PLEASE UPDATED INFORMATION AT END OF REVIEW (CHANGED RATING EXPLAINED) --------------- (Original review) I was not sure what to expect when I got this coffee pot. I have the similar pot for cold brew for teaFORLIFE Mist Glass Ice Tea Jug , 50-Ounce, Turquoise so I thought that this would be a great addition to our kitchen. I am absolutely in love with the cold brew tea pot and use it constantly. I am still not sure I am as fond of this coffee pot as I thought I would be, however. WHAT IS THIS POT LIKE? In contrast to the Mist Tea Jug, this pot has a silicone type filter in it which is more like synthetic cheese cloth. The filter is reinforced with hard plastic and the rim sits in the rim of a very tall and narrow glass pot. This pot can be used hot or cold, but not on direct heat to my understanding. The lid snaps on, but is not air tight. The handle is at the top making it easy to pour. I have the red option. When storing on the door of the refrigerator, I am a bit nervous about the height of this pot. It seems almost a bit unstable due to the narrow bottom vs the long height that it has. It does not tip over easily, but if someone were to suddenly jerk the door of the refrigerator open, I am not so sure that this pot will not tip off the shelf. HOW TO USE THIS POT The directions are in Japanese with illustrations, but even when translated, I do not like the coffee made in this pot using the instructions enclosed which require 80g of coffee and a very long brewing time of up to 24 hours. I prefer to use medium coarse ground coffee filled HALFWAY up the see through area. That translates to approximately 6 Tablespoons of ground coffee. Then I gradually pour filtered water over top which is room temperature. I leave this to sit in the kitchen at room temperature, not the refrigerator. If I want to drink it sooner, then I will grind it finer- right between medium and fine. If I am going to leave it in longer, then I will grind it the medium coarse setting. It is important to stir the grounds a few times to get them brewing well. If they are not stirred up, they will clump at the top like a big plug and not do much of anything. If we want to drink it sooner with the medium fine grind, we will drink this from after 15 minutes to a half hour of making it. We warm it up on the stove since it is still winter weather, and then either make bullet proof coffee out of it, or traditional coffee with sweetener (we use honey) and cream. We will often add just a little bit of boiling water just to make it the right concentration. We will leave it in the brewer about 4 hours tops- not longer than that. I find that the caffeine content is too high for me and I don't like it. My husband does not like the taste of it after 4 hours either and loves it when I stop brewing at 4 hours, although he does like it after 15 minutes or so too. (If he has a cup, I just add more water to the filter to brew the four hours after that and it is still fine) HOW DOES THIS COFFEE POT PERFORM? I do not like coffee made in this the traditional way. Perhaps this summer when my husband and son enjoy iced coffee this will get more use. I bought it primarily for that reason. However, I was interested in trying the cold brewed coffee for the more alkaline behavior in the body. IT is very smooth and great tasting if I use the brewing method I listed above. When using the instructions as laid out the caffeine content ruins the coffee for me. I just don't like it. Even diluted way down I am not fond of it. HOW EASY IS THIS TO CLEAN? If you clean this right away, it is easy to clean. Immediately when I am done brewing, I remove the filter with the coffee grounds and the bottom screws off. I quickly knock the grounds into the compost and then clean the filter with a gentle brush brush using GENTLE motions. Too hard and rough will ruin this filter. I only keep the coffee in the pot in the refrigerator for two days as it is not air tight so it will get stale quickly with that refrigerator taste. THE BOTTOM LINE This coffee pot makes one of the most smooth and not bitter coffees that I have ever had. I like it even more than french press coffee, although I did find that the french press cold brewed coffee seemed to taste a bit better than this pot, perhaps I need to compare again side by side. Warmed up, it is wonderful tasting for regular coffee drinking or even bullet proof coffee. Although it does not make much coffee, and has to be made every couple of days, it is one way to have coffee that is smooth and not bitter without babysitting it to a degree. I am still not in love with this coffee pot. It is good and I will use it, especially in the summer when the guys love their iced coffee, but for me, it just isn't that WOW. Perhaps as I continue to work with it, I will change my feelings about it, but after a week of constant use and experimentation, I am still on the fence about my feelings for it. I like it- sort of. And the coffee is really good. But is it worth it? I am just not sure yet. I am rating this four stars, but will update with more information as I continue to experiment with this and find our favorite way to use it. ---------------------- UPDATE (4-2016) The above is my original review, but I have changed my review to five stars. I have learned that for our needs, using fine/med grind works perfectly. I only leave the grounds in the pot for 4 hours max and then take them out and store the pot in the refrigerator. We warm the coffee up on the stove, or if preferred, drink it on ice. If using about 33% water added to it, it is perfect. My problem was that I was trying to use this heated up for bulletproof coffee a lot and I really am not that fond of it in that application. This seems to taste better with sweetener and a touch of cream if desired in it. I really like it better that way. For heat brewed coffee, I prefer bulletproof preparation. With cold processed, I prefer cream and sweetener instead. The finer grind leaves a tiny bit of sludge in the bottom of the pitcher but it is not that much and the coffee is smooth and clean. Coarser grind does not release enough flavor for us and left about the same amount of sludge. UPDATE- REPLACEMENT FILTER I wanted to get a backup filter for this coffee maker. I found the page for it, and it was brown just like this one was. When I sent for it, I was surprised to see that the bottom had a screen in it instead of the solid bottom. It still twisted off. The coffee brewer works so much better with it than the original. It has a tiny bit more sediment but works much faster. I love it. They have since changed it to the green tea strainer part so apparently something was amiss when I ordered it. I still am glad, however, as I do prefer the screen bottom over the solid Here is a link to the replacement part in case you want to try it too: Strainer of HCC-12DG
