When making iced coffee, it’s helpful to use cold-brewed coffee. With cold brew, you don’t have to dedicate so many ice cubes to trying to cool down freshly brewed, steaming hot coffee, like the kind that comes out of a drip coffee machine. What’s more, depending on how it’s made, cold-brewed coffee can maintain more of the coffee bean’s natural sweetness and nuanced flavor.

Best of all, given the price of coffee drinks in cafés and coffee shop chains these days, having your own coffee machine at home can save you a lot of money. You might even want more than one machine to create specialized drinks: an espresso maker for lattes and cappuccinos and a cold brew coffee maker for iced summertime coffee beverages.

 If you have an ice cream maker, you can even use your cold brewer to make coffee flavors for homemade ice cream!

Modern coffee machines, including iced coffee makers, can make either a pot of coffee or single servings. Single-serve cold-brew coffee makers are ideal if you’re only making coffee for yourself, while 10- and 12-cup cold-brew coffee makers can make enough java for guests or the whole family. So, a big part of choosing the best cold brew coffee maker for you comes down to knowing how many people the machine will be serving at a time.

You should also pay attention to the various features available with a cold brew machine. If you don’t have a coffee grinder, you may want an integrated grinder cold brew maker. Freshly ground coffee is certainly the best choice for flavor.

Coffee and travel mugs are, of course, required no matter which model is the best iced coffee maker for you. You might even consider the benefits of a smart coffee mug.