How to Make Homemade Cold Brew Coffee
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With the summer sun beginning to sizzle, it’s time for Homemade Cold Brew Coffee. A creamy, slightly sweet ice cold refreshing coffee with just a hint of spice. Whether it’s a morning wake up or an afternoon pick-me-up, nothing can quite compare to this deliciousness.
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And seriously, it couldn’t be easier to make at home, customized just for you.
Imagine, a refreshing cold glass of perfectly brewed ice cold coffee, just waiting for you tomorrow morning.
Keep reading for expert advice on 6 cold brew mistakes you’ll want to avoid.
But first…
3 Ingredients + Water
Begin by mixing coarsely ground coffee beans, freshly grated cinnamon, and brown sugar. This is covered with water and steeped overnight or up to 24 hours before straining. And serving in a tall glass filled with ice. And a straw. Always for me… a straw. Maybe adding milk or creamer. It’s that simple.
Easy? Yes!
You can be your own barista and easily make cold brew coffee at home with either a lidded jar or a French Press.
Plus, at the bottom of this post is my favorite recipe for cold brew coffee.
How to Make Homemade Cold Brew Coffee with a French Press
Starbucks shows how to infuse your cold brew coffee with a touch of sugar, spice, and citrus.
How to Make Homemade Cold Brew Coffee with a Jar
6 Common Mistakes You Make with Homemade Cold Brew Coffee
Huffington Post recently compiled a list of 6 common mistakes we make with our home cold brewed coffee.
1. Using the “Good” Beans:
“It would be a mistake to ‘waste’ your super-fresh, super high-end, single-origin beans on cold brew. But how old is too old? ‘You can still get a quality batch of cold brew with beans that are several weeks old. I wouldn’t let them get too far out (as in months) or you will start to notice some pretty lifeless qualities’.”
2. Grinding the Beans too Fine:
Because you’re steeping coffee beans for upwards of 124 hours, you should grind the beans coarsely. Coffee that is too finely ground will over-extract (steeped too long), which means it will be bitter.
3. Using the Wrong Ratio:
The basic formula for cold brew is one pound of ground coffee beans to one gallon of water. A more home brewing-friendly ratio is a quarter-pound of beans to four cups of water. Scale down or drink up.
4. Water Temperature:
The water temperature doesn’t matter as much as you think. Use whatever temperature you’d like.
5. Not Diluting the Concentrate:
The standard time for steeping, says Phillips, is 24 hours. Be aware that will result in an intensely flavored (and caffeinated) coffee concentrate. When you’re ready to drink, dilute it with water (adding cream or alt-milks will also cut the intensity). When made according to the 1 pound:1 gallon ratio, your cold brew will contain roughly twice the amount of caffeine as hot drip coffee.
6. Storing it Too Long in the Fridge:
As an undiluted concentrate, cold brew coffee will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge, although the flavor quality will degrade after the first week.
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Making Cold Brew at Home
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Easy and Homemade Cold Brew for Summer Mornings
- Total Time: 18 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
With the summer sun beginning to sizzle, it’s time for Homemade Cold Brew Coffee. A creamy, slightly sweet ice cold refreshing coffee with just a hint of spice. Whether it’s a morning wake up or an afternoon pick-me-up, nothing can quite compare to this deliciousness.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coarsely ground coffee beans
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- Serve with: milk, cream, or half and half
Instructions
- Into a large lidded jar add coarsely ground coffee beans, cinnamon (freshly ground is amazing!), and brown sugar. Add the water, stir to combine, and cover with a lid. Refrigerate overnight or 18 to 24 hours to steep.
- The next morning, when brewed, strain into a large bowl with a coffee filter lined sieve. Discard coffee grounds. You may need to repeat the process until there is no remaining residue. This may happen is the coffee grind was too fine.
- Serve over ice with added milk, cream, or half and half. Refrigerate the remaining cold brew in an airtight container, which will keep for 2 weeks — if it lasts that long.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Chilling Time: 18 hours
- Category: Beverages
Keywords: cold brew coffee, how to make cold brew coffee