How We Score

Anyone can publish a list of "great cold brews." We publish scores, and scores require rules. These are ours. They don't bend for brands, and they don't bend for us.

The rules

1. We buy everything ourselves, at retail. No free samples, no media kits, no "seeded" products. If a brand sends us something unsolicited, it can't be the unit we score — we buy our own off the shelf.
2. We taste blind whenever the format allows it. Products are poured by someone else into identical glasses, chilled to the same temperature, and tasted black first.
3. Every product gets the same treatment. Same glassware, same serving temperature, tasted the same day of opening, re-tasted the next day to check consistency.
4. We record the numbers. Price paid, price per ounce, caffeine (when disclosed), calories, sugar, and the full ingredient list appear in every review.
5. Affiliate links never touch scores. Some links on this site earn a commission. The scoring is done, in writing, before any link is added — and a product that scores badly gets written up just as loudly.

The Snob Score — 100 points

Every packaged cold brew, concentrate, and canned product is scored on the same eight criteria:

Criterion	Points	What we're judging
Taste	40	Flavor quality black: sweetness, body, balance, finish. The reason the product exists.
Smoothness	15	Texture and drinkability. Harshness, astringency, ashiness all cost points.
Acidity	10	Cold brew's calling card. Bright is fine; sour or flat is not.
Strength	10	Concentration and caffeine delivery honest to the label. Watery loses; overwrought loses.
Value	10	Quality per dollar, judged on price per ounce actually paid.
Ingredients	5	Short, clean lists score high. Additives and mystery "natural flavors" cost points.
Availability	5	Can a normal person actually find it — grocery, big-box, or reliable shipping?
Would I buy it again	5	The most honest question in reviewing, answered with our own money.

Total: 100 points.

What the totals mean

• 90–100 — World-class. We have not yet awarded one.
• 85–89 — Snob-approved. Buy it with confidence.
• 75–84 — Very good. Recommendable, with caveats we'll spell out.
• 65–74 — Good. Solid; there's probably something better nearby.
• 50–64 — Mediocre. Drinkable. That's the whole compliment.
• Below 50 — Skip it. We'll tell you exactly why.

Gear scoring

Equipment is tested in real use for at least 30 days: we measure yield, sediment, cleanup time, and brew quality (via blind tasting against a control brew), then weigh durability and price. Gear reviews always state how long we used the product and what we brewed with it.

Coffee shops — the 15-point scale

Shops are a different craft, so they get a different scale: three categories, five points each, half-points allowed.

• The Brew (珈琲) — is the cold brew actually good, tasted black?
• The Space (空間) — is the room worth sitting in for a slow drink?
• The Story (物語) — who runs this place, and why does it matter to its street?

Shops never know we're scoring. We pay, we photograph our own table, and we leave.

Corrections

If we got a fact wrong — an ingredient list, a price, a caffeine number — tell us and we'll fix it and note the correction. Scores change only when we re-test, and re-tests are always disclosed.