De'Longhi's cold brew espresso maker is on sale for Prime Day — but I'm an ex-barista and you should get this $31 French press instead

the espro french press dual basket photographed with a tom's guide deal detective badge — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Right now, the U.K. is in the middle of a heatwave, and cold brew and iced coffee are all I can manage during weeks like this — it's one of the ways I've learned to manage a heatwave. But if you're worrying about how to make cold brew, worry not! De'Longhi's newest La Specialista models — the Arte Evo, Opera, to name a few — all have a surprising feature: instant cold brew. Instead of relying on traditional cold brewing methods — literally cold brewing coffee for 16+ hours — these machines use espresso pressure to steep coffee in a fraction of the time.

As much as I love and respect this feature, it does beg the question... if you're a cold brew drinker, and only a cold brew drinker, should you be spending $500+ on these espresso machines? No.

As an ex-barista and director of The Coffee Lab, I know exactly how cafes make cold brew. All you need is a French press, coffee, cold water, and some time. Instead of spending $$$ on a cold brew-slash-espresso machine, just get this $31 Espro French press. Espro's unique dual-filter basket means you get almost zero silt, too.

How can I make cold brew in a French press?

a black cold brew in a round glass — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

I know it sounds daunting, but I promise you, it's not! This is exactly how we made cold brew at Starbucks when I worked there.

All you need is: a French press (with a dual-lined filter, like the Espro P3 above), coarsely ground coffee, water, and time (preferably 16 hours).

Use either a 1:8 ratio or a 1:15 ratio. 1:8 means you will need to dilute the final drink, so it's like a cold brew concentrate. I always use 1:8.
The Espro P3 is 1000ml, so I use 125g of coarsely ground coffee. Put the coffee inside the French press.
Pour water to the top.
Let it steep for 16 hours, ambient or in the refrigerator if you live in a really hot area.

And it's easy as that! You don't need to spend $500 on an espresso machine/cold brew machine. All you need is a French press.

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Erin Bashford is a senior writer at Tom's Guide, focusing on reviews. She has a Masters in Broadcast and Digital Journalism from the University of East Anglia. As an ex-barista, she knows her way around a coffee machine, and as a music lover, she's constantly chipping away at her dream of having a multi-room home sound system. In her spare time you can find her reading, practising yoga, writing, or stressing over today’s NYT Games.