Measure.
Grind.
Steep.
Drink.
What could be so hard about that?
While the brewing process itself isn’t difficult, it’s the little details that make a big difference. If you’re not careful, your cold brew can taste weak, ultra-bitter, or worse—flavorless.
It’s frustrating when your cold brew coffee doesn’t have the delicious flavors you expect first thing in the morning.
We’ll show you how to troubleshoot your cold brew mistakes and brew rich, sweet, and smooth coffee every time.
By the end of our cold brew guide, you’ll know:
It’s time for a coffee science lesson.
In the coffee industry, we refer to the process of adding hot water—or in our case, room temperature water—to coffee grounds as extraction.
Extraction is what happens when the hot water “extracts” all the tasty solubles—acids, sugars, oils, etc.—from the coffee grounds. These solubles are responsible for the flavors we taste in our coffee.
However, as we brew coffee, the solubles aren’t extracted at the same time. Instead, the order is as follows:
This means your coffee can be either:
This means we’re constantly on the hunt for that sweet spot where all the coffee solubles extract evenly and produce a beautiful, delicious cup of coffee.
Although each coffee is different and boasts unique flavors and attributes, you can obtain an even extraction by:
Understanding the principles of coffee extraction will help you concoct the perfect cold brew every time.
Almost all of your cold brew problems can be solved by keeping extraction theory in mind. Let’s break it down.
Oh no, bitter cold brew is the worst! That awful ping on the back of your tongue is enough to make any diehard cold brew fan refuse to finish a full glass.
But don’t worry—bitter cold brew is easy to solve. With your newfound knowledge of the extraction process, you know that bitter coffee means over extraction.
Since cold brew is an immersion brew method, we can adjust two variables to remedy the bitterness on the next brew:
If both of those troubleshooting tactics still result in bitter coffee, you can always try the slow drip cold brew method.
Read: Slow Drip VS Immersion Cold Brew: What’s The Difference?
If bitter cold brew is the result of over extraction, sour cold brew is the result of…?
Under extraction!
Using the same principles to fix bitter coffee, we know that we can remedy sour cold brew by adjusting the:
In coffee, there’s a concept known as the Golden Ratio.
This concept states that hot coffees taste best when brewed at a 1:15, 1:16, 1:17, or 1:18 coffee-to-water ratio.
Of course, the ratio you select depends on factors such as:
But most importantly… brew method.
The Golden Ratios only work for brew methods like a French Press or pour over coffee. To achieve the creamy, rich taste we love from cold brew, we don’t follow the Golden Ratio practice. Instead, we brew cold brew as a concentrate.
Brew your cold brew at a 1:8-1:10 coffee:water ratio to avoid a watery body and lackluster flavor.
Plus, cold brew is meant to be enjoyed over ice. Brewing at a concentrate allows you to drink a nice cold coffee beverage without sacrificing flavor as the ice melts.
As you learn to make the perfect cold brew at home, you may discover that your cold brew tastes “thin.”
Even after dialing in the grind size, brewing at a concentrate, and nailing down the right extraction time, it still tastes like it’s lacking something...
In this situation, the problem may be the beans you’re using.
Opt for medium roast beans when making cold brew.
While light roasted coffees are beautiful and delicious when brewed hot, they can lead to sour, almost “thin-like” flavors and characteristics when brewed cold. Dark roast coffees tend to lack a nuanced flavor when made as a cold brew, too.
Medium roast coffees offer the complex flavors of a light roast with the heavier body of a dark roast. They’re the Goldilocks of coffees when it comes to cold brew!
When the flavor of your cold brew is missing in action, this signals a problem with either your water quality or coffee beans.
Water Quality
Coffee is 99% water.
As the main ingredient in coffee, we want our water to contain the right combination of various minerals to help those tasty flavors shine. If your water quality is poor, your cold brew won’t taste good at all.
The next time you make cold brew, try using filtered water or spring water from the grocery store.
👉 Learn how to fix your home’s water quality with our guide!
Coffee Bean Quality
While brewing coffee cold will bring out some sweetness and dampen the acidity, it won’t cause the flavors to magically disappear. If this happens, it’s likely because your coffee is:
As with all brew methods, cold brew coffee tastes best when brewed with whole bean specialty coffee that’s been expertly roasted.
For cold brew that’s always overflowing with flavor, make sure to…
By now, it’s clear that the #1 piece of equipment you need for exceptional cold brew is a coffee grinder.
You can follow a tasty recipe, use the best filtered water, and let it steep for the right amount of time and still get a bad-tasting cold brew because you opted for pre-ground coffee.
Investing in a coffee grinder will be the best decision you ever made for your home coffee set-up.
Read: Why Your Grinder Is The Most Important Piece of Coffee Gear
(Did we mention we know where you can get your hands on a free grinder?)
From smooth, decadent cold brew to bright, crisp pour overs, all of the coffee you brew at home will level up when you get your hands on a coffee grinder. But which one is right for you?
We recommend purchasing a manual or electric burr coffee grinder for an even and consistent grind.
Blade grinders, while affordable, cause unevenness due to the popcorn effect. This leads to sour or bitter cold brew flavors, which is the last thing you want to drink in the morning.
With a manual or electric burr grinder, you’ll be able to dial in your cold brew recipe perfectly by adjusting the grind size and only grinding the amount of coffee you need per recipe.
With your newfound cold brew knowledge, you’re ready to tackle every brewing problem that comes your way—no matter if it’s bitter flavors or a watery recipe.
Put your cold brew skills to the test with freshly-roasted JavaPresse coffee. Our specialty-grade coffee is fairly traded from family-owned farms all around the world and shipped within 2 hours of roasting, guaranteeing your cold brew is jam-packed with natural flavors.
Plus, we’re giving our #1-rated manual coffee grinder away for free when you try our coffee.
You read that right. 100% free.
]]>In comparison to flash-chilled or iced coffee, cold brew offers rich flavors and a creamy mouthfeel. Since cold brew is brewed… well, cold… the water doesn’t break down the natural compounds that lead to the flavors that many find undesirable such as bitterness and acidity.
This smooth and creamy cold coffee beverage started as a coffee shop special and has since exploded into a daily fixture for many coffee drinkers.
The popularity of cold brew led to it being a key ingredient in many caffeinated recipes, from cozy winter cocktails to fruity summer spritzers.
Today, you’ll learn:
Let’s get brewing.
Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of brewing cold coffee, it’s important to remember:
All coffees taste different!
Some coffees taste floral and fruity, while others present deep, rich notes of nuts or chocolate. Don’t be afraid to experiment with coffees from different regions and discover which natural flavors you like best in your cold brew.
And, since cold brew is brewed as a concentrate, you can adjust the strength to match your coffee preferences, too!
Need to dilute your cold brew concentrate to match a recipe? We’ll show you how!
When it comes to making cold brew at home, you have two choices:
Is one cold brew method better than the other? Nope! It all depends on what you like in your cold brew and what you’re looking to achieve in the cup.
Use our Ultimate Guide to Cold Brew Coffee to perfect your home recipe!
Although changing the strength of the coffee will alter the final taste, there’s one key element that can make or break a cold brew:
Grind size.
There’s a reason we don’t soak whole beans in hot water—it would take forever to make a tasty cup of coffee.
So, we grind coffee to speed up the process! Therefore, the smaller the grind size, the faster the water will extract the delicious natural compounds we want from the coffee.
However, with cold brew, our grounds are in contact with the water for hours at a time. If our grind size is too small, the flavors we want from the coffee will be extracted quickly and the water will continue to pull out natural compounds that lead to attributes we don’t want in a coffee, like bitterness.
This is why we make cold brew coffee with coarsely ground coffee. This should look similar to the size of kosher salt. On the JavaPresse manual coffee grinder, this will be anywhere between 13-18 clicks.
Read: How to Change the Grind Setting on the JavaPresse Manual Coffee Grinder
It’s critical to grind coffee fresh and match the grind size to your coffee brewing method for the best taste. Hence, why pre-ground coffee makes terrible cold brew!
We’re giving away our top-rated manual coffee grinder completely free when you try JavaPresse coffee, so you can enjoy great-tasting cold brew at home.
Cold brew coffee’s versatility makes it the perfect ingredient for all sorts of beverages. Try making any of these five recipes the next time you have a hankering for a sweet and smooth cold brew adventure.
Whether you want to spice up a cocktail with a bit of caffeine and bold flavors, or a refreshing mocktail sounds good in the early afternoon, you won’t regret adding cold brew to these recipes.
Our favorite cold brew cocktail is a Cold Brew Martini. A twist on the classic espresso martini, this boozy coffee cocktail couldn’t be easier to make. You’ll need:
Combine the cold concentrate, vodka, simple syrup, and liqueur in a cocktail shaker with ice and mix. Strain into a martini glass, top with three whole coffee beans for decoration, and enjoy.
Or, if you want a classic coffee cocktail sans the alcohol, try making a Cold Brew Tonic! You’ll only need three ingredients for this simple mocktail:
Pour the concentrate into a glass and mix it with tonic water. Top with ice as desired and sip away!
Trying to replicate coffee shop quality espresso at home can be difficult, especially if you don’t have an espresso machine. But cold brew concentrate will do the trick!
Make a cold brew concentrate a little stronger than normal to capture the bold punch of an espresso shot and make iced lattes at home. Try brewing your concentrate at a 1:4, 1:5, or 1:6 coffee-to-water ratio—whatever tastes best to you!
To make an iced latte at home, combine 2oz of cold brew concentrate with 6-8oz of milk or non-dairy milk and top with ice.
If you want to get creative, add flavors like:
Surprise! Cold brew concentrate can be used to make hot coffee, too.
If you’re in a rush, traveling, or feeling a little laid back one morning, all you have to do is add a few ounces of hot water to your cold brew concentrate, and voila: hot cold brew coffee.
Now, your hot cold brew coffee won’t taste as if you normally brewed hot coffee. Remember, cold brew coffee has far less acidity and this will still be the case when you add heat to it. It’ll still taste smooth and rich but may lack the complexities you enjoy in a pour over coffee.
Nevertheless, hot cold brew coffee is the perfect last-minute coffee recipe for when you’re on-the-go.
Many athletes choose to drink coffee before a workout. The stimulating properties of caffeine are a fantastic pick-me-up before lifting weights or doing cardio.
But no one said your after-workout protein shake couldn’t be caffeinated, too! To add a kick to your protein intake, follow this recipe:
Ingredients:
Add all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. For varying flavors and healthy nutrients, consider adding other ingredients such as:
Bonus Recipe: These caffeinated shakes can be transformed into a cold brew dessert with one simple switch: use ice cream instead of protein. Follow the same instructions and you’ve got yourself a creamy cold brew milkshake! While not as nutritious, cold brew milkshakes are just as delicious!
What’s the one drink that comes to mind when you think about the hot summer sun? Lemonade.
The thirst-quenching drink is a summertime staple. But, all that sun exposure can make you sleepy. Add some caffeine to your summer day with an iced coffee lemonade!
This recipe is a variation on the popular coffee shop drink, an espresso lemonade.
To get started, gather the following ingredients:
Add lemonade and ice to a glass and top with cold brew concentrate for a cool cascading effect. Garnish with a lemon slice. To make this drink more refreshing and crisp, add a splash of seltzer.
No matter what cold brew coffee recipe you choose to make, the flavor all boils down to the type of coffee you use.
You want your cold brew coffee to be rich and full of flavor, not dull and tasteless!
That’s why we always use specialty-grade coffee—no matter if we’re brewing cold brew, espresso, or drip coffee.
Specialty coffee is coffee that has met a specific, quantifiable level of quality, as judged by coffee professionals around the world. As a result of this dedication to quality, specialty coffee boasts unparalleled flavors like crisp green apple, smooth milk chocolate, tart citrus, and so much more. It’s an adventure in every cup!
Before you make a cold brew coffee recipe, make sure you have delicious specialty coffee on hand. Lucky for you, we’ve got a variety of specialty coffee blends and beans for you to choose from!
Try JavaPresse coffee for your cold brew recipes & receive your FREE hand grinder!
]]>Since it’s made in the form of a concentrate, you actually have a lot of flexibility when it comes to making drinks with it, since the flavors can be tasted even when you mix the concentrate with other liquids.
I want to help you make the most out of your cold brewing experience, so I’m going to show you the five primary ways you can use your concentrate to make a variety of fun, refreshing, and creative coffee drinks.
Read: The Ultimate Guide To Cold Brew Coffee
Let’s see them!
Let’s get the most obvious example out of the way immediately: iced coffee. You take a few ounces of cold brew concentrate, cut with some cold water, top with ice, and you’re done.
It’s simple, refreshing, and stunningly smooth. There’s a reason so many coffee skeptics actually fall in love with iced cold brew.
If you want, you can top with a splash of cream or add in some chocolate syrup for a slightly sweeter experience.
Unbeknownst to many, you can actually make hot coffee using cold brew concentrate.
The idea is simply to top off a couple ounces of concentrate with boiling hot water. This heats up the concentrate and gives you a warm, but not scalding, mug.
To maximize heat, brew your cold brew a strong concentration so that, when it’s time to mix with hot water, you can use as much hot water as possible. For example, two ounces of cold concentrate and six ounces of hot water will end up hotter than four ounces of concentrate and four ounces of water.
Read: Hot Brewed VS Cold Brewed Coffee: 4 Things To Know
Hot cold brew coffee is actually extremely convenient if you’re low on time in the mornings. Just make a big batch of cold brew over the weekend, then each morning you simply warm up water in a kettle and mix your brew. It’s quicker than making coffee fresh each morning but still delicious.
As far as flavors go, hot cold brew coffee is a little different—not everyone will love it.
Cold brewing produces up to 66% less acidity and bitterness, so you shouldn’t expect the hot mug to have that usual punch that fresh coffee has. It’ll be smooth and sweet, but it won’t have that usual tang or those lower deep flavor notes.
Sometimes iced coffee just doesn’t sound quite right. Thankfully, there’s a bubbly and often more refreshing alternative: cold brew soda.
Here’s what you need for the most basic form of this cold brew drink:
Just mix it all up and enjoy when it’s warm outside.
Read: 7 Common Cold Brew Coffee Questions Answered
Of course, you can easily customize your soda using flavor syrups or other inserts. Muddle a couple fresh mint leaves at the bottom of the glass or squeeze some fresh lemon juice into the soda for some extra citrus tang. You have a lot of flexibility here, so get creative!
I personally love the peaches and cream cold brew soda. You can read about it, as well as other fun customizations, in this blog.
Now we’re really getting into the fun stuff. Because cold brew is generally so smooth, you can mix it with a whole slew of other ingredients to create interesting and unique mocktail-type drinks.
This style of drink has been made popular by the “signature beverage” round found in the world’s series of Barista Competitions. Many competitors come up with wild concoctions that can include incredible ingredients like dry ice, raspberry ganache, and single-estate chocolate.
But you don’t have to go all mad scientist to enjoy a good cold brew mocktail—you just have to get a little creative.
Read: The Ultimate Guide To Buying Specialty Coffee Beans
One of my favorite cold brew mocktails is the Cold Brew Sour, a drink of my own creation:
It’s been a hit at my former coffee shop ever since its release! You can read about the Cold Brew Sour and four other creative drinks in this blog on cold brew coffee mocktails.
Cocktails are a different breed of creative drinks. Balancing sweet, sour, spice, and spirit is a special kind of craft—and a fun one at that.
For years there have been a handful of popular coffee cocktails, like the espresso martini and Irish coffee, but recent years have seen a giant push in this arena.
Thanks to things like the Coffee And Good Spirits Competition, there are now dozens of stellar cold brew coffee cocktail recipes online to draw inspiration from. Nearly every major classic cocktail has a coffee-fied version.
Craft yourself a cold brew coffee negroni when you’re interested in something complex with a bite. Go with a cold brew hot toddy when you need to warm up but need a boost. There are a lot of options here, and you can read about some of them in this blog on cold brew coffee cocktails.
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There’s a huge realm of opportunity and discovery awaiting cold brew coffee lovers who are willing to think a little outside the box. The iced coffee’s incredible—but there’s still so much more to enjoy about cold brew.
What’s your favorite way to get creative with cold brew coffee? Drop us a line with your favorite recipe!
Oh, and make sure you’re using freshly roasted, specialty-grade coffee beans—otherwise your cold brew will just be bitter and won’t really jive with these creative uses.
]]>We all know what it’s like to guess at how much water you need to make your cold brew concentrate taste balanced and pleasant.
Pour a little water. Taste. A little more. Taste. More water. Taste. Blast—too watered down.
This back-and-forth is irritating and can throw off your refreshing cold brew experience. Thankfully, there’s a way to eliminate this struggle once and for all. I’ll show you exactly how you can brew and dilute your cold brew for perfect balance, strength, and flavor every time.
Read: The Ultimate Guide To Cold Brew Coffee
When it comes to coffee with a balanced flavor and approachable strength, there actually is a range of coffee to water ratios that’s considered objectively better. In this range, the acids are crisp but rounded out by mild lower notes, the sugars are present and sweet, and the aftertaste encompasses all the flavors of the brew.
This is the “sweet spot” we’re always after when making coffee.
Now let me show you the actual Golden Ratios: 1:15 to 1:18 (coffee to water).
In here is where most people find the coffee to be at that sweet spot, though there are a few exceptions, like with espresso, for example.
Here’s why this matters.
Even though cold brewing is fundamentally different than regular hot brewing, these golden ratios are still appropriate for the tastes of most people. So the end goal is that your final glass of iced coffee falls within these golden ratios.
Read: The Golden Ratios In Coffee Brewing
Let’s see how you can get there for better, more consistent, and more balanced iced coffee.
Making cold brew coffee usually results in a coffee concentrate. The typical recipe has you make extra-strong cold brew that you dilute with water.
For this to work, you’re going to want to find a brewing ratio you like and stick with it.
For example, in our JavaPresse Ultimate Guide, we use a 1:7 brewing ratio with 100g of coffee and 700g of water. This means our final cold brew concentrate is going to be a little more than x2 as strong as your typical hot coffee (1:7 vs 1:15, for example).
Of course, you can really brew to any strength as long as you stick to it for consistency’s sake. 1:5? No problem. 1:3? Go ahead!
Now here’s the important part: you need to know how strong your concentrate is relative to your goal. Like I said, our 1:7 ratio is just slightly over x2 as concentrated as the goal. But a 1:5 ratio—that’s nearly x3 as strong.
Read: 7 Common Cold Brew Coffee Questions Answered
If you need to, write this number down—you’re going to need it when it’s time to dilute.
Okay, so if the goal is for your final glass of iced coffee to fall within the Golden Ratios, then you’re going to need to dilute your concentrate with water to that point.
Now that you know your brewing ratio, it’s going to be pretty easy.
So, with our JavaPresse guide, our final concentrate ends up about a 1:7 ratio. To bring it up to 1:15, for example, we need to dilute the concentrate with an equal amount of water to reach a 1:14 ratio.
At this point, we can either add some extra water for reach 1:15 or 1:16, or we can just add ice and let that help water the iced coffee down over the next few minutes. Success! We now have rich and balanced iced coffee.
Read: 5 Cold Brew Coffee Cocktails To Mix At Home
So what if you have a stronger cold brew concentrate brewed at a 1:5 ratio? Cut the concentrate with twice the amount of water to reach 1:15. Now just add some ice and enjoy!
And what about a super strong 1:3 ratio? Dilute with five times the amount of water for 1:15
See how this works? It’s just easy math!
There are a few ways you can dilute, but not all of them are equal in effectiveness.
Read: How To Measure Coffee Without A Scale For Better Coffee
A measuring cup is probably the easiest and quickest way to accomplish this, but a scale’s just as accurate. If possible, avoid eyeballing it since it’s by far the least accurate or consistent method.
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Making excellent cold brew coffee is really just about finding that strength and flavor sweet spot—just like with any other kind of coffee. Once you know how to dilute your concentrate according to the brew ratio, you’ll never have to worry about overly strong or too watered down iced coffee again.
That being said, if you’re starting off with low-grade or stale beans, the golden ratios may not be able to work their magic. Freshly roasted, high-quality beans are the true key to unlocking incredible and balanced flavors. Sadly, it’s so easy to go cheap on the beans and not realize what we’re missing out on.
Subscribers to our JavaPresse Coffee Club, however, can recall what it was like to cold brew with low-grade, stale coffee beans—and they’re not going back!
We source beans from some of the best small-batch and family-owned farms in the world. We then roast those beans in a way that pulls out the best flavors and ship them to you the same day so you know you’re getting uber-fresh coffee when they arrive in the mail.
Don’t settle for disappointing cold brew—check out the Coffee Club for yourself!
]]>Whether you’re itching to master your cold brew coffee routine or just looking to get started, I’ve got answers to your cold brew coffee questions. My goal is to educate and empower you so that you can brew the best cold brew possible.
Let’s journey through these common cold brew questions together.
Either way is safe and works, but they require slightly different things from you.
Cold water extracts things from the grounds more slowly than hot water (duh). If you brew using refrigerated water, it’s even colder, requiring more time. So, while it may take 12 hours to brew on the counter, it could take 17 hours, for example, to reach the same extraction in-fridge.
Read: The Ultimate Guide To Cold Brew Coffee
I brew on the counter exclusively for simplicity, but if you know you won’t be home in 12 hours, but you will be in 15, going the refrigerator route will work better with your schedule.
This one’s really up to your preferences, but I have strong personal feelings about this.
I cannot tell you how disappointing it is to visit a great coffee shop only to be served thin, unsatisfying cold brew coffee. While light roasts are my favorite for hot brewing, they tend to produce cold brew that’s not so well rounded.
I’m also not a big fan of dark roasts as cold brew coffee. They tend to be too 1-dimensional towards the lower notes and not very complex.
Read: The Difference Between Light, Medium, And Dark Roast Coffee
I am, however, a huge fan of medium roast cold brews. They have the brighter notes of light roasts, as well as the deeper notes of dark roasts. They just seem more full and well-rounded.
Try making cold brew with a variety of coffees to see what you like, but I’m guessing you’ll land on medium roasts as your cold brew preference as well.
This question is a really difficult one to answer. See, everyone cold brews differently, so it’s hard to make large, general statements. Not to mention, beans from different farms in the same valley can have wildly different caffeine.
If you brew a cold brew concentrate (like most people), one ounce of liquid will definitely have more caffeine than one ounce of normal hot coffee. However, this is concentrate we’re talking about, so that’s not so surprising.
Read: 3 Reasons Buying Cheap Coffee Is Bad For The World
To make things more confusing, most people dilute their concentrates with water to bring it to a strength that’s more calm and pleasant.
So I can’t really make any big statements about cold brew coffee, except that it tends to vary wildly from person to person, recipe to recipe. To display this, I’ll show you some data, courtesy of Caffeine Informer.
Chameleon Cold Brew RTD Coffee |
10 fluid ounces |
270 mg caffeine |
Starbucks Cold Brew Coffee |
16 fluid ounces |
200 mg caffeine |
Stumptown Cold Brew Coffee |
10.5 fluid ounces |
279 mg caffeine |
Stumptown Cold Brew + Milk |
16 fluid ounces |
319 mg caffeine |
Califia Farms Cold Brew |
16 fluid ounces |
160 mg caffeine |
Regular Hot Coffee |
16 fluid ounces |
326 mg caffeine |
Here’s how I normally approach cold brew coffee.
I assume the caffeine levels of a diluted cold brew drink are as high as regular hot coffee. This allows me to be okay if a caffeine rush finds me. However, if the levels are only 70% as high, for example, I’m fine with that as well.
Without high-dollar technology to measure the caffeine in each drink, you’re better off not worrying much. Just stick to drinking cold brew when you can stand a decent amount of caffeine.
If you don’t want caffeine, just skip the cold brew.
The best grind size to use when you cold brew is a coarse setting. Each individual ground should be distinct from the next and resemble kosher salt or pearl sugar in size.
Read: How To Pair Your Coffee Brewer With Its Perfect Grind Size
If you go finer, you risk over extraction. You also risk it taking ages for the concentrate to drain through a filter since there will be so many tiny grounds in the way, delaying the draining.
Some people with manual grinders have good results with a medium-coarse setting since manual grinders tend to be less consistent the coarser the setting. To balance out the slightly finer grind, they brew for a 1-2 less hours.
Oh man - there’s SO MUCH you can do with your concentrate.
This is really the fun part.
This is just the beginning. I suggest you check out the ten cold brew cocktails and mocktails as well.
Since, ideally, you want to make a cold brew concentrate, you should use twice as much coffee as you would to make hot coffee. Or, you could just use half the water.
So, if you normally use 20g of coffee and 300g of water (a 1:15 ratio) to brew hot coffee, instead use 40g of coffee and 300g of water (a 1:7.5 ratio). Then, when the brewing is complete, you can dilute the concentrate to a strength of your choice.
The concentrate should be stored in the fridge once the brewing is complete. From then you have 8-14 days before the flavors begin to decay rapidly.
In the food world, food products should never be stored for longer than 2 weeks, otherwise you risk dangerous bacteria growth. Yuck.
Assume this to be true for coffee as well. Unless you mix in a preservative like citric acid or salt into your coffee, just toss it if you haven’t finished it in two weeks.
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And there you have it! If we didn’t get to your question today, send us an email so we can put it in the next round. We love hearing your thoughts and questions and are glad to help any way we can.
As always, your cold brew coffee will turn out its best when you use freshly roasted, specialty-grade coffee beans. Don’t settle for old, stale beans from the supermarket.
Get beans that’ll take your tastebuds for a wild ride with the JavaPresse Coffee Club. We source our beans from the best coffee farms in the world and couldn’t be prouder of our farm partners. They’re eco-friendly, ethically minded, and love great coffee as much as we do.
]]>Cold brewing plays by different rules, approaches extraction differently, and produces a coffee drink that’s quite unique and versatile. Let me show you exactly how so you can know once and for all the four main ways cold brew coffee is different (or not) from hot brewed coffee.
As you might imagine, brewing with cold water produces changes from brewing with hot water—and some of these changes are really noticeable from the first sip. For example, cold brew coffee has a lot less acidity and bitterness compared to hot brewed.
Why? Science. Science is why.
Read: How To Taste Coffee Acidity
Okay, let’s get a little more specific.
Extraction, as you know, happens when water dissolves and pulls things out of coffee grounds. These can be sugars, acids, particles that dissolve, oils, and other stuff.
Different temperatures pull out different things at different speeds. For example, we generally say that 195 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit is the best temperature range for making hot coffee.
Use 210 degrees and you’ll probably get a stronger bitterness. This happens because super hot water causes acids to decay into extra-bitter compounds. Use 185 degrees and your brew will probably taste too sour. This happens because the water’s not hot enough to dissolve the amount of non-acidic compounds required to bring balance to the flavor.
That range we use extracts things at a speed that’s balanced without allowing any one acid or bitter compound to overpower the rest of the flavor.
Read: How To Taste Coffee Bitterness
Cold brewing, however, plays by different rules. The cold water doesn’t just slow down the extraction of these yummy compounds. It actually changes what is extracted and what stays behind in the grounds.
Tests have shown that cold brewed coffee can have 66% less acidity and bitterness when compared to hot coffee.
The acids that normally become bitter in hot coffee (even with proper water temperatures) don’t get extracted. The acids that add a sharpness to hot coffee don’t oxidize (which happens really fast with hot water) to be extra tangy and acidic.
The experience is fascinating, smooth, and refreshing.
Like I just mentioned, oxidation happens much more slowly with cold water—and the same is true for degradation. This ultimately means less bitterness and acidity, but not just that. It also means there are some big flavor differences.
Read: Iced Coffee VS Cold Brew: What's The Difference?
I’ll spare you all the science-y names, but the actual chemical makeup of the brewed coffee is quite different. If you tried a mug of hot coffee and a glass of cold brew from the same beans, you would know they had a common source, but you’d be surprised at the flavor differences.
Great hot brewed coffee has a rounded flavor, a satisfying aroma, a gentle sweetness, a crisp acidity, and a hint of lower bitter notes to wrap it all together. Great cold brew coffee has a smooth flavor, a rich sweetness, a very gentle hint of acidity, and virtually no bitterness.
Cold brew doesn’t have the rich aromas that hot brewed coffee does right off the bat, but there’s a really good reason for it.
You see, when the aromatic coffee oils are hot, they’re what we call volatile (which basically means they’re able to evaporate quickly).
Read: How To Taste Coffee Aroma
However, since those oils remain cold through the cold brewing process, they’re not volatile. They actually stay in the cold brew coffee rather than flying away. And when you swallow cold brew, those aromatic oils hit your retro-nasal passages hit your retro-nasal passage and your brain interprets them as a truckload of vibrant floral flavors.
Hot coffee is hot coffee. It’s rich, it’s satisfying, it’s cozy—but it’s hot coffee. There are a few mixed drinks you can make with it, but it’s not really something most people would consider versatile.
Cold brew coffee, on the other hand, can be made into a variety of drinks. You see, the process of cold brewing doesn’t produce a ready-to-drink brew—it creates a concentrate that can be paired with many other ingredients.
Here are a few ways you can use the concentrate:
The list goes on and on. If you like to explore and pair flavors and ingredients, cold brew will provide an avenue for creative drink-making.
There’s a whole lot of confusion about whether cold brew has more or less caffeine than hot coffee. The internet is full of articles with opinions all over the place.
I’m not going to spout more nonsense. Let’s look at some actual data.
Great research by Caffeine Informer has given us a clear look at several Ready-To-Drink cold brew products on the market and their caffeine contents.
Chameleon Cold Brew RTD Coffee |
10 fluid ounces |
270 mg caffeine |
Starbucks Cold Brew Coffee |
16 fluid ounces |
200 mg caffeine |
Stumptown Cold Brew Coffee |
10.5 fluid ounces |
279 mg caffeine |
Stumptown Cold Brew + Milk |
16 fluid ounces |
319 mg caffeine |
Califia Farms Cold Brew |
16 fluid ounces |
160 mg caffeine |
Regular Hot Coffee |
16 fluid ounces |
326 mg caffeine |
From this chart, it’s easy to see that cold brew caffeine is pretty diverse. For example, the 16oz Califa Farms brew has only 160mg of caffeine. And yet, the 16oz Stumptown has 319mg (twice as much).
And what about hot coffee? This test reveals 326mg for 16oz of black hot coffee. Other research has shown anywhere from 85mg to 160mg per 8oz cup. So even hot coffee can be all over the board.
So, how are you supposed to moderate your caffeine intake without more consistent data? Well, you can’t really. At least not that accurately.
Read: The Best Time Of The Day To Consume Caffeine
Here’s my suggestion:
I wish there was something more solid I could give you, but that’s about it.
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We’re major fans of both cold brew and hot brewed coffee. We even love hot coffee that’s flash-chilled over ice! We’re pretty easy to please, at least when specialty-grade, freshly roasted beans are used.
High-quality beans thrive when made into both hot and cold coffee. They’re even fairly forgiving when you make minor mistakes. Use low-grade beans, however, and you’ll become frustrated at why you can’t brew a better cup.
]]>But there’s something that confuses a lot of people. Cold brewing isn’t just one process, but two.
Each method has its advantages over the other, and there are certainly people who would thrive with one and not with the other. Let’s explore the differences between these two brewing methods to discover which is best for your coffee habits, budget, or taste preferences.
Chances are, if you’re just getting started with cold brew coffee, you’re going to start with the immersion cold brew method. It’s simple, repeatable, and brews great coffee.
In fact, it’s so simple that you may already have everything you need to get started:
Read: The Budget Conscious Cold Brew Coffee Setup
Most people choose to use their french press as the brewing vessel. The french press already has a filter built in, but I typically opt to use a second filter too. However, really any device that can be covered can work, like tupperware, mason jars, or a glass with plastic wrap.
Your filter can be a regular coffee filter, a pour over cone, a fine kitchen strainer, or even a super clean rag (tried it, don’t recommend it).
Making immersion cold brew is soooo straightforward.
Read: 8 Vessels You Can Use As Your Cold Brew Coffee Maker
It’s fairly hands-off and so simple that you can easily repeat the recipe without error. This is a great one for setting up in the evening, straining in the morning, and enjoying cold brew coffee in the afternoon for the next few days.
The final cold brew is in a concentrate form, so you’ll probably want to cut it with some water and ice to make it drinkable. The amount of water you cut with depends on your coffee to water ratio during brewing. You can see how we go about this in our Ultimate Guide To Cold Brew Coffee.
Because of the long immersion process, the final result is full-bodied, full-flavored, and super satisfying.
This method is really the go-to for most home brewers. Because of its simplicity, it’s great for newcomers to cold brew, people who would prefer a straightforward brewing process, and people who would like to brew a concentrate that can be used in a variety of creative beverages.
It’s also a great method if you’re on a budget. Since you likely already have a capable brewing vessel and a filter, not much is required in the way of startup costs.
Read: 5 Non-Alcoholic Cold Brew Coffee Mocktails To Mix At Home
If you’ve ever seen a scientific-looking device on the counter of a cafe that looks like a slow-dripping water tower, that’s a slow drip cold brewer. It looks intimidating, but it’s not as difficult as many assume (including myself at one point).
This method isn’t as straightforward, and a big part of that is the required brewing device.
It features a water reservoir connected to a valve that slowly drips water over a bed of coffee grounds. The water drains through the grounds, through a filter, and down into another vessel that collects the cold brew.
Since the coffee grounds aren’t immersed in the water for several hours (more like several minutes), the final cold brew is bright and delicious, but not as full-bodied.
Read: Iced Coffee VS Cold Brew: What's The Difference?
Most people would rather just stick with the simpler immersion method, but for others, the brewing process is an exciting challenge.
The trick is to find the perfect balance between the water drip rate and the grind size. Typically, a medium-coarse grind setting is used, and most cafes and home brewers target around one drip per second.
But here’s the frustrating part:
As time goes on and there’s less water in the reservoir, the drip rate slows because there’s not as much weight pushing the water down. As a result, you end up having to adjust the drip rate a few times to ensure it keeps a steady pace.
However, this process does have its perks. It’s fun and fascinating to look at and it only takes 3-6 hours, since you use a slightly finer grind setting. The end product is still a concentrate, but it’s usually not quite as concentrated as the cold brew is from the immersion method.
For a deeper look at the brewing process, once again, check out the slow drip section of our Ultimate Guide To Cold Brew Coffee.
This is a fairly difficult and intimidating brewing method for newcomers to cold brew. However, if you’re the kind of person who likes to figure things out for yourself, you may love this method. Of course, you actually have to purchase a slow drip brewer, which you can find for as low as $30.
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Cold brewing at home is a stellar way to enjoy rich iced coffee. You really can’t go wrong with either method, but I’m willing to guess you’ll find the immersion method simpler, more consistent, and just as delicious as you could imagine.
Of course, don’t forget that your brew will only be as delicious as the beans you use. There’s no substitute for specialty-grade, freshly roasted coffee—and that’s what we suggest cold brewing with to maximize freshness and flavor.
Our JavaPresse Coffee Club sends you stellar beans the same day that they’re roasted at our facility in San Diego. They’re from some of the best farms in the world and are all stellar picks for both cold and hot brewing.
]]>Cold brew coffee cocktails are not a joke or gimmick. The best coffee shops and bars around the world are growing their coffee cocktail offerings as cold brew grows in popularity.
Though richer and darker than many typical cocktail ingredients, bartenders and drink crafters are finding creative, delicious ways to use it. My goal with this article is to help you bring these fascinating drinks to your own home.
This is one of the joys of cold brew coffee: you can use it in so many ways. Fun sodas, satisfying mocktails, and - of course - refreshing iced coffee. But cold brew coffee cocktails elevate the versatility of cold brew to a new level, one which I am excited to share with you.
Your home bar is about to get a lot more caffeinated. Here are five cold brew coffee mocktails you can make at home.
Don’t forget that all coffees taste slightly different. Coffee is an agricultural product, after all.
Some are light and floral, others are deep and chocolatey. Not every coffee will thrive with these cocktail recipes. If your cold brew doesn’t quite seem to find in one of these drinks, just try a different coffee with a different flavor profile and go from there.
There’s no pressure to make these drinks exactly like I lay out in these recipes. Listen to and follow the advice of your unique taste preferences.
It’s also important to realize that cold brew coffee concentrate can be made to nearly any strength. If you follow our Ultimate Guide to Cold Brew Coffee, your brewed concentrate will match ours and will taste just about as strong. However, if you use a different recipe or process, you may need to adjust the amount of concentrate you use to achieve the same balance and flavor in your cocktails.
Most importantly, enjoy the process of crafting these cocktails and learning to make them better and better over time.
This is one of the classiest coffee cocktails out there, stealing the visual show at any cocktail party. The rounded flavor of cold brew is lightly sweetened with sugar and polished with coffee liqueur. A light layer of foam adds a unique texture to the drink’s surface.
To make this one, mix the cold concentrate, simple syrup, vodka, and liqueur in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Then strain the drink into a martini glass and immediately top with three whole coffee beans.
This deep-noted sour class drink plays into cold brew coffee’s strengths. It’s deep, it’s dark, it has a vibrant tang, and it’s incredibly delicious.
To make this one, stir the ingredients together with ice and top with lemon zest as a garnish. I suggest using a coffee with a darker realm of flavor, such as a chocolatey Central American or a fruity, yet dark, Ethiopian.
Read: Iced Coffee VS Cold Brew: What's The Difference?
Hailing from “Toddy Cold Brewed: Simply Better Cocktails”, this recipe is one for the bold and adventurous. This wild combination of spicy rye, sweet vermouth, and rich cold brew form a fascinatingly complex drink.
Simply stir the ingredients together, top with lemon zest and fresh thyme, and serve in a small cocktail glass
Read: 8 Vessels You Can Use As Your Cold Brew Coffee Maker
This caffeinated spin on the Wintertime favorite, the Hot Toddy, is rich, warm, and satisfying on a cool evening. This particular drink is often saved for when you’re feeling under the weather (it’s a great one for a sore throat), but there’s no reason to stop yourself from enjoying it when your health is up.
To make this one, combine all the ingredients and stir well to fully melt and incorporate the honey.
Set the gin aside (or leave it in, if you wish) and pull out the cold brew concentrate for this spinoff negroni recipe. The orange and cherry sweetness and cinnamon notes of campari pair very well with cold brew coffee.
This one can be crafted by stirring the ingredients together and topping the drink with an orange peel garnish.
Read: Skip The Coffee Aisle, Here's How To Find The World's Best Coffee
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Your home bar will never be the same once you’ve had a few of these cold brew coffee cocktails
These are just the beginning - if you come up with other cocktails, let us know!
To begin making your own cold brew coffee cocktails at home, you have to start with high-quality, rich, and balanced cold brew coffee. The easiest way to make it - by a long shot - is using a french press.
The JavaPresse French Press makes cold brew and hot coffee, is beautifully designed, and features heat proof glass and a double stainless steel filter. If cold brew cocktails sound up your alley, this french press is the easiest way to get there.
Happy cold brewing!
]]>One reason cold brew coffee is so incredible is that it’s so versatile. It works in so many ways: hot, iced, cut with milk, mixed into mocktails.
Cold brew coffee mocktails are a fun way to mix it up. They’re energizing, fun to explore, and provide a creative way to get your daily dose of caffeine.
Here are five cold brew coffee mocktails you can make at home.
Read: Iced Coffee VS Cold Brew: What's The Difference?
Before we get into the actual recipes, there are a few things you need to kind in mind.
Firstly, the natural flavors in different coffees are great, but they cause some coffees to thrive in these mocktail recipes and others to taste really weird. Some coffees are light and fruity and others are deep and chocolatey. If the first coffee you use doesn’t jive with one of these recipes, try a different coffee with a different flavor profile and see how it goes.
Remember that your unique taste preferences are different than everyone else’s. Don’t be afraid to experiment and explore with different coffees to find your personal favorite combos.
Secondly, to make sure you mocktails taste as close as possible ours, make your cold brew coffee using our Ultimate Guide to Cold Brew Coffee. If you use a different recipe than we use, your cold brew coffee’s strength will be different and you’ll need to use more or less of your concentrate to achieve the same result.
When in doubt, adjust your drinks to fit your own tastes. There’s no pressure to make things exactly like they are described in this list. Craft to please your own palate - not anyone else’s.
Most of all, enjoy the process. Crafting cold brew coffee mocktails is supposed to be fun, so appreciate the journey and don’t worry about getting them perfect on your first try.
This spin off the classic whiskey sour is a bright, refreshing beverage. It has a tartness to it - the word ‘sour’ is in the name for a reason - but it’s nothing like biting straight into a lemon. It’s a tartness that’s balanced out by a smooth sweetness and a gentle coffee flavor.
Simply stir together the ingredients in a small rocks glass and top with a lemon wedge garnish. For best results, use a deep, well-rounded coffee rather than a lighter and brighter one.
Read: How To Taste Coffee: Acidity
This simple soda-like mocktail is a variation of the classic gin and tonic cocktails. This mocktail, along with the more intense and tart espresso tonic, is rising in popularity in specialty coffee shops across the United States. It’s extremely easy to make and delightfully refreshing.
To craft this one, just pour tonic water to taste into your concentrate and top with ice (or store in a mini soda bottle). Just about any coffee flavor profile will work with this one, but I suggest trying a few to find your favorite.
Want more mocktails like this one? Here are some other soda-esque cold brew coffee drinks.
This one’s an original. The High Plains Tonic combines cold brew coffee concentrate, a bit of dark chocolate, grape juice, and a touch of tonic water - all over ice.
Yeah - I realize it sounds quite odd. But trust me, it’s like drinking a coffee-infused, chocolate covered grape that’s covered in tangy bubbles. It’s delicious. Make it. Love it.
Just stir together all the ingredients and top with ice. A low-noted chocolatey coffee will really thrive in this cocktail.
Mint juleps are excellent for hot Summer afternoons and this caffeinated variation is worth trying out when you need a refreshing drink and a boost. The fresh mint (fresh is always best!) paired with the rich coffee and hint of sweetness is rounded, delicious, and hits the spot perfectly when you need to cool off.
For this one, muddle your mint leaves in the bottom of your glass, but be careful not to tear them. Then mix in your cold brew concentrate, simple syrup, and fill with ice. For best results, use a coffee with a deeper, more chocolatey flavor profile.
Read: 8 Vessels You Can Use As Your Cold Brew Coffee Maker
A caffeinated take on the quintessential Old Fashioned cocktail, the Cold Fashioned is a strong, rich, and classy beverage. This is a mocktail for a peaceful and warm afternoon when you want to enjoy a simple, refreshing drink with a punch of flavor.
To make this once, just stir the ingredients together with ice and top with the fruity garnish.
Most flavor profiles will pair well in the Cold Fashioned, but since this one’s quite a bit more intense than the others, you may not personally enjoy every coffee in this mocktail. Try a few out and find the flavor profile you enjoy the most in this mocktail.
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Cold brew coffee is incredible as basic iced coffee, but there’s so much more to do with it - like making fun, refreshing, creative mocktails. These recipes are just the beginning. If you come up with your own cold brew coffee mocktails, let me know!
If you want to make these yourself, you’re going to need a cold brew coffee maker. The easiest, most reliable way to do this is to use a french press coffee maker.
Happy cold brewing!
]]>The process is simple and you only need a couple items. Budget cold brew coffee is not a fantasy - it’s within reach for anyone.
If you’re exciting about sipping cold brew at home this Summer, but don’t want to break the bank, I’ve got just the setup for you. It’s how I’ve made cold brew for years. Grab a bag of freshly roasted coffee and let’s get started.
It all begins with the coffee beans. Buy cheap beans and your cold brew will taste like cheap beans. If you want cold brew coffee that’s delicious and balanced, you’re going to want to find and buy high quality, freshly roasted coffee beans.
Coffee beans are only at their peak flavor and freshness for two weeks after they’re roasted, so it’s important that you know when that happened. Look for “roasted on” dates published on the coffee bag instead of “best by”. Roasters who value transparency and quality will let you know the exact date that the beans were roasted.
Don’t make the simple mistake of going and buying a bag of pre-ground coffee from the grocery store. That coffee will become stale almost as soon as you open the bag and your coffee’s flavor will suffer. Pre-ground coffee grounds aren’t even the right size for cold brewing.
Practically, look to spend $13-17 per 12oz bag of high end, uber-flavorful coffee.
Read: Why Fresh Coffee Is The Best Coffee
You want freshly roasted beans that you can grind to a coarse setting immediately before brewing. That’s the only way to do it if you want to brew the best coffee you can, so a home coffee grinder is essential.
While an effective electric grinder will run you $100 or more, you can get a manual grinder that performs just as well for a quarter of the price. Manual grinders take a bit of elbow grease, but they’re the clear choice for a budget purchase.
Whatever you do, do not buy a cheap blade coffee grinder. These grinders don’t grind coffee with precision or consistency, which will kill your coffee’s flavor quality quicker than anything else. They’re inexpensive and temping, but they’re not what you want. You want a burr grinder.
The JavaPresse Manual Burr Coffee Grinder is small, light, and can grind coffee for french press, espresso, and everything in between. It’s travel-friendly, but is no less suited for home use. The device costs less than $25; a small price to pay for such a quality-elevating tool.
Grinder Cost: $25
You have a lot of flexibility when it comes to your cold brewing vessel.
I’ve seen people use mason jars, tea pots, and big mugs. As long as it's spacious enough to fit all the ingredients, can be topped with a lid, and won’t depart odd flavors or chemicals into your coffee, it’ll work. Chances are, you already have something laying around the kitchen that will do just fine.
Read: 8 Vessels You Can Use To Make Cold Brew Coffee
My personal favorite - and probably the most commonly used vessel - is a $30 french press. The glass carafe is durable and visually appealing and it comes with a lid and a built-in filter. It’s the perfect size for brewing and storing cold brew coffee. Plus, it makes hot french press coffee a possibility as well.
Vessel Cost: $0-30
When the brewing is complete and you’re ready to separate the grounds from the cold brew, you’re going to need a filter of some sort. Any old regular coffee filter or cheesecloth will do. Once, I was desperate and used a clean shirt. Like I said, there’s some flexibility here.
The french press is convenient because it comes with the filter built-in, but sometimes I want a cleaner cup (tiny grounds sometimes get through the french press filter). To filter the smaller particles out I typically pour the liquid through a pour over dripper for that extra clean body.
Regular coffee filters won’t cost you more than a few dollars at the nearest supermarket, but it sure is nice having that pour over cone (plus, it allows me to make pour over coffee).
Filter Cost: $0-25
With a simple setup consisting of a grinder, mason jar, and coffee filters, you’re looking at a mere $25 to get going. If you’d like to take it up a notch and spring for the french press, the setup will run you $50, but you’ll also have everything you need to make hot french press coffee as well.
There’s a lot to be gained by the ability to make cold brew coffee. It’s refreshing, smooth, and quite different from hot brewed coffee. It can be stored in the fridge for two weeks and can be cut with cold water, hot water, milk, or anything else.
Cold brew coffee in the fridge means hot or iced coffee whenever you’d like. It means you can have a lazy day and still get the caffeine you need. It means you can enjoy a pick-me-up when the Summer heat is beating down without having to down a hot mug.
For a $25-50 investment, the rewards are pretty compelling.
Happy cold brewing!
]]>Normally, these would be strange items to make coffee inside. But cold brew coffee is different. Since it uses cold water, you’re not limited to things that can handle boiling water, like high borosilicate glass.
That’s one of the beauties of cold brew coffee: you can make it in almost anything. As long as it’s safe for food and beverages and holds water, it can be a cold brew coffee maker.
Chances are you probably already have a suitable container for cold brewing in your kitchen, on your bookshelf, or on your bedside table.
Here are eight vessels you can use to make your next batch of cold brew coffee.
Clean and simple, mason jars offer a no-fuss way of making cold brew. They’re pretty, durable, and can be topped with a lid. Since the lid seals, you can even lay the jar on its side in the fridge if it helps with storage space.
A mason jar was my super-budget cold brewer for several months before I eventually upgraded to something more user friendly. I’m sure you have one of these somewhere, which means you can start making cold brew coffee right this minute if you want.
Read: The Ultimate Guide To Cold Brew Coffee
Don’t use little plastic water bottles. Those are made for clean water - not acidic liquids - and tend to cause the coffee to taste chemically. Gross!
Use a nicer, reusable water bottle like a Nalgene. It’s durable, can be sealed shut, and won’t taint your coffee’s flavor.
Just make sure to wash the bottle very well when you’re finished. Otherwise, you’ll be drinking coffee flavored water next time you use the bottle for its original purpose.
Though it was originally intended to make hot coffee, the french press is the most simple and effective cold brew coffee vessel. It’s beautiful to look at, can make pretty large batches (up to 32 oz), and comes with a built-in filter. It’s just the right size for brewing and storing cold brew.
Read: Cold Brew Coffee VS Iced Coffee: What’s The Difference?
You may not have one already laying around, but the investment will also open up the doorway to hot french press coffee as well. You won’t find a more convenient and empowering $20 coffee maker!
Imagine a 5-gallon stockpot filled with cold brew coffee. Beautiful.
Pots and pans take up quite a bit of space and may not be easy to pour from, but they’re already in your kitchen. Or they should be.
Tea pots are designed for tea, but they essentially function the same way as a french press. Just throw your grounds into the pot (bonus points if there’s an infuser), fill it up with cold water, and let the magic happen over the next several hours.
Make sure to clean it very well after using it for cold brew coffee. Trust me, coffee flavored tea doesn’t taste very good.
Read: 5 Things That Ruin Your Coffee
Soda bottles only allow you to make 12 oz of cold brew, but they’re a pretty neat cold brew coffee maker. They look nice, don’t take much space, and can be used to make multiple batches of different coffees.
You can top the bottle with plastic wrap while it’s brewing or being stored, but if you have a bottle capper, you have my upmost respect.
I high suggest filling soda bottles with cold brew concentrate and water to make ready-to-drink cold brew coffee servings. They’re fun to drink from, are easy to give as gifts, and make cold brew coffee even more convenient that it already is.
When set up via the inverted method, the Aeropress can make decent cold brew. It brews a very small batch size (no more than 8 oz), but it does come with its own built-in filter. Its shape may not be ideal for cold brewing, however. Being so tall, I imagine it’s an easy one to knock over and create a mess.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can rig together a slow drip cold brew coffee maker using the Aeropress, some ice, and a water bottle. It’s not the easiest thing to do, but it sure makes you feel like a mad scientist.
This is a last resort option. If won’t look very pretty, but it will work. Be careful when you’re pouring the brewed coffee out. It could get messy real quickly.
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Making cold brew coffee is a surprisingly flexible endeavor. Almost any container that’s rated as food safe can be used as a cold brew coffee maker, but nothing beats the simplicity of a french press.
The JavaPresse French Press is made with durable glass, chrome plated steel, and a double stainless steel filter. It doesn’t get any easier than that when it comes to cold brew coffee. Check it out for yourself.
Happy cold brewing!
]]>They are brewed differently, taste differently, and served differently. Different moments call for different iced coffees. Both can be made at home, and each one thrives in different ways.
If you want to brew incredible iced coffee that suits your lifestyle, keep reading.
Read: Why Fresh Coffee Is The Best Coffee
Iced coffee is a broad term. There are two methods people mean when they use the phrase (excluding cold brew coffee). Both methods use hot water to extract yumminess from the coffee, so you experience the full range of flavors that you would if you were drinking it hot.
But one of them you want to avoid at all cost.
The best way to make iced coffee using hot water is to brew the coffee directly over ice. When you do this using your pour over cone or Aeropress, you force the coffee to chill immediately. This keeps all those natural aromas you released with hot water from flying away by cooling them and keeping them in the glass, which preserves a lot of flavor.
Read: Making Iced Coffee With The JavaPresse Pour Over Brewer
Since you’re extracting the full range of flavors with hot water, iced coffee made this way often has a bright, crisp acidity. Your taste buds perceive the acidity to be stronger since the coffee is ice cold, but the acidity isn’t actually stronger. Still, I’ll understand if the perceived high acidity doesn’t sit well with your preferences.
Brewing coffee this way with a pour over cone is often called “Japanese Iced Coffee” or “Flash Chilling”. The result is rich, refreshing, aromatic, crisp, and satisfying. Since you’re using hot water to brew, it only takes 2-4 minutes to make a glass.
This is how most specialty coffee shops make their iced coffee.
An older way of making iced coffee (and far less delightful) simply requires you to brew a big batch of hot coffee, let it cool over a few hours, and then stick it in the fridge to chill.
Read: A Recipe For Shaken Iced Aeropress Coffee
While this does technically produce iced coffee, it doesn’t do so very well. The natural aromas have plenty of time to drift away and the liquid coffee itself undergoes some chemical changes over the long process. Simply put, it’s stale.
In the end, the iced coffee is a shadow of its former self. The sweetness is muted, the aromas are nowhere to be found, and the acidity is odd. It’s definitely the worst method for brewing iced coffee, but that doesn’t stop fast food chains from saving money on hot coffee that isn’t purchased by turning it into iced coffee.
Brewing coffee with cold water creates an entirely different experience than brewing with hot water.
Firstly, cold water doesn’t extract the good stuff from the coffee grounds as quickly as hot water, so the process requires 12+ hours. Typically, this happens with the coffee grounds immersed in cold water in a french press or other vessel, but there is also a “slow drip method” where cold water slowly drips over a bed of coffee.
Read: The Ultimate Guide To Cold Brew Coffee Brewing
Secondly, it doesn’t extract the same things. Cold brewing doesn’t pull out the acids or caffeine as much as hot brewing, sometimes resulting in as much as 66% less of each. As you can imagine, the affects the flavor quite a bit.
Cold brew coffee is smooth, refreshing, and often has a rounded, unique flavor. It’s easy to make at home and is pretty forgiving. The concentrate can even be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks, which makes iced coffee over the next few days convenient.
Since it’s brewed as a concentrate, there are quite a few ways you can use it. The most obvious way is to cut it with cold water and ice to make iced coffee, but you can also add hot water, milk, soda water, or any other liquid you’d like to blend it with. Thanks to its smooth flavor, it’s quite adaptable.
Read: How To Make Cold Brew Coffee Soda
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There’s a lot to love about iced coffee and cold brew coffee, but that doesn’t mean you’ll like both. Despite being made from just grounds and water, they produce coffee that doesn’t taste the same.
I encourage you to try making both to see which one suits your taste preferences and lifestyle more. Maybe you’ll love the ability to have cold brew coffee waiting in the fridge for you. Maybe you’ll love the crisp acidity of Japanese Iced Coffee.
No matter which style iced coffee you love, always start out using freshly roasted, high-quality coffee beans. No exceptions!
Our JavaPresse Coffee Subscription sends you freshly roasted coffee beans that we've sourced from some of the world's best coffee farms. These beans are roasted and shipped to order for maximum freshness, come from sustainability-minded farmers, and are amazingly flavorful.
Have a great Summer and happy brewing!
]]>I present to you the Cold Brew Coffee Soda.
I know, I know - it sounds a little odd. Just hear me out. Cold brew coffee soda is simple to make, pleasing to drink, and opens up a new realm of drink possibilities that use cold brew concentrate.
I’ll admit, I’m typically a black coffee kind of person. But there’s no shame in enjoying a lighter, less intense coffee drink now and then. That’s the beauty of cold brew coffee: it works in so many ways, including this homemade soda.
Read: How To: The Golden Ratio in Coffee Brewing
The most basic form of cold brew coffee soda is delightful and extremely easy to make. Here’s what you’ll need:
This soda recipe uses cold brew concentrate brewed to a strength that you can find in our Ultimate Guide to Cold Brew Coffee. If you happen to make your cold brew at a different concentration using another recipe, that’s just fine! But you’ll probably have to use a slightly different amount of concentrate to achieve the same result.
What’s your favorite soda water? Sparkling mineral water, club soda, seltzer? Any one will work for this recipe, though they all taste slightly different - so keep that in mind. My favorite is the bubbly elixir from Monterrey, Mexico: Topo Chico.
Simple syrup can be easily made by combining equal parts of sugar and water and heating it up so that it dissolves. To make 1 oz of simple syrup, combine ¾ of an ounce of water and ¾ of an ounce of sugar and dissolve.
To make the magic happen, mix your cold brew concentrate and simple syrup first, add soda water to taste, then top with ice. You now have a simple, refreshing glass of cold brew coffee soda.
If you like to experiment and create things of your own, there are several ways you can do that with this recipe. I highly suggest getting creative with this soda.
Read: How To Read Coffee Packaging Like A Pro
Just keep in mind that your coffee’s flavor may blend well with some ingredients, but not others. So if you find yourself confused about an experiment that worked well a few weeks ago, but doesn’t taste quite right this week, it may just be that the particular coffee you used doesn’t blend with that extra flavor.
For example, a light and fruity Ethiopian coffee may blend really well with fruity ingredients and an earthy Colombian may pair with chocolate syrup perfectly. Use ingredients that you think will compliment the coffee’s natural flavors.
Cold Brew Lemonade Soda - The juice of ½ lemon pairs really well with some cold brew coffees. When added to your cold brew soda, it turns the drink into something like a sparkling iced coffee lemonade. Trust me, it’s a lot better than it first sounds. Just make sure to use fresh lemon juice. It’s like an Arnold Palmer for coffee people.
Minty Cold Brew Soda - Muddle a mint leaf at the bottom of your glass with a wooden spoon before mixing the other ingredients. Be careful not to break the mint leaves or the chlorophyll may cause your drink to be on the bitter side. Many coffee shops serve something like this called a Mint Coffee Julep.
Mocha Cold Brew Soda - Melt a square or two of dark chocolate for a deeper, chocolaty drink. This is almost always a winner and pairs well with most coffees. A little bit goes a long way!
Peaches and Cream Cold Brew Soda - Mash up some fresh peaches in your soda and let the juices flow. Then top the beverage with a very slight amount of half and half. This one works well with lighter, fruitier coffees, but I haven’t had much success this recipe when using deeper, more chocolatey coffees.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with ingredients you have around the house. Want to try honey instead of granulated sugar? Do it! Want to garnish your soda with a few strawberry slices? I won’t stop you.
Have fun, play with your drink. It’s Summer, so live a little.
Read: Learn How To Taste Coffee
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Don’t let any coffee snob tell you you’re ruining your incredible coffee by dressing it up with soda water and sugar. Coffee should energize and empower you, no matter the form it takes.
That said, there’s nothing like a well-brewed cup of black coffee or glass of cold brew that’s rich, balanced, and extremely satisfying. I definitely encourage you to source high quality coffee beans and brew them with care. Your coffee will taste better, you’ll feel the satisfaction of making something mindfully, and your life will benefit in ways you would never have expected.
If you’d like to give cold brew coffee soda a try, check out our JavaPresse French Press. It will enable you to make hot and cold brewed coffee, is fun and rewarding to use, and will last you a lifetime.
Happy brewing!
]]>I still remember that first time I was told about brewing coffee in cold water. I thought it was just another scenario where things become more complicated than necessary. I thought it was a strange experiment for people with too much time on their hands. I was wrong.
Iced coffee via cold brewing is delicious and completely legitimate. Whether you’re still a skeptic, or you’ve tasted the wonder of cold brew, this guide will empower you to brew it yourself in your own home.
Cold brew coffee is coffee brewed with cold water. This sometimes means coffee grounds are saturated in cold or room temperature water and allowed to steep for 12+ hours. Other times it means cold water is dripped over a bed of coffee slowly over several hours.
Cold brew coffee is not hot coffee poured over ice. That method of iced coffee brews by some different rules at the molecular level and produces very different results than cold brewing.
There are several reasons cold brew coffee has exploded so quickly over the last couple years. These reasons are so compelling that it makes me wonder why people weren’t cold brewing coffee hundreds of years ago.
Read: What Makes Specialty Coffee Special?
Flavor
Though both of these things contribute toward and enhance the flavor of coffee, bitterness and acidity can really kill a good cup if they get out of hand with poor brewing. Cold brew coffee doesn’t use hot water, so it doesn’t break down and extract many of the compounds that are responsible for the acidity and bitterness.
With less than half the acidity and bitterness of hot brewed coffee, cold brew feels smooth and forgiving on the palate. You won’t get some of the flavors you would find in hot coffee without the higher levels of bitter tannins and acids (like bright fruity flavors or deep grapefruit), but the results are still striking.
Cold brewing won’t change the flavor of a coffee entirely, but it has a way of presenting it to you in a different way - often with a pronounced sweetness and creamy body. It’s always intriguing to see how the flavors of a great hot coffee come out in a batch of cold brew.
Read: How To: Learn To Taste Coffee!
If you’re a fan of smooth coffee with a very low acidity and creamy body, cold brew coffee may become your best friend.
Easy On The Body
I know how uncomfortable the acidity from most hot coffees can be, especially on an empty stomach. With the low acidity from cold brewing, cold brew coffee is very easy to drink and enjoy, discomfort free!
If you’re sensitive to acidity, cold brew coffee is the way to go.
You Can Brew It As A Concentrate
Cold brew coffee is brewed in a concentrated form. By doubling or tripling the amount of coffee grounds you put in the water, you can double or triple the concentrated strength. If you tried this with hot brewed coffee, you would end up with an under extracted, sour cup of coffee, because each coffee particle didn’t get the amount of water it needed.
Hot brewing takes minutes for balanced extraction to take place. Cold brewing takes hours. This key difference enables us to add extra coffee grounds to the slurry without compromising each particle’s ability to achieve a balanced extraction.
Cold brew concentrate takes up little space, is easier to brew with equipment you probably already have, and opens up a world of possibilities.
All The Possibilities
Hot coffee can be turned into a few different drinks, but the possibilities with cold brew coffee are endless. The concentrated cold brew contains a lot of flavors and mixes well with other ingredients.
Dilute the concentrate with milk and you have a cold brew iced latte. Dilute with soda water and simple syrup, then top with cream for a cold brew cream soda. Mix the concentrate with your spirit of choice and have yourself a caffeinated cocktail. Try a cold brew lemonade (seriously it’s delicious)!
See what I mean? There’s no end to the drink combinations!
Year-Round Coffee
I live in a location with intense Summers, and hot coffee just doesn’t sound right when the sun beats down with such ferocity. Cold brew is perfect for those sweltering afternoons.
Two Ways to Cold Brew Coffee
There are two ways that cold brew coffee is made, and both come with their ups and downs.
Immersion
The most accessible method requires nothing more than mixing coffee grounds with cold water, then filtering it after 12+ hours. I like to use our french press for the brewing, and then our pour over coffee dripper for filtering. The process is very low maintenance and dependable.
Since this is an immersion method, the flavor is full and well-rounded (with the exception of flavors that depend on acidity and bitterness). This is my go-to method for cold brew coffee.
If you want to brew a large batch of concentrate (enough to last several days), and can be available to filter the brew after 12 hours, this is the right method for you.
Slow Drip
The slow drip method is more striking visually but is often more difficult to pull off in a home setting. You may have seen this method in the form of glass towers sitting on coffee shop counters with ice in a top chamber, coffee grounds in a middle chamber, and cold brew concentrate in the bottom.
You can accomplish this same style of cold brewing with our pour over coffee maker and an AeroPress by putting ice in the cone and letting it drip down over coffee grounds in the AeroPress. The liquid in the coffee bed eventually falls through the filter into a carafe or mug under the Aeropress.
This method requires more setup and tear down, but it can take as little as 6 hours. The resulting concentrate has a thinner body than the immersion method, but a brighter, crisper flavor.
Since the coffee and water are not in constant contact the entire time and it can be difficult to control the rate that ice melts and drips over coffee, the slow drip method is less user-friendly than the immersion method. If you’re up to the challenge, this method will surely take you on an adventure.
This method makes it hard to brew large batches, but it doesn’t require your full attention after a certain amount of time. When the ice has melted and fallen through, there’s no more brewing taking place. This means you can leave it overnight or all day long, despite it taking only 6 hours or so.
Fresh Coffee Always
Never underestimate the excellence of freshly roasted and ground coffee.
Roasted coffee beans release carbon dioxide and absorb oxygen, which results in oxidation, the same process that turns apples brown and causes iron to rust. As this process happens, the original tasty flavors break down and are replaced with a dull, stale, and bitter flavor.
This decline in quality becomes noticeable after two or three weeks with whole coffee beans, so it’s important to buy coffee from a source that cares about freshness.
Once the coffee is ground, it takes less than thirty minutes for the coffee grounds to experience this rapid decline in yumminess. I suggest grinding your coffee with a burr grinder a couple minutes before brewing, rather than grinding it all at one time. The difference will be very noticeable and you’ll never go back to pre-ground.
Coffee to Water Ratios
Your coffee to water ratio is one of the easiest things to mess up if you’re not being careful, but once you’ve got it down, you’ll be able to rely on it.
Normally with brewed coffee, you would want to use anywhere between a 1:15 and 1:17 ratio of coffee to water. This means that for every 1g of coffee, you use 15 to 17g (or ml) of water. Making adjustments according to the amount of coffee you want to drink or the amount of beans you have is simple from there.
Since you want to brew a concentrate, use a 1:7 coffee to water ratio. For this guide, I’ll be using 100g of coffee and 700g of water to brew the concentrate at 1:7. When I’m ready for a glass, I’ll cut the concentrate with an equal amount of water to bring the final ratio up to 1:14.
Read: How To: The Golden Ratio in Coffee Brewing
In the end, your final glass of cold brew coffee should be pretty close to that normal range of 1:15 to 1:17, which is where most of like our coffee strength. I’ll be aiming for 1:14 because I like my iced coffee to be a little stronger to account for some ice melt.
Be Picky With Your Water
If you don’t really like the taste of your usual water source, you don’t really want to brew coffee with that water. Coffee is mostly water, after all, so use water that you actually like.
Use a Consistent, Medium or Coarse Grind
A coarse grind is ideal for the immersion method. You can use a medium grind size and reduce your extraction time by a couple hours, but the concentrate will take a very long time to filter and the result will not be as clean.
A medium to medium-fine grind is ideal for the slow drip method since the coffee and water have minimal contact over a few hours. Go too coarse and the water will drain in between the grounds without extracting anything delicious out of them. The result will be under extracted - sour and weak.
We have our own burr coffee grinder at JavaPresse that we’ve developed to be effective and affordable. There’s a reason coffee professionals (including myself) say that a good grinder is the most important piece of equipment in a coffee setup.
Gather the tools and ingredients and set it all before you.
Weigh out 100g of coffee (about 20 level tablespoons) and grind it coarsely with a burr grinder. Place the grounds in your french press.
Slowly pour 700g (700ml) of water over the coffee grounds, saturating all of them evenly.
After five minutes, use a spoon or paddle to gently submerge any coffee grounds that have created a crust at the top of the brewing slurry.
If the french press won’t come in contact with any direct sunlight or high temperatures, it can be left to brew on a countertop for twelve hours. If it will come in contact with one of those, leave it in the refrigerator to brew for fifteen hours. I usually leave it on the counter overnight.
When the brewing time has elapsed, slowly plunge the french press filter down. To prolong the life of the concentrate, pour it through a second filter and into a container with a lid, then store it in the fridge for up to two weeks.
When you’re ready for a glass, combine the concentrate with an equal amount of water, add some ice, and enjoy!
You’ll need some different tools for the slow drip method. Gather them and begin setting up.
Place a filter in the AeroPress filter cap and give it a rinse, then attach it to the brewing chamber. I like to use our stainless steel filter because it allows the oils to get through, which results in a stronger flavor. Cut a second paper filter to be slightly smaller than the first so that it will fit inside the brewing chamber on top of the coffee bed.
Weigh out 30g of fresh coffee (roughly 6 tablespoons) and grind it at a medium-fine setting with a burr grinder. Weigh out 210g of ice (about 12 coarse cubes).
Place the coffee grounds in the AeroPress, filter down, then slide the second filter on top of the grounds for better water dispersion and brewing balance.
Place the AeroPress on top of the AeroPress funnel and over a carafe of some sort (I’m using a mason jar). Set your pour over coffee dripper on top of the AeroPress, and fill it with your ice.
Drop about 1 ounce of cold water (29ml) over the ice to help it begin to melt.
You should see drops of cold water form and fall onto the coffee bed every couple seconds. This process will speed up slowly as the ice melts more quickly.
If your slow drip setup won’t come in contact with any direct sunlight or high temperatures, it can be left to brew on a countertop. If it will come in contact with one of those, find a cooler, darker place or make room for it in the refrigerator.
When the ice has melted, give the brew another hour or so to let the coffee drain from the coffee bed. In total, you can expect the process to take between 5 and 6 hours.
Your cold brew concentrate is already filtered, so all you need to do to enjoy a glass is cut it with an equal amount of water, top with ice, and start sipping.
Cold brewing coffee is usually a forgiving process, but mistakes are easy to make - and thankfully easy to fix. Here are a few problems you may be having, as well as some solutions.
It Isn’t Strong Enough; It’s Too Strong
Most of the time, issues of strength can be resolved by using more or less water when you cut the concentrate. If it’s too strong, add some water to level it out. Not strong enough? Add some concentrate.
You are the ultimate decision maker here, so go with your palate.
If you think you may have brewed the concentrate with an incorrect amount of coffee grounds, don’t be ashamed. I’ve done it too. If you cannot salvage the batch by finding a concentrate to water ratio that’s right for you, it’s time to brew again.
The Concentrate Tastes Bitter or Sour
If you find your cold brew to be a little bitter, it’s likely that the concentrate was over extracted by too much time or too fine of a grind. For immersion, you can reduce the brew time or use a coarser grind. For slow drip, try a coarser grind.
If you find your cold brew to be a little sour, it probably is under extracted and just needs to brew more. Add an hour or two or use a finer grind setting next time if you’re using the immersion method. For the slow drip method, use a slightly finer grind.
Read: How To Pair Your Coffee Brewer With Its Perfect Grind Size
You’ve now stepped into a reality where iced coffee is fantastic, where hot Summer days can be great days for coffee, and where cold brew can change how you think of mixed drinks. It’s a good reality to exist in.
Like with any style or method of coffee brewing, the best cup of coffee is one you enjoy thoroughly. If you happen to like your cold brew a little stronger than I, play with the recipe some and make your concentrate the way you like it. You’re the master of the coffee you drink.
All that's left to do is get yourself a french press and a coffee grinder and get going! You'll be sipping iced coffee in no time.
Happy brewing!
Raj Jana
Chief Brewing Officer
JavaPresse Coffee Company