Make Your Own Cold Brew.
Carrie Masek
The weather is getting warmer, and if you enjoy iced coffee with your picnic, now's the time to get out your French Press (or good old-fashioned mason jar) and make Cold Brew at home.
Start with twice the amount of coffee you normally use. For example, a 48 oz French Press or jar needs 2 cups of beans.
Set your grinder to “coarse” and grind your coffee.
Put the ground coffee in your press or jar and slowly pour in cold water. It is very important to get all the ground coffee wet, and you may want to stir the mix.
Cover the container. Here's where a French Press is nice. You can use the screen to hold the floating coffee grounds just under the surface of the water, making sure you get all the flavor of your coffee. If you're using a jar, give the grounds another stir and put on the lid.
Let steep for 24 hours.
After 24 hours, your cold brew coffee is ready to enjoy. If you used a French Press, push the plunger and pour your coffee. If you used a jar, pour the coffee through a sieve or coffee filter to catch the grounds.
You have just made a cold brew coffee concentrate, perfect for mixing with milk for an iced-latte. If you prefer your iced coffee black, take a sip to check the strength. You may want to dilute the concentrate with a little water before adding ice.
That's all there is to it!
The cold brew process creates a very low acid coffee. Lively notes are muted, and sweet notes are heightened. While you can make a good cold brew concentrate with any coffee, we prefer to use a naturally processed coffee, roasted at a Vienna roast or darker. The darker roast levels turn the lively notes sweet while still allowing the delicious dried fruit complexity of naturally processed coffees to shine through. Indonesian varietals are perfect for cold brew coffee, as is Brazil Conesol Farm Select. If you prefer the clean flavor of washed processed beans, our San Francisco Blend also makes a great Cold Brew coffee.
So take out that French Press and get brewing. Before you know it, you'll be hanging out with friends, sipping your very own, home-brewed Cold Brew.