What does it do? How is it different from other cold brew methods?
1. It makes coffee concentrate, not coffee, requiring dilution.
2. Slow drip cold brewing produces very different, wonderful, complex flavors than any other brew method you've tasted.
3. Similar slow drip setups may produce similar flavors, but setups like the Toddy or similar with long steep times will taste TOTALLY different: chocolaty, zero acidity, very pleasant... but most beans result in the same tasting coffee, so don't waste expensive beans on the Toddy method.
4. Espresso (hot pressure brew) has a wonderful flavor profile but also very different from slow drip cold brew. Espresso is also sensitive to the quality of beans/roast, so you should splurge on quality beans.
I actually enjoy all 3 above mentioned methods and drink all 3 types as the mood strikes me. The Toddy is a great way to get really great tasting coffee from budget beans; as long as they're not terrible, the Toddy will give you delicious coffee. I'm not as big a fan of pourovers, even though you can get great results with quality beans and attention to detail... I'm just lazy about manually brewing a cup at a time (hence my 25 cup setup for batch processing). Quality super automatic espresso machines can do cup at a time with NO fussing and minimal work. :)
While I believe you can get the same great flavor as Yama Glass from other slow drip equipment, I believe NOTHING ELSE looks and feels this high quality. The Yama Glass is both a piece of art and a conversation piece in the kitchen. If all you care about is a great cup of coffee and you could care less about how your equipment looks, there are way cheaper ways to achieve very similar results, assuming you can control the slow drip portion. But if quality and esthetics matter to you, this is totally worth the investment.
Tip: after brewing, dilute with 1-2 parts ice, water or milk to taste. If you add ice only, it will be very strong until the ice melts. I dilute with Barista blend soy beverage AND add ice and put it in a Yeti tumbler to keep cold for 18-24 hours.
I wanted to mention I received great after-sales support from Espresso Parts. There was some cosmetic blemishing in the lettering on the bottom beaker, and they shipped me a replacement right away. This makes me even more certain I made the right call on purchasing the Yama Glass setup!
I may post an update later on tips for avoiding snags in the brewing process after further experimentation.