Toddy. I'm not a fan of the word. Well, actually I'm fine with "toddy" being used in reference to hot, sweet, mixed drink made with liquor, water, sugar and spices. However, using it to refer to cold brewed coffee I don't like. One, because cold brewed coffee is not a hot, sweet, mixed drink made with liquor, water, sugar and spices; nor is it a drink made from the sap of Asian palm trees (apparently also called "toddy"). Two, because what is so special about cold-brewed coffee that it needs its own word? We don't call hot-brewed tea "tea" and cold-brewed tea "wassail". Sure, we call coffee brewed in an espresso machine "espresso" but in that instance the brewing method causes the coffee to form a multiphasic colloid instead of a liquid solution - a much bigger difference than whether it's brewed hot or cold. And the third reason I don't like the coffee-directed usage for the word "toddy" is that I just don't really like the sound of the word; and so I end my tangential rant. So "toddy" is just coffee brewed cold - or at room temp - and the coffee is usually made very strong so that when one wants a hot cup of coffee, one can then mix the concentrate with some hot water. This method is popular in Latin America and some other parts of the world, and appears in some commercial applications in the US.
The method results in a very mild, light-bodied cup with little aroma, little acidity and a muted flavor. Thus it is a good alternative for people who aren't a big fan of dark-roasted coffee, but need a low-acid cup because their stomach does not respond well to the acidic nature of coffee. There are devices on the market sold for cold concentrate brewing, some dubbed "toddy makers", but you can cold brew even better (says Alex) in a French press. Just make your coffee in your press like usual but just cold water and let it sit overnight - at room temperature if you want a fuller, stronger, more complex flavor with a slight "off" tang, or in the fridge if you want something simpler, weaker, and chocolaty without a slight "off" tang. Remember that you will want to use more coffee than usual if you plan on refrigerating it and mixing it with hot water when you want a hot coffee. If you want to try a sample of a cold brew, we always have some on hand. Just ask us to put 45milliliters of the "double-c" (muggswigz™ code speak) in a small (12oz) cup and fill with hot water.