Cold Brew Coffee: Coffee to Chill!

Cold brew coffee is a quickly becoming popular in coffee shops, restaurants, and even on the domestic front these days. When you open the door in many cafes, you've probably seen the large glass jugs, and long pipes that make it seem something out of an old Frankenstein Movie! But it's a totally new fad: the cold brewed coffee is coffee that is brewed with cold water through a drip type filter.

Many coffee lovers will believe that cold brew can't possibly taste good but after drinking their first cup they are usually converted ... So let's take a look at what cold brew coffee is, how it's made, and how to make coffee with the resulting brew. What's that, I hear you say?...

Cold Brew What?

If you think that cold-brewed coffee tastes different from your normal hot cup, you're right. Only about 15% of the oils and acids soak through to the coffee when it is cold brewed but nearly all the elements contributing to the flavor are there.

The flavors are highly concentrated so what you love about your favorite coffee's taste is all there, minus the acidity. If you like coffee with a strong bite you probably won't take well to cold brew coffee but if you love coffee without acidity, you'll be a real fan.

The Secret?

The secret to delicious cold brew coffee is time. Sure, you can run your coffee through your coffee maker and plop some ice in it but you'll miss out on a lot of the elements that make cold brew coffee so special—plus, it will taste bitter!

So start the day before you intend to serve it or at least allow it a few hours to steep. This is assuming you don't have a cold brew system and want to try it out before you invest in a machine.

What do I need?

You will need a pitcher or other container for the finished brew, a container of appropriate size to brew it in and a finely meshed strainer. An ordinary kitchen strainer will do nicely or you can use a colander lined with cheesecloth.

The Method

Step 1: Grind and soak

Use about a quarter of a cup of coarsely ground coffee for every 12 ounces of water, or four parts water to one part coffee. Pour the water and coffee into a container, cover it and let it steep for at least four hours. 12 hours is ideal, as you'll get all of the flavor from the grounds.

Step 2: Strain and re-strain

When you've let the coffee steep, pour it through your straining device into a clean container big enough to hold the amount you've brewed. Rinse out the brewing container and use it to repeat the process. This way you can be sure that there are no grounds in the finished brew. Put the coffee into the fridge and there you have it!

Step 3: Dilute to taste

Your iced coffee will be two or three times stronger than what you'll want to drink. What you've just made is concentrate, similar to the frozen juice you buy at the grocery.

When you're ready to drink it, you need to mix the coffee with water. The ratio should be about half and half of water to coffee, depending on how strong you like it. Add ice, cream or sugar if you like and enjoy.

Step 4: (optional) Make other drinks or dishes

You can also use your cold brew coffee as a base for other cold coffee drinks. Pour some in a blender with ice, milk, sugar and flavoring for a refreshing slush. This is particularly good topped with whipped cream!

You can also use the coffee to pour over a gelato with ice. Since there's ice in the glass, you may want to dilute the coffee a tad less than usual. Served with vanilla ice cream, on a hot day, this is glorious.

There are a variety of cold brew kits available on the market that can help you simplify the process of making cold brew coffee. But you needn't spend any money, if you don't want to, to brew your cold coffee! Simple equipment will, I assure you, NOT dilute the flavor of your cup of cold brewed coffee!

And finally...

Wherever you are, remember enjoy that cup of coffee!

Return from cold brew coffee to iced coffee.

Return from cold brew coffee to coffee beans.