Cold Brewing – What? Why? How?
What is cold brewing?
Cold brewing is steeping coarsely ground coffee in cool or room temperature water. Cold brewed coffee (cold brew) is not the same as iced coffee. Iced coffee is made by pouring hot brewed coffee over ice. Cold brew is most often served cold, which is great for when you need a cool, refreshing pick-me-up but it can also be served hot.
Why would you cold brew coffee?
With the low temperatures of cold brewing, limited oils are released from the coffee. The absence of the oils and their bitter compounds results in a completely different flavor profile. It produces a naturally sweet, non-bitter coffee drink. Also, the flavor is more stable because there has been no drastic temperature change and it tastes fresh for days.
How do you make cold brew?
It’s easy to make your own cold brew at home!
Ingredients:
- Freshly roasted and coarsely ground coffee - Coarsely ground coffee will ensure the proper flavor extraction over the long steeping period and will make straining easier.
- Distilled water - Good water is often overlooked when brewing coffee but bad tasting water will result in bad tasing coffee. Distilled water is the perfect choice as it contains no impurities that could affect the taste of your coffee.
Steps:
- Mix 2 parts cool water with 1 part coarsely ground coffee.
- Stir until grinds are fully saturated.
- Cover and let sit for 15 hours.
- Filter the coffee grounds from the liquid concentrate.
- Mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part water or milk. For cold coffee, cold water, milk and/or ice may be used. For hot coffee, add boiling water. Keep the strained concentrate in the fridge for 7-10 days.