Materials, Look and Feel

The Kinto Plug Iced Coffee Jug 1.2 Liters is entirely made of plastic, with a clean classic look. The jug cover, handle, and brewing chamber’s material look sturdy enough, while the coffee jug is clear like glass.

The jug cover has a rubber gasket, a good indicator that air will not come in when brewing, and coffee will not flow excessively when pouring. Cap can be locked tightly and opened with ease.

This means that you can store your cold brew in the fridge while steeping!

Built

The tough plastic materials feel ok, and give the impression that it lasts.

The clear plastic lets you see your coffee being brewed. While sleek-looking, it may need to be handled with care as it may break when it falls or is hit hard by a solid material.

The jug is slim, a good fit for the narrow compartments of a fridge door.

Unlike the jug cover, the coffee chamber’s cap is a bit difficult to remove. Pull it sideways, taking care not to grip the chamber too tightly, as it can be bent or crushed. This will damage the plastic filter or worse, the whole chamber. This may become easier with constant use.

You won’t get confused where to place the coffee chamber. Just align the round indicator to the spout.

Overall, the built feels reliable. Just be careful with it, as with any coffee brewer whether glass, plastic, ceramic, or metal.

Brewing Experience

Caveat: this focuses on the brewing process, rather than the resulting coffee flavor.

The brewing chamber’s filter has an extremely fine mesh. To make sure no minuscule grounds pass through, I used a very coarse grind (35 clicks in the Comandante), the default grind size for cold brews.

Now to brew. If this is your first time to try this, I would suggest a lower dose than is mentioned in the manual. I suggest:

54-60 g coffee

800-900 g filtered water

1:15 ratio

Put the coffee in the chamber and in the jug, then pour your water. Stir the grounds to evenly saturate them.

After steeping, the coffee chamber can be easily pulled out from the coffee jug (“plug”). Prepare a cup where you can place the chamber to catch any extra liquid.

As expected, your brew will have tiny bits of grit left. You can filter it out with a pour-over and a paper filter, but it’s not necessary. I barely felt it while drinking the coffee.

Overall experience

While not a perfect brewer, it functions well. Its removable chamber makes it easy to use, as it makes time (steep hours) the only variable in your brewing.

The Kinto Plug Iced Coffee Jug 1.2 Liters is a good cold brewer for beginners, for those who do not have the time to fuss with other brewing parameters, who want to make medium batches of concentrated cold brew, and of course, a combination of the three.

Verdict? This belongs in your coffee brewing stash.

Thanks Kinto Philippines for lending us a sample brewer for this review. @kintoph @honesttradersph