Goodful Cold Brew Coffee Maker In-depth Review

Goodful is a brand that is owned by the media company Buzzfeed Inc. Goodful as a kitchen brand manufactures cookware, bakeware, food storage, reusables, and small kitchen gadgets. They also have a number of appliances that are made under the Cuisinart brand. As of 2022, their only coffee beverage maker is this cold brew coffee maker.

Key Specs

Where to Buy Price at publication $18.11

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Compared to Other Cold Brew Coffee Makers

7.5 Brew Quality

The brew produced by the Goodful was reasonable. We liked the slightly bitter edge to the otherwise mild-roasted flavor. The brew also had a sweetish aftertaste, but with a watery finish. We recommend drinking it straight rather than diluting it too much.

7.0 Bouquet

The bouquet of the Goodful brew was borderline medium. It had a distinctive woody aroma with mild-roasted notes coming through. Considering the brew ratio and filter design, this was not unexpected.

7.5 Drinkability

Based on the brew ratio and the bouquet test, we chose not to dilute the brew. It had a mild-roasted flavor with a slight bitterness to it. There was no sourness so it was smooth to drink, but the aftertaste, although sweetish, was a little watery. You could drink the brew straight, but with a little milk, or even sugar, it’s not too bad. We would recommend adding just enough water to cover the grounds and to brew for a longer time. The brew yield of 67 fl oz or 2 liters is quite good for the quality.

7.5 Sediment

Surprisingly, the Goodful produced a fair amount of sediment. Of course, this is not a bad thing for an immersion brewer since it often indicates that the filter is permeable enough to produce a good brew. Very fine filters, on the other hand, tend not to brew so well. 

We would recommend letting the brew settle after removing the filter, then decant, rinse out the container, and return the brewed coffee. Make sure you have a larger container or enough on hand for two liters of liquid.

8.7 Design

The Goodful is a relatively large capacity brewer. It’s therefore quite tall and is best set inside a refrigerator door, however, it’s unlikely to fit a small refrigerator. The materials are hardy and durable, but the lid is clunky, and more detailed information on the device is lacking. The quality and look of the filter are a big plus overall.

In the Box

• Assembled brewer
• Instruction leaflet inside

The Goodful is completely made of plastic, so it’s quite durable. Perhaps for this reason it didn’t come in a fancy box. We received it bubble-wrapped and bundled with other cold coffee brewers we had purchased.

The Goodful reminded us of another cold brew coffee maker we have reviewed — the Takeya. Goodful, however, has a slightly larger brewer. It’s also oblong shaped to fit in a refrigerator door, the lid design is similar, but the filter is quite different. The Goodful filter is made of stainless steel mesh and not nylon, and the filter base is detachable. We were really interested to see how the two would compare.

Decanter

It appears that the decanter is made of Tritan plastic. However, there is no clear information about the materials used either in the included literature or on their website (Amazon store website only). There is also no information about the BPA-free status of the device, but it is made in China. 

In our small 97 L refrigerator, the brewer didn't fit in the door bin so be sure to check all measurements carefully before purchasing. In comparison, the Takeya fits a small refrigerator door bin, is made in the USA, clearly labeled BPA-free, and made from Tritan plastic.

8.5 Stopper / Lid

The lid consists of three parts. There is a rim with an attached handle that screws over the top, and an inner lid that partly unscrews for pouring or completely removes for brewing and cleaning. Each part has a silicone gasket, and the handle has a detachable silicone grip.

We really liked the comfortable grip and size of the handle. However, although airtight, the rim and the inner lid are rather clunky when screwing.

9.0 Filter

The brew core is of robust construction with a significant amount of plastic cover. The filter itself is made of a stainless steel mesh. We wondered if this type of design was permeable enough to produce a good brew, but the brew test results were favorable. The handle fully extended is 9.1 in (260 mm), but this function is only deployed during decanting.

8.5 Build Quality

The Goodful cold coffee maker is pretty solid and durable. We liked the quality and build of the filter, and the detachable silicone grip on the handle. The screwable parts, however, don’t have the best feel and are somewhat clunky. There was also very little information about the materials used for the different parts.

8.8 Ease of Use

It’s quite easy to brew with the Goodful without measuring—although we measured everything carefully for our testing procedure. We particularly liked the filter design with a little handle to lift it out of the container.

9.0 Brewing

As per the instructions, you fill the filter, or brew core, to the top of the mesh windows which is 16 tablespoons or 3.8 oz of grounds. After carefully inserting the filter, you should pour two cups of water to dampen the grounds. The rest of the water should rise to the top of the brew core mesh windows.

We measured the grounds to 3.8 oz (107 g) and poured approximately 68 fl oz (2 L) of filtered water. The brew ratio was, therefore, 1:18 which suggested a weaker kind of brew. 

It took quite some time to pour all the water without the grounds overflowing. It may be better, therefore, to prefill the decanter with at least 800 ml before inserting the filter and pouring the remainder of the water. Goodful recommends brewing for 24 hours, but we brewed for 18 hours according to our testing procedure.

8.5 Decanting

Decanting simply requires removing the filter. However, the clunky lid design can make removing and securing the lid a little frustrating. The flip handle for lifting the filter, however, is a handy feature. Based on our sediment test, you may want to decant the contents to remove the sludge settled on the bottom.

One thing worth noting is that with the filter removed, you can lay the decanter on its side when storing in the refrigerator. The Goodful is somewhat similar to the Takeya brewer. With the Takeya, the filter screws into the lid and you can brew in a horizontal position, but you can’t brew this way with the Goodful.

9.0 Cleaning and Storage

Cleaning the Goodful is a breeze because it has a removable filter base and it's easy to reach inside the sizable container. The filter is reasonably robust and the handle makes it easy to hang on a hook. You can also put everything in the dishwasher, but we would recommend removing the silicone gaskets first. The container is quite large, so storage may be a factor depending on your kitchen setup.

Compared to Other Cold Brew Coffee Makers

The Goodful cold brew coffee maker is very similar to the Takeya. The Takeya produces significantly less yield, but at the same time the brew quality is much better. The Takeya is also a higher quality design and a slightly easier fit for the door of a small refrigerator.

For in-door brewers that brew a smaller volume, the best recommended are the County Line Kitchen 1-quart and 2-quart brewers. Coffee Gator and Coffee Bear have a similar brew strength and quality to Goodful. You can see more details in our complete listing of the best cold brew coffee makers.