Cold brew iced cofffee

(charlie3) #1

I used to drink hot black coffee and rarely drink iced coffee with milk and sweetner. Now that heavy cream is okay I’ve switched completely to iced coffee.

A few days ago I discovered cold brewed. Instead of making a pot of hot dripped coffee then letting it cool it’s possible to combine a coarse grind in a bottle with cold water, let it steep for 18 hours, then pour through a strainer for drinking. I’m not sure yet if I prefer the cold brew method but it’s very promising. Is there anyone here with more experience doing cold brew? I’m looking for tips to do it better.

(bulkbiker) #2

I tend to leave mine for 24 hours and start it off with a little hot water to get the oils moving then top up with cold and leave in the fridge.
I bought a specific cold brew maker but of course this means that you run out of coffee every other day so got bored with making it. I also used to heat it up most of the time but it has a different taste profile to reg hot made coffee and if I was more organised I’d start it again.

(Bob M) #3

I’ve been using cold brew for years. I’ve let it sit anywhere between 12 hours and 24 hours. I can’t tell much of a difference, but I also don’t have two pots and the same coffee to compare.

I use this:

(Bob M) #4

Oh yeah, this allows up to 16 ounces of coffee at a time. I make anywhere between 12-16 ounces of coffee usually, and just have the amount of water needed for each (7 cups = 12 ounces, 9 cups = 16 ounces), and just estimate if say I have 14.5 ounces of coffee.

(Bob M) #5

Also, I leave mine out on the counter while brewing and put the coffee in the fridge after straining. I also cover with a plate, as my wife freaks out if I don’t.

(charlie3) #6

My next cold brew n=1 experiment, just started, is to put the same amount of coarse ground coffee in a wide mouth bottle as in my coffee maker and the same amount of water, measured with the coffee maker pot, and let it sit for the recommended hours. Then I’ll strain it directly into the basket through a reusuable mesh coffee filter (about $3 at Walmart) in my coffee maker, back into it’s pot, then into a bottle for the frig. (I’ve already found the paper filters plug up too fast.

Most of the online recipes want you to make 2x concentrate and dilute with water before drinking. The claim is the concentrate will be good for a couple of weeks but only a couple of days watered down. Since I’ll consume it over two days might as well try brewing at the strength for drinking.

I really hope this works. It has some significant convenience. Eventually I’ll try heating some to hot coffee temperature to see how that works.

(Bob M) #7

You can see what concentration you like. I usually use 3/4 cup and then fill to the 1 3/4 cup level (as my covered mug only fits 2 cups), so that’s about 1:1, slightly less than that. I also started out doing 1/3 cup concentrate and diluting to 1 cup coffee, so about 1:2 concentrate:water. It’s really up to your tastes.

Oh, you’re also supposed to use a large grind. And I find if you use a small grind, it takes forever to drain, and tends to ruin the filter quickly.

We no longer have a way to brew coffee other than this.

(charlie3) #8

Today, finally, it occured to me to see if there are any youtube videos on making cold brew and of course there are. I need a burr grinde, filter bag and the right containers. This one seems to have the most views.

If you dig a little deeper there are more vidoes about many fine points to improve the coffee experience, cold or hot.