How To Make Cold Brew Coffee

Cold brew coffee is usually made by steeping coffee in water for several hours at cold or ambient temperature. Great cold brew has a smooth flavor, a rich sweetness, a gentle hint of acidity, and virtually no bitterness. Cold brew doesn’t have rich aromas.

Steps to make cold brew coffee

This cold brew coffee recipe is a very easy and forgiving method. Just make sure to make it 24 hours before drinking it. Here are the major steps in our cold brew coffee recipe.

1. Grind 1 ½  cups of dark roast coffee: Grind the coffee to a medium coarse grind.
2. Add 6 cups of filtered water and mix: Add filtered water to the coffee grounds in a large jar or pitcher and give it a little stir.
3. Refrigerate and wait 24 hours: Here’s where the brewing magic happens and you don’t need to do anything. Just wait while the coffee brews.
4. Filter the coffee: Pour the coffee into a strainer with a towel or cheesecloth placed inside and filter it into a separate container. Then cold brew is ready to drink. It makes 9 servings water it down with equal parts cold water and coffee concentrate.                                                                        

Ingredients

Coffee –  Use your favorite coffee beans to make this drink. Dark roasted coffee is recommended, but experiment with a medium roster too. 

Milk – For the creamiest version of coffee, use full cream milk. You can even use low-fat milk or skim milk, but the texture won’t be as creamy as the full cream one. For a vegan version, instead of dairy milk, you can go for non-dairy options such as almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, oats milk, or any other vegan milk that you prefer.

Sugar – Add sugar as per your taste. You can increase or decrease the quantity of the same.

Ice Cubes – Throw in a few ice cubes while blending. It is an essential step to get frothy coffee.

How to serve cold brew coffee

1. Brewed coffee, chilled – brew coffee ahead and chill until ready to serve.
2. Skim milk to add to the base recipe.
3. Add an ice cube to the base recipe.
4. Pour the coffee mixture into a glass and add flavored coffee creamer to taste. 
5. Serve with a straw for easy sipping.

Cold brew is known for being very smooth in flavor. But it doesn’t have to be enjoyed only as an iced beverage. Although it seems counterintuitive, heating cold brew coffee is a great way to enjoy it.

Recipe

Special equipment: coffee grinder, cheesecloth, kitchen twine or a coffee filter, pint mason jar, or other glass containers. 

1. Grind the beans in a coffee grinder on the coarse setting, the ground coffee should resemble coarse sugar or sand.
2. Cut a 6 by 6-inch thickness of cheesecloth. Put the coffee in the middle and tie it tightly with kitchen twine. Put the sachet in a pint mason jar or other 2-cup glass containers. Add the cold water and seal tightly. If you prefer, you can just add the coffee directly to the cold water and strain it through a cheesecloth after steeping.
3. Refrigerate and steep for at least 12 hours, though 18 to 24 hours is best. Remove the sachet, press to extract as much liquid as possible back into the jar, and discard the sachet.
4. Finally to serve, pour equal parts cold brew concentrate and cold water over ice. Add milk and sweetener if using.

The result of a proper cold brew is a less acidic drink that brings out the sweeter, more subtle notes in the coffee.