Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate
Cold brew concentrate might just be the unsung hero of easy, delicious coffee at home. Just a few simple steps to brew a batch that’s smooth, rich, and full of flavor, no fancy equipment needed. Whether you prefer your coffee straight up, blended, or turned into a creamy latte, this versatile concentrate has you covered. Make it once, and you’ll have the perfect base for your favorite coffee drinks all week long.
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ Coffee Grounds (102g) coarse grind
- 3 cups Water filtered preferred
Instructions
- Add your coarsely ground coffee to the brewing container which might be a large capacity bowl, large French press or other container you can brew in.
- Add in about half the cold water and give it a gentle stir.
- Add in the rest of the water and give it a final stir. Place a lid on top or cover with plastic wrap and let it brew at room temperature for about 14 hours. Or place the container in the fridge for 18 hours.
- After about an hour into the brewing, give the mixture a gentle stir, this will help to break up any clumps that may have formed or redistribute coffee that is floating on the surface. It only needs a gentle stir not a vigorous agitation.
- After the brewing is complete separate the grounds from the liquid. If using a French press, I don't recommend pushing down hard on the plunger, as that will encourage the release of bitter compounds. Instead, plunge gently and stop before reaching the coffee grounds at the bottom. Then pour into a collection vessel (jar or bowl). If you aren't using a French press you can pour the concentrate through some cheesecloth in a sieve to get an initial filtering.
- At this point the cold brew concentrate still is a little gritty. Filter again through a coffee filter-lined fine mesh sieve, or even a paper towel-lined fine mesh sieve. The paper towel actually works really well and is much faster than the coffee filter. Probably 5 minutes with the paper towel and 30 minutes with the coffee filter.
- Your cold brew coffee concentrate is ready to be used. I dilute 1:2 to make a cold brew.
Notes
- Coarsely ground beans extract slowly and evenly producing a smoother mellow flavor compared to a finer grind. Finer grinds also make filtering a nightmare, and can make the final product a bit gritty and sludgy.
- What's in your water is going to have an impact on the taste of your coffee whether it's cold brewed or hot brewed. Chlorine is often added to municipal water systems and is normally of the free chlorine type. It is very volatile and will evaporate if you leave your container of water out on the counter for about 24 hours. Or you can run it through a filter system and be done with it instantly. I myself don't bother with filtering as I'm pretty happy with our tap water.
- When brewing the cold brew concentrate you can brew at room temperature or in the fridge. If brewing in the fridge I like to brew for 18-24 hours, if brewing at room temperature I go for 12-14 hours usually. The longer it brews the stronger it gets, but after the brewing times mentioned I find you start to extract those bitter and acidic compounds.
- If I am using a French press, I don't press down hard on the plunger, I hardly press down at all, I just use leave the built in filter near the top to strain the liquid through into the paper filter on the mesh sieve. If you press down hard you can get over extraction which forces out bitter and sour flavors which wouldn't normally have been extracted.