Primula Burke Deluxe Cold Brew Coffee Maker In-depth Review
Overall Verdict
The Primula Burke Delux cold brew coffee maker is obviously a product that took careful thought and attentive design. It’s well-made and very practical. Although a little heavy when full, it’s nicely sized in the medium bracket so neither too big nor too small.
However, the comparatively poor brew quality revealed that the product falls short in the design of the filter. The substantial plastic covering and the ultra-fine mesh of the filter didn’t allow for sufficient permeability to produce a worthwhile cold brew coffee. If you’re looking for a quality cold brew coffee experience, we don’t recommend this product.
Things We Like
- Detachable filter base
- Protective plastic jacket
- Lid design
- Easy to clean
- Thick glass
Things We Don’t Like
- No measurement markings
- A little heavy
- Weak brew strength
Primula has a range of cold brew coffee makers, including a handy on-the-go travel bottle brewer. We purchased the Primula Burke Deluxe to test its convenient mid-ranged 1.6 qt size. It comes in a nice color selection and is made of borosilicate glass with an easy-to-clean filter. Find out more about the Primula Burke, how it ranked in our tests, and why it’s not the best cold brew coffee maker to buy.
6.6 Brew Quality
With its unique and practical design, the Primula was a pleasure to brew with. As such, we expected better results. However, the Primula failed to deliver a worthy cold brew coffee concentrate even when compared to brewers using a similar brew ratio. The design of the filter is fundamentally flawed, and the brew quality ranks as one of the lowest we have tested.
6.0 Bouquet
The bouquet of the Primula was decidedly on the weaker side. It was light and sweet but our testers did, however, pick up a faint roasted note. This indicated that the brew was probably sub standard.
6.0 Drinkability
With a typical one-to-one dilution, the final drink was very light, watery, and somewhat sweet. In fact, even without dilution, it was still watery with little complexity. There was a slightly sour aftertaste, so not so satisfying. Although the brew is drinkable without dilution, it lacks excitement or complexity, which also means that the Primula is uneconomical for the amount of coffee ground used.
With the Primula, we would suggest a longer brewing period or brewing at room temperature. Either that, or using the hot blooming method to get a more substantial and richer brew.
9.0 Sediment
Having to filter a large quantity of liquid means cold brewing can be time consuming. Convenience, however, comes at a price. Our repeated testing has found that the permeability of an immersion filter is key to producing a quality brew.
The Primula recorded very little sediment, which at the same time betrayed its fundamental flaw. The filter, as good as it was, lacked the permeability to produce a worthwhile cold brew coffee concentrate. In this case, the cost of a perfectly filtered brew was the quality of the brew itself.
8.1 Design
The Primula cold brew coffee maker boasts a couple of design features to really appreciate. One is the plastic jacket which also includes a base cushion, the other is the practical lid design. The height is comparatively low which allows you to brew easily on a refrigerator shelf, or in the door.
On the other hand, the 1.6 qt size and the thick glass make it a bit heavy when full. Additionally, even though the filter is high quality, our testing revealed it lacks sufficient permeability to make a good cold brew coffee.
In the Box
- Fully assembled unit
- Multilingual user manual leaflet
The Primula comes securely boxed with place holders and minimal plastic, but the package is nothing fancy. The unit comes fully assembled with a user manual inside that unfolds with instructions in English, French, and Spanish. Brew instructions, product care, and a few suggested recipes are included.
Decanter
The decanter or brew carafe is made of thick borosilicate glass and enclosed in a plastic jacket. The jacket doesn’t detach and also forms a base cushion. While cleaning, we noticed that there is an additional silicone seal on the base of the decanter.
10 Stopper / Lid
The lid comes in three parts. The outer section has a silicone seal for an airtight fit. The filter attaches to the bottom and you simply press it into the carafe. With the inner lid removed, you can easily pour in the water and then seal the carafe for brewing. When storing decanted coffee, you can open this lid to stir the contents before pouring. To pour, you turn the lid handle to the open spout position.
6.0 Filter
The filter is solid and well-made. In terms of design for a cold brew coffee maker, the plastic jacket appears to be limiting. It is uncertain how much permeability this kind of filter design will allow for proper brewing. In test brewing, we found the filter design to be fundamentally flawed.
9.0 Build Quality
Overall we love the high quality of the materials and the convenient design. The mid-range 1.6 qt capacity is also very convenient, and we like how the brewer is wider rather than taller. The only fault is not so much the build quality, but rather the ill-conceived design of the filter.
9.2 Ease of Use
The Primula certainly can’t be faulted for its easy-to-use design. Parts are minimal, with only a couple of silicone gaskets to keep an eye on. They fit well, are high quality, and the double lid design is an excellent feature. You can easily remove the inner lid to stir the contents, and also close the spout by turning it.
9.0 Brewing
The Primula filter takes around 3.5 oz / 100g of coffee grounds, which means about an inch to a half below the filter rim. After securing the filter onto the outer lid, you insert both into the decanter. Next, pour enough water to wet the grounds. After a couple of minutes, you slowly continue pouring water until the rising water hits just below the top of the plastic jacket. That’s about 40 fl.oz (1.2 L) or 6 measuring cups. Finally, screw in the top lid so that the spout is also closed.
The brew decanter can sit in the door of your average 33- or 36-inch refrigerator but may be too big for an apartment-sized refrigerator. Brewing was relatively straightforward except for the lack of markers on the vessel. We also found the full carafe to be a little heavy. It weighed 4 lbs or 1.8 kg, so make sure to grip it firmly and avoid letting children handle it.
9.0 Decanting
We found that decanting worked best by simply lifting up the outer lid with the filter attached. Because the base of the filter is not permeable, it’s best to let the filter stand in a dish as quite a bit of extra brew still trickled out.
You can immediately remove the filter from the lid. We found a few granules of coffee had gathered around the edges so it’s best to completely rinse off the lid before putting it back. Once again, make sure the spout is closed to prevent coffee odors building up in your refrigerator.
10 Cleaning and Storage
Cleaning the Primula is effortless all round. It separates into seven parts. The filter parts and the lid can go on the top rack of a dishwasher while the decanter on the lower rack. It’s probably best to just rinse off the silicone seals. While cleaning, we discovered an additional seal at the base of the decanter. The plastic padding on the base gives a comfortable feeling when placing on the table, and peace of mind when storing away. We loved the quality of the decanter, except that it can be heavy for some when full, but the grip and pour is good.
Compared to Other Cold Brew Coffee Makers
Due to the flawed design of its filter, we do not recommend the Primula Burke cold brew coffee maker. For a similar sized brewer you can try the Bodum French Press. By comparison, it produces a full-strength cold brew coffee concentrate.
For other options to brew a full-strength concentrate, have a look at our full reviews of the best cold brew coffee makers. For average strength cold brew coffee we recommend glass carafe type brewers such as Ovalware and also Bean Envy.