How to Create Crave-Worthy Cold Brew Coffee Right at Home
By guest author Sally Writes
The average cold brew coffee (which is essentially still just coffee) costs almost four dollars, 60 percent more than its hot counterpart. Why spend so much on cold brew coffee at coffee shops or grocery stores when you can make your own dark and intense cold brew coffee in the comfort of your own home? Like other coffees, making cold brew coffee is a process that requires precision and an eye for detail. You can't just pour regular old coffee onto some ice and call it a day.
There’s a lot of little things you can do to make your cold brew coffee taste like it’s worth those dollars you would have spent at the coffee shop without having to pay more than a few cents each cup.
Here are a few:
Grind Your Beans Course
Grinding your beans fine may be ok for regular pots of coffee, but it can really affect the flavor of your cold brew. Since you’re going to be steeping these grounds overnight, you don’t want them to over-extract. Fine ground beans will do just that, so grind your beans coarse to slow the extraction process and get the flavor just right.
Cut Your Coffee
Despite the ramblings of your annoying friend who always tries to prove how tough they are, there is such a thing as too strong. Cold brew coffee can be extra strong and caffeinated because it’s steeped for so long. To address this, make a cold brew "concentrate", then cut your coffee with water, ice, milk or even a little simple syrup to even out the flavor.
Use the Right Tools
It's true any old container can conceivably house your cold brew, but straining the brew can be a tough task. Avoid making a mess and keep grounds out of your finished drink by using a coffee press like a French press or the newfangled "American Press", a twist on French press that can be used for cold brew and will do a better job of keeping those pesky grounds out of your finished cup.
Make the Perfect Amount
Cold brew coffee does last longer than hot coffee, but it still loses its taste in about a week. It goes bad quicker if you dilute it. So, if you make too much and let your coffee sit in your fridge for too long, you'll wind up with less than perfect taste. Scale back the production, so you're brewing once or twice a week.
Taking the Time to Do It Right
Making your own coffee is a process, we do it because we like the control and quality we get when we take things into our own hands. Cold brew coffee especially requires that extra touch to reach its full potential. So, take the time and do those extra things like grinding beans course or buying the right equipment. You’ve already decided it’s worth your time so why not go the extra mile?
Article by guest author Sally Phillips, Photo by Jakub Kapusnak