Back again with my latest project! With summer in full swing, it feels like it's hot all the time now. And because of that it's hard to get my coffee fix, because who wants hot coffee on a hot day? So I set out to make a cold drip coffee tower! And why in the shape of a spaceship? I wanted to use my laser cutter to make a tower that was both functional and "aesthetically pleasing". And I was quite happy with the results!
In the post below, I give an overview of how I made the cold drip coffee tower. If you want to know more about the process, I created a more in-depth post on Instructables, and also made a video (link right below).
Parts of the Cold Drip Coffee Tower
The parts of the tower that are involved in making the cold drip coffee include:
• At the top, a 64 ounce glass jar which holds the ice water
• Which has a pressure compensating irrigation drip emitter that drips water into
• The glass bottle that holds the coffee grounds
• And sits on top of a stainless steel funnel that helps direct the resulting coffee into
• The glass jar below
• That has an optional spigot that you can use to pour the coffee out
The basic structure of the cold drip coffee tower is made up of:
• The 3 supports that hold the tower up
• Which are each made of 3 segments
• and held together at the joints by connectors
• Then the other major pieces are the two platforms
And also a smaller assembly that supports the glass bottle that holds the coffee grounds
Step 1: Laser Cutting
The first step in the process of making the cold drip coffee tower is laser cutting. I've already created the template needed to laser cut the parts, so the first step is to download and laser cut the pieces for the coffee tower. The design uses about 1 and a half 18 x 24 in sheets of 1/8 in plywood. I tried to make sure that the largest pieces were about a foot long, so even smaller laser cutters can cut all of the pieces.
Step 2: Sanding and Staining
The next step in the processes is sanding, then staining and applying finish to the wood. This part is optional, however I definitely think it improves the look, and it's a good idea to add a water resistant coating to the tower, because the glass jar on the top that holds the ice water is going to cause condensation, and expose wood near it to moisture.
Step 3: Gluing
The three tower segments need to be glued together at the joints. For the gluing process I used wood glue and a quick drying super glue.
Step 4: Glass Cutting
Three holes needed to be cut in 3 different glass containers. For drilling I used (cheap) diamond coated drill bits, and:
-Started by using a soda bottle with a hole poked in it to slowly spray water onto the cutting area
-a piece of plywood with laser cut holes to guide the drill bit at the start
-And for the drilling processes, slowly cutting into the glass (applying very little pressure), and rotating slightly when cutting
Step 5: Add Spigot and Drip Emitter
Once finished drilling the holes, I added the spigot to make sure that it wouldn't leak, then glued on the drip emitter to the top jar using a food safe silicone glue.
Step 6: Assembly
The joints on each of the platforms are made so that they pop on to the side. It ended up a bit crude, but this helps makes sure that the platforms won't slide off from the vertical pieces without making the joint permanent. That way the tower can be disassembled if you ever want to store or move it.
The basic process for assembling the tower is to snap on both of the platforms on one of the tower segments, and then carefully snap on the other two segments.
Step 7: Making Cold Drip Coffee
I won't speak much about cold drip coffee recipes because I'm still pretty new to this myself. But a general recipe I found used a water to coffee ratio of about 11:1.
After filling up the glass bottle with about 6 ounces of coffee grounds, I put the bottom glass jar in place, then added the funnel and cut up a coffee filter to place under the hole in the glass bottle, so that coffee grounds wouldn't drip into the bottom jar. I then added the glass bottle, and poured some water into the coffee grounds to moisten it.
To add the top jar, I filled it part way up with water, and used my finger to plug the drip emitter on the bottom while I carried it to the tower (not that it will leak much). And once on, I filled it up the rest of the way with ice. And that's the basic process. Now we wait!
Step 8: Enjoy!
And that's the basic process! I found that this drip tower takes a while, because the drip emitter slows down gradually as the water level decreases. From my first couple runs, it took a little longer than 12 hours to completely drain all of the water. I used the slowest drip emitter I could find for this, which was rated at a 1/2 gallon per hour. If you want to speed up the process, you could get a faster dripper.
Overall, I was very happy with the results, and now get to enjoy cold coffee on a hot day!