Keep Cool with Cold Brew
Carrie Masek
It's not even the middle of May, but in some parts of the country, temperatures are already climbing into the 80's. Hello, summer! If you're like us and enjoy Cold Brew iced coffee on hot summer days, it's time to get out your French Press (or good old-fashioned mason jar) and make your own at home. Here's how:
Start with twice the amount of coffee you normally use. For example, for a 20 oz French Press (or jar) use a scant cup of beans. A 48 oz French Press needs a full 2 cups.
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. Our Historic Mokha Java makes great Cold Brew, as does July's Coffee of the Month, Summer Ice. If you prefer the clean flavor of washed processed beans, San Francisco Foglifter 1950 or our new El Salvador Chalate also make great Cold Brew coffee.
So take out that French Press (or mason jar) and get brewing. Before you know it, you'll be swinging in your hammock sipping your very own, home-brewed Cold Brew.
~ Carrie, Paul and all of us at Coffee by the Roast