Simple Cold Brew Coffee
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Cold Brew Coffee
Equipment
- Bean Grinder
- Measuring Cup
- Scale
- 2 Liter Container
- Strainer
- Coffee Filter
Ingredients
- 226 Grams Dark Roast Coffee Beans (2 Cups)
- 1,500 Milliliters Filtered Water (6 Cups)
- 500 Milliliters Filtered Water (2 Cups)
Instructions
- Grind your beans to coarse state. Do not over grind.
- Add the first 6 cups of water and ground beans to a2 liter container.
- Seal the container and store in the fridge for 20 to 24 hours.
- After it has rested for the allotted time, filter out the beans.
- Discard the filtered out beans and return the cold brew to the container. Make sure there is no bean residue left in the container before returning the liquid. (We highly recommend reading our notes on the filter process below.)
- Add the 2 cups of water of additional water. Shake to incorporate.
- Store in the refrigerator and use as desired. The cold brew should be fine for 2 weeks
Iced Coffee vs. Cold Brew
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The term cold brew has been kicked around and become more popular over the last few years, and with it so has confusion over just exactly what it is. Let’s dispell all the misinformation and find out what a Cold Brew Coffee really is.
An iced coffee is brewed hot, and then served over ice. The coffee can be brewed hot, and then cooled down in a fridge, but this does not make a cold brew.
A cold brew is created by steeping the bean in cold water over a longer period of time. At no point is heat introduced to get help siphon the flavor from the beans.
Not that we got that straight, why spend the extra time to go through the process? One main reason is that a cold brew produces a softer, less acidic cup of coffee. The slower brewing process allows us to get all the flavors we desire, while cutting out all the harsh notes that doesn’t taste pleasant.
Doing your beans right
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As well, lighter roasts tend not to work as well. Because the flavor of these types of beans is milder, there is a tendency that will get lost in the process. Choosing a dark roast will generally create a more flavorful cold brew.
We had some dark roast beans from Kirkland which were not very good. They were undrinkable when brewed in our drip coffee machine. I thought they would make a good test case for doing a cold brew. As a cold brew, they turned into a very delightful drink, which turned out far better than I imagined.
Make sure you don’t grind your beans too fine. When you’re making a drip coffee or espresso, the tendency is to go for finer grind. This will cause you trouble here as when you get to the filter process the grains may slip through, ruining your cold brew. Aim for something far coarser.
If you not grinding at home, tell the barista what you’re doing and they should know how to grind your beans. This is also why, as you might have surmised, you can’t just pre-ground coffee to do this.
Going over the recommended 24 hour steeping time isn’t a good idea. The longer you steep, the more bitter notes you will impart. That’s what you want to avoid. For that reason, you can’t just set it and forget it. You really need to be mindful with your cold brew.
A hill of beans
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The best way, we’ve found, to filter out your beans is by doing a double filtration process. We use a normal strainer, which you might use for something like pasta, to filter out the vast majority of the coarsely ground beans.
Then we use a proper coffee filter in a second filtration. This is done to catch the finer particles.
Why not save time and skip the first the filtration? Well, there are a lot of beans here, and they will quickly clog up and overload your coffee filter. It will end up making a huge mess, causing more work and a lot more time. So, you’re not going to save time, or your sanity, by skipping one of the filtrations.
The filtration process will take a little bit of time. The first one will be super quick, about 2 or 3 minutes. The second one takes a lot longer. Expect to spend about 30 minutes intermittently checking and add more cold brew to be filtered.
What to do with a Cold Brew
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We done making our cold brew, so now what? That’s really up to you. You can do anything you want. If you desired to, you could heat up your cold brew and drink it hot. I think that partly defeats the purpose of a cold brew, but there is no law against doing that.
We opt for ice coffee with our cold brew. Cold brews go well with a heavy cream, especially if you followed our advice and used a dark roast.
If you want to sweeten up your brew, don’t reach for the granulated sugar. It won’t dissolve well, and you’ll end up with an uneven sweetness that has a sandy consistency. It’s not pleasant.
Rather, make some simple syrup. As the name would suggest, it’s simple to make.
Coffee and Italian music just go together!