image: goodhousekeeping.com
by Ben McCarthy
Ever wonder why you pay nearly double for a cold brew coffee as you do for a regular coffee? For the past few years cold brew has been among the biggest coffee fads; it started with small third-wave and specialty coffee roasters like Stumptown and Blue Bottle and has now spread to virtually every coffee-serving cafe.
Though it sounds fancy and costs more at a coffee shop, cold brew is incredibly simple to make: It entails soaking ground coffee in room temperature or cold water overnight. It also requires no special equipment (so don’t worry if you don’t have any) and can be made in large batches and stored in the fridge.
When making it, use light or medium roast whole bean coffee if possible. You could use the stuff sold at most supermarkets or at mega chains like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, but it simply won’t taste anywhere near as good. Thankfully a couple of locally owned businesses in Nyack sell freshly roasted beans. Art Cafe sells Counter Culture, one of my favorite roasters, and Gypsy Donut sells Stumptown. Both of these roasters are top notch. And while they may seem expensive compared to Folgers, I think they’re worth it because their beans are sustainable sourced, directly traded, not to mention tastier.
What you’ll need:
- 100g freshly roasted, whole bean coffee
- 1000g cold water
- A large jug or container
- A coffee filter
Steps:
- Measure out and grind 100g of coffee, grind size should be coarse, slightly coarser than a french press grind. Think bread crumbs.
- Measure out 1000g of water cold water and add to vessel with coffee.
- Stir to make sure all coffee grounds are saturated.
- Chill in fridge for 12 hours-16 hours.
- Remove from fridge and drain through filter (rinse your filter first to get rid of the paper taste)
- Enjoy over ice with or without milk
Notes:
- This ratio can be adjusted to make more or less cold brew. It will keep in the fridge for a week.
- If you’re in need of a new grinder I would recommend the Hario Ceramic Coffee Mill. It’s cheap ($25) and durable and uses a ceramic burr which insures that your coffee is ground evenly.
