a simple, how-to guide…
You’re probably reading this because you are confused as to what “Cold Brew” is exactly? And how the heck do you make it?
Simply put (because it is simple!), Cold Brew is a coffee extraction that utilizes cold (or room temperature) water to extract flavor from roasted coffee beans.
There’s a LOT of nasty “Cold Brew” being sold these days. In fact, 99% of it is undrinkable without cream and / or sugar. Contributing to this pile of wasted coffee beans is the fact the term cold brew has been bastardized by marketers, hipsters, and idiots. And many coffee shops and Kwik-E-Marts use “iced coffee” and “cold brew” interchangeably. It’s a mess out there.
Cold brew is not rocket science, with a little practice (and several mediocre batches) you can dial-in a cold brew to your liking.
A french press is probably the quickest way to get started making homemade Cold Brew.
Just take your favorite beans, grind them coarsely– and we mean course– as course, or courser than, your typical french press grind.
- Use 50 – 100% more grinds than you use to make your hot coffee (now you know why good cold brew costs so much)
- let sit overnight (8-12 hours) in the fridge or a cool room
- Press
- Voila’– you now have Cold Brew!
- If grit bothers you, filter through cheese cloth or paper coffee filters
- Refrigerate what you don’t drink immediately
It’s guaranteed there’s room for improvement from your first batch…
- Try more steep time. Or less.
- More grinds. Or less.
- A finer grind?
- Or maybe your favorite coffee is too lightly roasted (or too dark) for your liking as a Cold Brew?
How a Cold Brew extraction is then used, is up to you. It can be drunk black as-is, over ice, with or without sugar, cream, alternative milks, or diluted with water to your preferred strength. It can even be heated and served hot. We highly recommend using the microwave for heating (notice we didn’t say “re-heating”).