump cannot be submerged in water. Photo by Howard Bryman
Meanwhile, the only piece that does not thread or otherwise attach to the system is the carafe, and woe be the user who misplaces it. OXO designed the Rapid Brewer to rest securely on its included carafe — and only this carafe.
I’ve tried positioning the brewer atop a wide variety of mugs, tumblers and cups, and it’s somehow either wobbly or too big or small for almost all of them. (Tune into Coffee Review’s Instagram for a simple hack that helps fit the Rapid Brewer onto more mugs!)
Sized specifically to accommodate OXO’s concentrated recipes, the carafe is also quite small and, therefore, prevents experimentation with larger recipes.
The Rapid Brewer’s Secret Superpower
As luck would have it, the brewer happens to sit securely enough atop my favorite red porcelain mug. With this higher-capacity receptacle, the brewer’s real superpower reveals itself to be neither its speed nor its cold capabilities.
It’s actually leagues more versatile than even OXO would have you believe: It’s a zero-bypass pour-over press!
Beyond the confines of OXO’s instructions and the Rapid Brewer’s tiny carafe, my favorite way to use it shifts the baseline recipe up to a coarser grind (in the mid-to-larger end of typical single-cup manual pour-over range) and a pour-over-style coffee-to-water ratio of 1:16, or thereabouts.
It starts with a bloom pour, a swirl, and then the rest of the water is added and drips until the time feels right to secure the pump and bring a fast and gently pressurized end to the brew. (Tune into Coffee Review’s YouTube channel for the recipe and a demo of the Rapid Brewer as a combination zero-bypass percolation brewer with a uniquely pressurized finale.)
Pressed For Success
Particularly in these long-form brews, but also right out of the box, I’m finding that bright, juicy, vividly aromatic and full-bodied brews are easy to achieve with the OXO Rapid Brewer, a tool I’m genuinely excited to continue exploring.
Pros:
- Great for hot or cold brew
- Highly versatile
- Easy to use, clean and store
- Affordable
Cons:
- Pump is not waterproof (cannot be submerged)
- Carafe is small and risks being lost
- Lacks compatibility with other mugs/receptacles
The OXO Rapid Brewer can be purchased on the OXO website. Coffee Review does not receive commissions or referral fees for any sales that may be generated from our equipment reviews. However, in some cases, products were reviewed as part of our fee-based service offerings.
