Tell me all about cold brew coffee

[Katy]

I usually only like very good coffee from a very clean machine and frozen beans.  It's a lot of work for little love. Any bitter rancid oil taste isn't worth it unless there's so much sugar mixed in it's basically candy. So usually if I want caffeine I drink it in the form of diet soda or sugar free energy drink.

But recently a guest brought a bottle of cold brew over.  It's SO GOOD.  This person buys it at the grocery store, but says a friend just puts it in a giant iced tea pitcher - one in the basement, one in the main fridge.  Apparently he lets it brew 3 days, and uses cheap coffee, and strains it out later.  Apparently cold brewing doesn't release the oils from the coffee into the water, just the coffee taste, so that bitter rancid oil thing isn't a factor. Said the only drawback is it takes a lot more coffee grounds than typical.

Is this true?  Can I make good coffee by dumping cheap grounds into a pitcher with water and letting it sit for a while?  Am I missing something?

[DawnM]

Yes, I have done it before.   I have one that actually filters through a filter and when it has gone all the way through, it is done.  It doesn't take 3 days, but I would try that method.

I have this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Toddy-Coffee-System-Filters-Stoppers/dp/B07DKSBYCY/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?gclid=CjwKCAjwg-DpBRBbEiwAEV1_-H4CFjC8uvqNxdQKeH9hUWViy9AA0QR_tnXoRJZvsOzyUcgubMS-8hoCfB0QAvD_BwE&hvadid=345551839363&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9010670&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=b&hvrand=13850830972384289447&hvtargid=kwd-296410036540&hydadcr=13966_9624671&keywords=toddy+cold+brew+coffee+system&qid=1563978090&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNVVFRUo4U1U3VjQ5JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjAzMTg2MjI5QUlLR0xVQjdOSSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTgzNjcxMlZES0M3S0FHVVk4UyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

 

The heat is what brings out the oils.

Edited July 24, 2019 by DawnM

[Pen]

19 minutes ago, Katy said:

I usually only like very good coffee from a very clean machine and frozen beans.  It's a lot of work for little love. Any bitter rancid oil taste isn't worth it unless there's so much sugar mixed in it's basically candy. So usually if I want caffeine I drink it in the form of diet soda or sugar free energy drink.

But recently a guest brought a bottle of cold brew over.  It's SO GOOD.  This person buys it at the grocery store, but says a friend just puts it in a giant iced tea pitcher - one in the basement, one in the main fridge.  Apparently he lets it brew 3 days, and uses cheap coffee, and strains it out later.  Apparently cold brewing doesn't release the oils from the coffee into the water, just the coffee taste, so that bitter rancid oil thing isn't a factor. Said the only drawback is it takes a lot more coffee grounds than typical.

Is this true?  Can I make good coffee by dumping cheap grounds into a pitcher with water and letting it sit for a while?  Am I missing something?

 

I don’t know about good coffee from cheap grounds.  Or 3 days  

I can make either coffee or tea in a refrigerator infusing overnight around 12 hours 

I don’t have enough room in my fridge for a lot at a time.  I wonder if it could be done with ice water and no fridge 

Edited July 24, 2019 by Pen

[PeppermintPattie]

I make cold brew exclusively - 12 -24 hours on the counter to brew (no ice needed), then store the concentrate in a jar for up to three weeks in fridge. I've tried different methods over the last 12 years, and Toddy is the most efficient, and you can trust their instructions. I use Kirkland coffee from Costco.

[happi duck]

50 minutes ago, PeppermintPattie said:

I make cold brew exclusively - 12 -24 hours on the counter to brew (no ice needed), then store the concentrate in a jar for up to three weeks in fridge. I've tried different methods over the last 12 years, and Toddy is the most efficient, and you can trust their instructions. I use Kirkland coffee from Costco.

The concentrate can be used for hot or iced, correct?

[Carol in Cal.]

It makes sense chemically because extraction of some substances occurs at lower temperatures than others.  There is also the ‘cooking it’ effect in which fragile chemicals get cooked into harsher ones at some temps.  

If I wanted to try the 3 day, canned coffee method I would use a French press.  That has an infuser type canister and very good filter to efficiently take out the grounds when you’re done brewing.  Maybe MJB can taste good to me again!  Or Folgers!

[PeppermintPattie]

8 minutes ago, happi duck said:

The concentrate can be used for hot or iced, correct?

Yes!

[Lori D.]

DH does it regularly and it takes about 5 minutes total.

He buys beans from Costco and stores them in the freezer.
At night when ready to make coffee for the next day, he grinds them with a grinder that is designed for it (the bean fragments need to be coarser than for percolating or drip).
He heats water (from our reverse osmosis filtered water) in a pyrex measuring cup in the microwave, and pours over the ground beans in a French press.
  (If letting it steep for 24 hours, you don't need to heat the water.)
He puts the top back on the French press with plunger up and lets it steep sitting on the counter over night.
In the morning, he pushes the plunger down, pours the coffee into a container, cleans the grinds out of the French press and rinses it all out.
He drinks his coffee -- sometimes iced with ice cubes and a splash of flavored creamer, or sometimes hot by reheating in the microwave.
He refrigerates the rest, and has enough coffee for several days.

Edited July 24, 2019 by Lori D.

[Kanin]

A word of caution - cold brew has a LOT more caffeine than regular coffee/iced coffee, so go slowly. You can get a headache, woozy feeling, nausea, etc. from too much caffeine.

Thanks, Whole Foods cold brew! 😳

[Lori D.]

6 minutes ago, Mainer said:

A word of caution - cold brew has a LOT more caffeine than regular coffee/iced coffee, so go slowly. You can get a headache, woozy feeling, nausea, etc. from too much caffeine...

YES! DO be careful!

More caffeine -- but less acid so it's easier on the stomach, as not as much is leached out as with the heat in the percolating or drip methods.

[Moonhawk]

This is how we do iced coffee: It's pretty painless, recipe from Pioneer woman. We do the coffee part as described, though our fridge is smaller now so have to do smaller batches.

[sweet2ndchance]

Before we went completely caffeine free, my husband and I loved making homemade coffee drinks with homemade cold brew coffee because at the time no one around here carried cold brew coffee (now that we don't drink it anymore of course everyone around here has it).

I made it with whatever coffee suited my fancy at the time. Sometimes it was the expensive stuff, sometimes the cheaper stuff. I like the vanilla flavored coffees personally. I made in a mason jar. Quart sized mason jar, 3/4 cup coffee grounds, filled to the neck of the jar with water. I let it sit on the counter for 24 hours before straining it. I would shake it every now and then when I thought about it while it was steeping. The longer it sits the more concentrated it gets but 24 hours was enough for us. I used a metal fine mesh strainer to strain out the coffee grounds. That got most of it out. If a particular brand of grounds had a lot of small particles that made it through the strainer, I would do it again with a coffee filter in the strainer. I kept it in a quart jar in the fridge for a week or two with a pour spout lid like this one.

Cold brew coffee is the only type of coffee I've ever liked. I've never cared for hot brewed coffee. We made our coffee drinks with milk, a couple of tablespoons of the cold brew coffee (just eyeballed) and enough flavored creamer to make it sweet.

[marbel]

4 hours ago, Mainer said:

A word of caution - cold brew has a LOT more caffeine than regular coffee/iced coffee, so go slowly. You can get a headache, woozy feeling, nausea, etc. from too much caffeine.

Thanks, Whole Foods cold brew! 😳

Oh! So that's why my daughter and I felt sickly after our first Wawa* cold brews last summer!  We've never had one again.  

My husband and I tried cold brew at home and found it kind of meh.  In summer we just make our regular coffee and refrigerate it. We also have a coffee ice tray in the freezer. It's simpler and fine for us.  

*Wawa = regional mid-Atlantic/south east coast convenience food/gas station chain with awesome prepared food and coffee.

[Kanin]

2 hours ago, marbel said:

In summer we just make our regular coffee and refrigerate it.

That's what I do, too. Feels safer! My DH is now super nervous about ordering iced coffee in case it's actually cold brew. We did like the taste, though!

[Liz CA]

Super easy and super delicious.

Buy good organic beans, grind coarsely. Set up in 4:1 ratio water over grounds and let sit over night. 12 hours is all that's needed.

Beware that the resulting brew is strong so you may want to dilute it with milk or water. It is also less acidic and seems more stomach friendly.

[FriedClams]

There's a brand out of New Orleans that's AMAZING. It's in the refrigerator section, blue label - brand is Cool Brew. Publix, Whole Foods, and other stores carry it. It's expensive but REALLY, REALLY concentrated. I mix it with ice and unsweetened almond milk and it's perfect.  If you DIY, the coffee toddy is worth the money. I highly recommend the disposable filters. They're a little extra, but make clean up NOTHING and are such a luxury. 

[Katy]

Thanks everyone!  This is absolutely something I'm going to try soon.  Probably not today, because my 2 year old just got a diaper off INSIDE footie pajamas, pooped, and managed to subtly smear it all over our new house and over several as yet unpacked boxes.   The obvious stuff is cleaned up, all children who caught anything gross have had a bath, and I'm about to get in the shower again. Today is going to be about bleach, laundry, bleach, unpacking, and undoubtedly several more baths.  Sigh.

[Selkie]

Oh wow, I've been drinking cold brew coffee for the past couple months and didn't even realize it has so much caffeine. I guess it doesn't affect me.

[arnold]

I make my cold brew in a French press. No mess at all!!!

[Pen]

9 hours ago, Katy said:

Thanks everyone!  This is absolutely something I'm going to try soon.  Probably not today, because my 2 year old just got a diaper off INSIDE footie pajamas, pooped, and managed to subtly smear it all over our new house and over several as yet unpacked boxes.   The obvious stuff is cleaned up, all children who caught anything gross have had a bath, and I'm about to get in the shower again. Today is going to be about bleach, laundry, bleach, unpacking, and undoubtedly several more baths.  Sigh.

 

Oh dear!

toddler joys and tribulations...

remember that tea has theanine ...

[Pen]

If you use a cotton coffee sock bag , if you do it inside out so you don’t catch grounds on the seam stitching it’s easier.  I give organic coffee grounds to plants that like it, but I like an idea of using them to freshen fridge before getting rid of them.  Dry, they can also absorb odors in other places like cars. 

[Pen]

15 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

 

Can you link such a thing? Because I might give cold brew another shot if I can just take the sack outside and rinse it off in my garden where I don’t mind spreading the grounds falling anyway. Sounds like a clever design. 

 

In hot dry weather if the bulk of wet grounds are dumped out first, then let remaining dry in sun on bag , for me remaining grounds brush and/or shake off pretty easy.  

(2 Pack) Organic Cotton Cold Brew Coffee Bag - Designed in California - Extra Large 12 inch x 12 inch Reusable Filter Bags with EasyOpen Drawstring to Make Cold Brew in Pitchers or Mason Jars https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077YFNF6Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_SgJoDbM4VJWB8

 

Garden hose might be even easier. 

Edited July 25, 2019 by Pen

[Lori D.]

And just for giggles, don't forget to watch the 4-minute "You Suck at Cooking: Cold Brew Coffee" episode. 😂

[ktgrok]

FYI for poster that said cleaning grounds for french press is a pain, there is a trick. You refill the french press with water and then pour the water and grounds over a strainer in the sink. No digging for grounds, etc. Then just dump the strainer in the trash and rinse in the sink. Before that I dreaded cleaning the french press, as the grounds were stuck at the bottom, etc etc. With the strainer method it's super easy. 

For cold brew I use a cold brew pitcher that has a filter basket in it, and you just dump that. I take it out of the pitcher, set it in a bowl to finish draining, then dump it. The bottom unscrews. 

[Pen]

15 hours ago, Seasider too said:

 

Thank you! This definitely looks like something I’m willing to try!

 

Works for ice tea too.  I have a metal loose tea holder that can only handle enough tea for a couple of big cups at a time. A bigger “sock” like this can hold enough leaf tea for a pitcher.

[El...]

14 hours ago, Lori D. said:

And just for giggles, don't forget to watch the 4-minute "You Suck at Cooking: Cold Brew Coffee" episode. 😂

I laughed way too hard at that.  The mason jars! The label! Hahaha!

[Lori D.]

6 minutes ago, elroisees said:

I laughed way too hard at that.  The mason jars! The label! Hahaha!

"Ideally you want to use an old burlap sack to filter your cold brew..." 😂

[Angie in VA]

I know this is a slightly older thread, but I opened it when it was new and am just getting back to it. Don't judge me!

I've used our French press and a good ole Mason jar to make cold brew coffee and get good results from both. I wish I were not swayed by the cool factor of this. because despite the negative reviews and, you know, the price, I still want it. Check out their website for different combo deals, but I linked Amazon (*not* an affiliate link)

I drink coffee hot and cold (diluting the cold brew concentrate for both), but, I must confess: I don't drink coffee as much as I drink coffee-flavored liquid candy. 😂

Lastly, I must plug having coffee ice cubes on hand if you have the freezer space because it's nice to have cold brew coffee poured over coffee ice cubes. 

Edited August 8, 2019 by Angie in VA

[JennyD]

Cold brew coffee is the nectar of the gods.  It flows through my veins, the only thing making it possible for me to cope with the muggy misery that is summer in the American South.  

Cold brew, over ice, add milk and a shot of splenda, top with seltzer water.  

Yes, you can make cold brew with cheap grounds.  If you want to buy concentrate, though, the best brand is Chameleon.
 

[ktgrok]

2 hours ago, JennyD said:

Cold brew coffee is the nectar of the gods.  It flows through my veins, the only thing making it possible for me to cope with the muggy misery that is summer in the American South.  

Cold brew, over ice, add milk and a shot of splenda, top with seltzer water.  

Yes, you can make cold brew with cheap grounds.  If you want to buy concentrate, though, the best brand is Chameleon.
 

Whoa! Hold the phone. You can't just drop the "seltzer water" thing in there and not go into detail!!! Tell me more!!!! 

[JennyD]

26 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

Whoa! Hold the phone. You can't just drop the "seltzer water" thing in there and not go into detail!!! Tell me more!!!! 

 

Instead of diluting the concentrate with flat water, I dilute it with seltzer.  So, three ice cubes, fill the glass halfway with concentrate, add a good splash of milk, and then fill the rest with seltzer.  Voila, coffee soda!