Taking the Plunge on Cold Brew Coffee

Jo-Lynne inspired me to try this iced coffee thing at home.  She mentioned cold brew coffee and my interest was instantly piqued.  Cold brew coffee?  What is this?  So a-googling and youtubing I went.  Turns out cold brew coffees are less bitter when you use a cold brewing method.  This seems to be the key to making iced coffees at home.  Every other time I’ve tried to make coffee and refrigerate it, it was not a pleasant taste.

Cold brewing is really easy if you have a french press.  And if you do not have a french press, get thee to your local IKEA to get a very affordable one or Starbucks for a longer-lasting, recycled one.  Or, you know, Wally world probably has one too.  I’ve had the IKEA and Starbucks one and the Starbucks one is actually worth the extra money.   So to cold brew coffee with a french press, do this:

1. Put one cup of coffee grounds in your french press
2. Put 4 cups of water in your french press
3. Mix it up
4. Put the top on but don’t plunge it
5. Put it in the fridge.  The time spent there varies widely.  I read anywhere from 4 hours to 24 hours.  I did 12 hours/overnight.
6. After whatever time you decide, plunge the press like you would normally

Voila!  Cold brew coffee!  If you don’t have a french press, don’t worry, you can still do this.  Just get a large jar (old spaghetti jar would work!) and mix the grounds and coffee and put it in the fridge to sit.  When it’s done in the fridge, use cheese cloth, a regular coffee filter or a metal strainer and pour the coffee into another container.  Easiest is probably just to use your regular filter basket and set it on the jar and run it through like normal.

The best part is the coffee lasts up to 14 days so don’t worry about making so much!

Now, what do you do with that coffee?  I found this video from Seattle’s Best to be the best instructions.

But here’s what I did with what I had on hand:

• 50/50 ratio coffee to half & half
• 2 teaspoons of super fine sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• Mix and pour in a handful of ice

Results:

It certainly will never replace my Starbucks Iced White Mocha.  I’m not going to lie.  BUT since I’ve been trying to limit myself to once a week coffee at Starbucks, it’s a nice alternative.  I’m hoping to get some white chocolate powder and use that in place of one of the teaspoons of sugar.  As you can tell from the video, there are lots of things you can do with the cold brew.  Who knew?