The summer heat is the perfect time to kick back and enjoy a delicious cold brew. Making cold brew at home is easy and doesn't require any special equipment. These instructions use a 1:7 ratio of coffee to water to make 16 ounces of concentrate which is then diluted 1:1 with water before serving. Feel free to adjust the dilution ratio to make the final beverage stronger or weaker.
Scaling up the quantities of coffee and water using this 1:7 ratio makes it easy to produce enough concentrate to last all week.
What You're Need
1. A container of some sort to brew the coffee.
2. Filtered or bottled water.
3. Cheesecloth or coffee filter to strain the grounds. A V60 or Chemex works great.
4. Coffee, of course. Dark roasts produce more flavorful cold brews. We recommend our Family Garden Blend. If you don't have a grinder, get our Cold Brew Blend which comes pre-ground.
5. Some sort of a container with a lid to store the finished brew in the refrigerator.
Step One
Measure out 89 grams of coffee (1 cup) and grind on a course setting (25 - 30 on a Baratza Encore). Pour the ground coffee into the brewing container.
Step Two
Add 560 ml of water (20 ounces) to the grounds. Give the mixture a good stir to make sure all the grounds are wet, then cover and let it sit at room temperature for 15-16 hours.
Step Three
There are a couple of options for straining out the grounds. One is to put several layers of cheesecloth over the mouth of the jar and pour the coffee into your storage container. This works well, but you will get some of the finer particles of coffee going through the cheesecloth.
A second option is to filter the coffee through a paper filter. A V60 or Chemex makes this easy, but it can take quite awhile because the fine particles tend to clog the filter. The resulting brew will be exceptionally clear, however, which might make it worth the wait.
That's it
You can store the concentrate in the refrigerator for 7-10 days and dilute it before serving. Or you can go ahead and dilute it now and make it ready-to-serve.
Either way, serve your cold brew over ice and add cream or flavored syrups to create a perfect drink for a hot summer day.