Brew guide
Cold brew
Coffee brewed without heat: smooth, rich and low in acidity. It doesn’t take skill, it takes time.
You’ll need: A large container, ground coffee, water and a strainer or filter (a cafetiere, V60 or Chemex all work).
Method
Making cold brew isn’t difficult and you don’t need fancy kit. It’s usually brewed at room temperature, but cold water works too. Either way, you’ll want to leave it in the fridge.
- Grind your 100g of coffee coarsely. Avoid anything fine, like espresso grind, as it over-infuses and leaves the brew gritty and muddy.
- Steep the grounds in 500g of water and stir to make sure all the coffee is wet. Filtered water gives a sweeter flavour, as with any brew method.
- Leave it in the fridge for around 14 hours. Anything from 8 to 14 hours works.
- Strain through a filter such as a cafetiere, V60 or Chemex. Don’t press or squeeze the grounds, as that pulls out bitter flavours.
- You now have cold brew concentrate. Dilute one part concentrate with one part filtered water.
- Pour over ice, or drink it as it is. Enjoy.
Good to know
What is cold brew?
A brewing method like any other, just without heat. The long extraction (8 to 14 hours) gives a coffee that’s richer in flavour and lower in acidity than one brewed hot, and it’s often made as a concentrate to dilute later.
What’s the best coffee for cold brew?
Most of the acids and solubles behind floral notes only extract above a certain temperature, so the beans you choose matter. Taste is subjective, but a medium roast with chocolate, nut or caramel notes is a good place to start.
How is it different from iced coffee?
Iced coffee is brewed hot and then served cold, usually over ice with milk and syrups. Cold brew is simply coffee, brewed cold.
How long does the concentrate keep?
If you make your own concentrate, and we’d recommend it, it stays fresh in the fridge for around 24 to 48 hours.
Milk or no milk?
It comes down to preference, but most baristas drink cold brew black to appreciate the subtle flavours that milk would dilute.
Rather we made it for you?
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