When the warm weather hits, I turn into a full-blown iced coffee addict, making daily pilgrimages to my local cafe or drive-thru like it's a religious obligation. Then I actually looked at my monthly spending, and let's just say the numbers were humbling. I still don't understand the economics of iced coffee costing three times as much as hot, but that's a story for another day.
Making good iced coffee at home, without turning it into a watery disaster, takes planning -- unless that is, you have my favorite summer caffeine gadget. The Hyperchiller is a little device that takes your freshly brewed, steaming-hot coffee and chills it to iced perfection in under 60 seconds -- no dilution. Just fast, no-nonsense cooling that your caffeine-dependent self will absolutely love.
For those who've calculated exactly how much you're hemorrhaging on daily iced coffee and then immediately tried to forget that number, this thing is basically a financial life raft disguised as a kitchen gadget.
The Hyperchiller in its natural habitat.
David Watsky/CNETHow the Hyperchiller works
The Hyperchiller is about the size of a large jar of pasta sauce. It has an inner cooling chamber with two layers of ice on either side. The ice layers are contained by internal stainless vessels so it chills the liquid when poured in without melting into it and diluting it. The hot liquid chamber is also thin so it spreads the hot beverage out, chilling it faster than a corksicle or a frozen whiskey sphere.
Birds-eye view of the Hyperchiller chambers.
David Watsky/CNETOne thing to note is that you have to refreeze the device after each use (as you would with almost any other device in this category). After using the Hyperchiller for hot beverages, you'll need to refreeze it for a few hours -- ideally eight or more. For room-temperature tipples, including wine and whiskey, it won't thaw as much and thus needs less time to refreeze.
What's nice is you don't ever have to change or refill the water since the only chamber that gets dirty is the one in between. And even that only requires a quick rinse and then you can pop it back in.
Read more: Here's How Much You'll Save Making Coffee at Home
How much chill does the Hyperchiller have?
Iced coffee chill test
The Hyperchiller is great for many things but iced coffee was my number one goal, so I hot-brewed a big pot of my favorite java. The freshly brewed coffee was 175 degrees F but when I ran 12 ounces through the Hyperchiller and left it in for one minute, what poured out was a full 100 degrees cooler, down to a room temperature 75 degrees. I left the rest of the hot coffee in for another minute (two total) and what emerged from the device had a chill, down to 59 degrees. I checked the inner chambers and there was still a good bit of ice, meaning I could chill the other half of the pot down -- albeit not as well -- or refreeze the Hyperchiller in just a few hours.
A minute after assembling, there was very little ice meltage in my Hyperchilled coffee.
David Watsky/CNETThis was good. Very good.
Because tea brews at a similarly hot temperature and is often consumed at the same cold temperature as iced coffee, this coffee test applies pretty congruently to tea.
The wine test
Experts say 48 to 55 F is optimal for drinking white wine. At room temperature, my wine measured in at a balmy 75, but one 45-second spin through the Hyperchiller and it was at a sip-perfect 45 degrees and ready to drink (so I did). With wine, the Hyperchiller didn't have to do nearly as much work as with the hot coffee, and so the inner chambers were still mostly frozen. I could easily chill more wine (challenge accepted) or just another 25 minutes in the freezer, and it was back to solid.
New happy-hour buds at home.
David Watsky/CNETMuch like the tea-to-coffee comparison, the Hyperchiller will do to whiskey what it does to room-temperature white wine, and so if you're a chilled bourbon or Scotch drinker who doesn't love the dilution effect, this will work wonderfully. Just make sure it's washed out nice and clean so you don't pick up unwanted Colombian dark roast flavors in your Pappy 20-year. Or maybe that would be good. Hmm...
Anyway, I love the thing. You can pick up a Hyperchiller in one of four colors for just $25 (or less if you nab it on sale) and have non-watered-down iced coffee in the time it takes to order at Starbucks.
Watch this: How to clean your Keurig with distilled vinegar
