How to make cold brew coffee at home in three easy steps and why you need to make it.
Not too long ago, we shared our recipe for cold brew coffee with you. It’s easy, requires very little time from you and tastes just like your favorite coffee shops.
What is cold brew?
Instead of making coffee using hot water, cold brew requires cold water. We simply combine ground coffee and cold water then wait while the coffee brews into an ultra-smooth, rich cup of coffee.
You may be asking, why don’t you just add ice to regular coffee?
You could do that, but adding a bunch of ice cubes to hot coffee dilutes things. The flavor is watery and any nuance the coffee had when brewed gets trampled.
With cold brew, the flavor is rich and strong.
Why you need to make it
Making cold brew at home is easy. It’s also perfect for making ahead.
You can make a big batch in the evening and wake up to multiple cups of coffee in the morning. You could down them all that day or leave some for the next morning. Perfect!
Cold Brew Coffee in 3 Easy Steps
You are just 3 steps away from homemade cold brew! Here’s how to do it:
STEP 1: Grind Your Beans
It’s best to use coarsely ground coffee. Choose the coarsest setting on your grinder or ask a local coffee shop to grind coffee beans for you on their coarsest setting.
STEP 2: Combine the Coffee and Water
We make cold brew in our French press, but you can use any food-safe vessel. When you’re ready to prepare the brew, gently stir your ground coffee with cold water.
We combine 6 ounces of coffee beans, that have been ground coarsely with 28 ounces of cold, preferably filtered, water.
Then you step away and let the coffee brew — it will take at least 12 hours.
STEP 3: Filter Your Homemade Cold Brew
If you used a French press, simply push the stopper down and pour out your filtered cold brew. Alternatively, if you used another container, line a mesh strainer with cheesecloth and pour the cold brew through into another container.
Now you have cold brew concentrate. It’s strong!
To make a cup, simply combine the concentrate with as much or a little cold water as you like. We typically combine 1 part concentrate with 2 parts water.
The cold brew concentrate will keep up to two weeks in your fridge.
Tools you will need
Coffee Grinder — we love our Capresso Infinity Burr Grinder. Or, take your coffee beans to a local coffee shop. The barista will be happy to grind your beans for you. Remember, we are looking for a really coarse grind — it should look similar to coarse salt.
32-Ounce French Press — we have this one from Bodum. We love that it makes straining the cold brew easy, you just push down the plunger. You could also use a large mason jar or other food safe container, and then strain your cold brew through a mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth.
A Kitchen Scale or Measuring Cups — Weighing your beans is best — we use this scale from OXO often. If you don’t have a scale, you can use measuring cups. We have given approximate amounts in cups in our recipe. We are looking for 6 ounces of beans, which is roughly 1 1/2 cups of beans when measured using American measuring cups.
Mason Jar or Food-Safe Container — Since our recipe makes a concentrate, you’ll likely have some leftover for another day. We’ve found mason jars are perfect for storing our concentrate in the fridge. They are so easy to clean and can be used for lots of other things in your home.
Get the Recipe Now!
Get the recipe for how to make ultra-smooth cold brew at home, just like your favorite coffee shops. The recipe requires very little hands-on time from you, about 10 minutes! GET THE COLD BREW RECIPE
