How to make great cold brew coffee

Starting in 2011 I slowly but surely became addicted to coffee and caffeine in general.  I have been working from home for about 3 years now and at some point I decided to give it a try.  I believe it was my roommate who first turned me onto coffee when we went to the local coffee shop because he said he needed one.  Gave one a try, and instantly got wired as hell.  Never looked back.

It got to a point where I was drinking a large iced coffee every day.  I fully admit that part of this was to get up and move around during my lunch break.  I’d be cooped up in my room all day on my computer and I would just need to get out and take a walk and get some lunch.

Getting a coffee every day starts to add up.  It was $2.75 for a large iced coffee at the place I went to and I pretty much got one every day.  Of course, after a while this wasn’t good enough and I would have to start my day off with something as well.  I started drinking energy drinks in the morning every day that ran for $2.00 each.  That comes to a staggering $1,733.75 each year on caffeine.

I thought there had to be an easier more cost effective way.

Enter cold brew coffee.

What is cold brew coffee?

Cold brew coffee is coffee that is made by seeping coffee grinds over night in water.  Because it’s soaking in the beans for hours, more caffeine is extracted from the grounds than with traditional brewing.

Cold brew coffee is also much more cost effective. A pound of coffee beans will run me anywhere from 10-18 dollars depending on what you are getting.

This will last me for about 3 weeks, and I usually have about 2-3 cups of coffee a day.  I usually will put in about 6-8 oz of coffee grounds per 2 liter batch.

It’s my opinion that cold brew coffee tastes a lot better than conventionally brewed coffee.  What happens when you conventionally brew coffee is the high temperature extracts acidic oils from the bean that impact how it tastes.  When you cold brew, it avoids about 67% of these acidic oils being extracted.  This gives the coffee a more floral note that I rather enjoy.

Another great thing about cold brew coffee is that it doesn’t go stale like conventionally brewed coffee does.  The heating and cooling of coffee causes a chemical change and makes it more susceptable to going stale.  This means you can brew a batch and have it last for a really long time yielding more results from your coffee grinds.

Materials that you will need

• First and foremost, you are going to need some espresso roast coffee beans.  Experiment with your beans.  I have tried a number of different beans, and have found some taste better than others.  Use your best judgement here as I have no idea what variety of beans you have at your local store.  For reference I go to Whole Foods and get some stuff called “Green Street Rocket Roast”.  It’s from Philly though, so it may not be available to you.
• You will need a container to brew your coffee in.  This can be anything really.  What I like to use is a 2 liter pitcher.  The one I use is this one here because it’s glass.
• You will need one of these Nut-Milk bags to put your coffee in.  It’s essentially a really big tea bag.  If you brew your own beer, you should be familiar with these.
• You may need a grinder for your beans.  If you buy your beans at a store, just use their grinder.  Set the grinder for a course grind.

Directions

• Take your Nut-Milk bag and place about 4 and 1/2 oz to 6 oz of coarse coffee grinds in there.
• Pull the drawstring shut on the bag.
• Place the bag in your pitcher.
• Fill up the pitcher with water up to the brim.  While you are doing this make sure the drawstring is outside of the pitcher.
• Place the lid on the pitcher and place the drawstring on top of the lid.  The reason for this is that sometimes the water will seep into the cord and make it wet, and you don’t want that dripping on your fridge.
• Place the full pitcher in your fridge and let it sit there for 12 hours.
• When the 12 hours are up, take the pitcher out of the fridge and squeeze the bag to get the last drops of concentrated coffee back into the pitcher.
• Open the bag and dump out the used coffee grinds into the trash.  Now take the bag and wash it for the next time.

Now you have 2 liters of super concentrated coffee that can be diluted with water in a 1:1 mixture that still will give you a strong cup of coffee.  Put the pitcher of coffee back in the refrigerator so that it stays cold.

Cold brew coffee is perfect because it not only costs less, but is more powerful than regular coffee.  You also don’t have to waste time going to get coffee at your local coffee shop anymore.

Enjoy it!