If you cold press coffee...

[StaceyinLA]

What ratio of grounds to water do you use? What do you do with the coffee afterward (as in what do you do to it before drinking, do you keep it for concentrate, etc.)?

 

Also, where do you get your coffee and what is a really good one you use?

 

I'm working on a cold coffee recipe made with a little honey and homemade almond milk and I just can't get it quite perfected - looking for some tips.

 

 

[FriedClams]

I only drink iced coffee. I use an Aeropress. It takes hot water, but it's super smooth and not acidic at all. I use fresh grind from a local place - espresso fine. I HIGHLY recommend one.

[redsquirrel]

We use 1/3 cup coffee to 1 1/2 cups cold water, stir and let sit overnight. We make it in our french press.

 

Then mix 1/2 cup of the coffee with 1/2 cup cold water to drink. Don't drink undiluted or it makes you feel weird, lol.

 

We aren't fussy about coffee, but we have found this method can elevate even lousy coffee..to some extent, lol. But mostly I just get whatever is shade grown and organic and on sale at the local co-op or from my local coffee roaster.

 

We generally just go through what we make in the course of the day. If we have any left over (very rare) we dilute and turn into ice cubes. But I hardly ever get to to do this. Sometimes we double the recipe

[G5052]

I put 1 c. of regular coffee (I like any DARK roast) in a mason jar and fill it up with water.  I let it sit for an hour or two, then shake it up and put in more water.  This sits at least 24 hours.  I filter it back into a mason jar through a coffee filter, and keep it in the fridge.  I buy whatever cheap dark roast I can get.  I like Aldi and Wegman's, but recently I found some Starbuck's in the reduced bin at Staples. My grocery store had a super deal Settle's Best this week.

 

For my morning coffee, I put about 3/4" of coffee into the cup and fill it with vanilla soy milk, then heat it in the microwave.  A jar lasts me about a week because I usually drive only a cup or two a day. I'm the only coffee drinker in the house and need a low-acid choice.

[BrookValley.]

I'm not much help on the ratio--I just eyeball it. It's probably about a cup of coffee grounds to however much water my french press will hold on top of that (3 cups?). I don't dilute it after, but I can only drink decaf anyway. But here's another thing: I usually use almond milk, too, and you know how almond milk is more watery and not as creamy as regular milk, right? So I think that's part of why I don't dilute it. The almond milk itself seems to dilute the coffee more than regular milk.

 

Anyhow, what I really was replying to say is that honey is good, but I love a little maple syrup with my almond milk in my iced coffee.

 

ETA: as for type of coffee, I just get the darkest I can. My health food store has some lovely, locally roasted varietal decaf coffees that are really amazing, but in a pinch I'll grab Starbucks ground decaf at the grocery because they have some pretty dark decaf coffees.

[StaceyinLA]

Wow thanks! Great ideas! I have been doing 2/3 c of grounds to about 3 c water in my french press overnight (about 10-12 hours). I haven't diluted it much, but I do put about 1/4 c hot water in a jar to dissolve the honey (I use about 1 T for my quart), so that does dilute it a little in addition to the almond milk.

[jeninok]

In my big Pyrex measuring bowl I use 2-3 cups of grounds to 6.5 cups of water and let it sit overnight. Then I strain and put it into a mason jar in the fridge. We mix all sorts of things with it but my favorite is homemade whip cream and turbinado sugar or  sweetened condensed milk.  Sadly I have to  limit my dairy intake so I usually mix it with vanilla almond milk, a dash of real vanilla and a bit of the Bliss natural sweat cream creamer for thickness. 

 

I really like Sprouts organic Sumatra from the bulk bins, it is  9.99 a pound and we grind it as we need it. 

[Tap]

I make cold brew coffee especially for ds because he prefers cold coffee. Sometimes we drink it as well but not too often.  He likes his coffee pretty sweet and creamy so unless I want a 'dessert coffee' I don't drink his cold brew.  lol

 

 

I put 1/2 cup of Cafe Bustelo (espresso grind) into a mason jar and fill with water.  I shake it good so it all gets wet.  I leave in the fridge at least over night and sometimes for 24 hours.  I strain either through the metal strainer on our coffee pot , through the french press, or through a filter sitting on my 4 cup glass measuring cup.(depends on how much time and effort I want to put into it). I do not dilute the coffee. I rinse the jar and put the liquid coffee back into the same jar.   I make 2 quarts at a time.  

 

I only doctor up one quart at a time to keep it fresh.  I add heavy cream, flavoring (hazelnut, caramel, peppermint etc) and chocolate syrup.  I don't have a ratio as I just do it by feel. To make regular iced coffee, I like to use sweetened condensed milk  and cream. Ds prefers the chocolate/flavors, so I generally just use the trio above instead.  

[Amithy]

I use a 1:4 coffe grounds to water ratio and soak at least 12 hours. The coffee I buy is typically free trade & organic, medium to dark roast. I like Costa Rican coffee, but I'll settle for less. ;)

 

I also drink the coffee in a 1:4 coffee to water/milk/ice ratio. So, with almond milk I'd probably fill 1/4 of my mug with coffee and fill it the rest of the way with almond milk. It takes a lot of almond milk to make something creamy, as others have mentioned. If I'm using cream, I'll fill 1/4 of my mug with coffee and fill the rest with water, leaving room for cream. For my DH, I use 1/4 cup coffee, 1/4 cup coconut milk (the real thing in the can, but the "light" version), and enough water & ice to fill the mug.

 

For sweetener, I typically use two packets of Truvia. It dissolves well and tastes like sugar. :)

[Guest]

I made some last night for the first time. I used 1 cup of Cafe Bustelo and 3 1/2 cups of water. I would have used 4 cups of water but ran out of room in the mason jar. ;) I also made vanilla syrup and caramel sauce using coconut sugar. I wanted to make my own iced caramel macchiato with skim milk. It tasted great and was much better than that way overpriced coffee place that starts with an "S"! However, it was too much caffeine for me. So, I think I may get some decaf Cafe Bustelo and try a half and half mixture. I filtered mine through a coffee filter into another large mason jar. I put it in the fridge to use for the next few weeks. I also intend to buy an ice cube tray to make some coffee ice cubes. I was thinking of getting a french press. Does the fine coffee grounds seep through when pouring? Or is it best used with coarse ground coffee?

 

LOL...I could totally tell that you were going to say the bolded as soon as I saw what you used. Ds and dh have been coffee experimenters lately, so we have tried a little bit of everything. I had to stop for something quick the other day so I dropped by Walmart. I was looking for the "richest" coffee I could find, because dh likes it strong. This guy told me that I should have him try Cafe Bustelo if he liked strong stuff. Now, how much time dh has to get ready in the morning determines what coffee I make him. If he is running late and trying to wake up, he asks for Cafe Bustelo.

[Tree Frog]

I made some last night for the first time. I used 1 cup of Cafe Bustelo and 3 1/2 cups of water. I would have used 4 cups of water but ran out of room in the mason jar. ;) I also made vanilla syrup and caramel sauce using coconut sugar. I wanted to make my own iced caramel macchiato with skim milk. It tasted great and was much better than that way overpriced coffee place that starts with an "S"! However, it was too much caffeine for me. So, I think I may get some decaf Cafe Bustelo and try a half and half mixture. I filtered mine through a coffee filter into another large mason jar. I put it in the fridge to use for the next few weeks. I also intend to buy an ice cube tray to make some coffee ice cubes. I was thinking of getting a french press. Does the fine coffee grounds seep through when pouring? Or is it best used with coarse ground coffee?

I used to use a french press, but stopped because I kept finding grounds in the coffee. I now use an Aeropress, but don't use the cold press process. (Wow! The price has gone up by a third since I bought it about 18 months ago!)

[StaceyinLA]

My French press says to use course grind coffee, so I just do a course grind at the store. I haven't found any grounds in mine yet.

[Guest]

My French press says to use course grind coffee, so I just do a course grind at the store. I haven't found any grounds in mine yet.

 

Yeh...ds loves his french press, but only uses coffee with a bigger grind. Something that is finer, like Cafe Bustelo, will compact when wet and it almost creates a hard clay that puts too much pressure on the walls of the press.

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

I used to use a french press, but stopped because I kept finding grounds in the coffee. I now use an Aeropress, but don't use the cold press process. (Wow! The price has gone up by a third since I bought it about 18 months ago!)

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