Bean Envy vs Willow & Everett Side-by-Side Comparison
Bean Envy cold brew coffee maker vs Willow & Everett mason jar. A choice between genuine product excellence and a generic knock off.
Specifications
Design
Bean Envy is an all-round top-quality product and it makes a fairly good brew. The silicone base and the two-lid design are particularly nice, and the stainless steel filter was well-machined. Unfortunately, pouring with the silicone lid popped up was not so smooth.
Although the Willow & Everett looks neat and handy, the build quality and design didn’t quite match our expectations. The lid and filter, in particular, are poorly made and the tap mechanism is not well thought out. Cleaning is straightforward, and as long as you handle the jar carefully, you may be perfectly happy with this product.
Usability Comparison
Brewing and decanting required minimal effort. Additionally, the volume markings on the carafe are great for telling how much yield is produced and how much coffee you have remaining during use. For hand-washing, you will need a bottle brush and a little extra care is required so as not to misplace either of the lids in storage.
Brewing with the Willow & Everett is very straightforward, as is cleaning and storage. Unfortunately, the design makes decanting somewhat cumbersome. The tap does not work so well and leaves about 20% of the liquid behind. That means you must decant it into a smaller vessel, largely negating the value of a tap in the first place.
Brew Quality
For an immersion filter brewer, the Bean Envy ranks very competitively and the brew quality is relatively good. The brew is strong, flavorful, and smooth but not as complex as a cold brew can be. We found it brewed more towards the bitter flavors rather than the sweeter ones.
The Willow & Everett produced a relatively strong and delicious brew. In fact, it was one of the best brews we got out of any immersion-filter cold brew coffee maker. Overall, the taste was defined by a deep roasted flavor and an almost bitter aftertaste. If you enjoy a strong coffee, or are looking for a quality cold brew concentrate to mix into something else, this is one of the better choices.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- Two lid design
- Silicone base
- Handle design
- Measuring markers
- Funky design
- Brew ratio
- Brew quality
- Tap dispenser
- Filter bottom
- Pouring with silicone lid
- Lid design
- Weak glass around tap
- Tap is temperamental
- No literature
Conclusion
Bean Envy is a cold brew coffee maker that goes the extra mile. The silicone base pad is one of the best designed and it comes with two stoppers — one for brewing and the other, a pop silicone stopper, for after decanting the filter. The pop-up stopper doesn’t facilitate such a smooth pour, but everything else is first class.
Bean Envy, for its small size and carafe style design, has a typical brew ratio of around 1:12, and the quality of the brew is relatively good. Willow & Everett is more for making large batches of cold brew coffee. Its brew quality and strength, from a ratio of 1:9, is one of the best for any immersion filter brewer.
Willow & Everett, on the other hand, is a generic product and similar brewers are available under different names. The design quality is rather average, and while the spigot is a good idea, it doesn’t work so smoothly in practice. Moreover, at least 20% of the brew still needs to be dispensed from the top of the container.
Behind the Comparison
Roger Shitaki is a writer, author, and editor. His niches are household appliances, health & wellness, and travel. He’s a freelance contributor to a Tokyo lifestyle website and a leading ophthalmology magazine in Asia.
