Cold Brewed Coffee

About cold brewed coffee

Can’t remember where I read about the cold brew process, but it sounded quite interesting when I read this. I decided to give it a try today. Essentially cold brewed coffee is where you just coarse grind coffee beans, then steep in water overnight (the recommended period is at least 8 hours and about 18-24 hours), and then pour the resultant supernatant fluid over muslin or cheese cloth or kitchen towel or strainer and a combination of paper towel into the container and store it in refrigerator. Then use it cold or hot. That's about it.

Does it make a difference?

A chef from Jamie Oliver’s group blogged that cold brewed coffee offered “… a very different, far more refined creature" that made him "realise the unique magic of cold coffee, just in time for the pleasant English summer". This blog has a nice summary of the difference between cold brew and iced coffee.

But cold brewed coffee is not iced coffee

• For one, cold-brewed coffee is coarse ground coffee steeped in cold water, and iced coffee is generally brewed hot and poured over ice.
• Iced coffee tends to be bitter, whereas the cold brewed coffee should be sweeter (based on the reviews I read).
• Cold brew, takes 18-24 hours according to some, but it can be I understand also be done within 8-10 hours, but the gentler infusion process produces a drink of lower acidity, which is why cold brew coffee is naturally sweeter.

How to cold-brew coffee at home (these instructions are from this site

• You need beans for this: coarse grind the beans, roughly the same consistency as breadcrumbs. Any finer and you risk cloudy, grimy-tasting coffee.
• Sterilise a jar (or any large receptacle with a lid). Working to roughly a 1:8 coffee-to-water ratio, place your grounds in the bottom of the jar, and cover with cold water. I did a 1:6 coffee to water ratio and decided to steep it overnight. Will know the results later.
• Stir gently until well combined, cover, and leave to steep for 18-24 hours, either in or out of the fridge.
• When brewed, strain into a large bowl through a sieve to remove the larger grounds. Discard these (ideally into compost), and then, tucking either your muslin or a few sheets of paper towel into the cleaned sieve, strain back into the jar.
• Repeat two or three times, until you are seeing no murky residue at the bottom as you finish your pour.

The general advice is to drink it cold, but I was wondering if it is possible to drink it hot as well, and it turns out that it is OK to drink it hot. I searched Reddit and I found that people have first heated water or milk in microwave or water heater, or kettle, and then added or filed in the prepared coffee and most people were raving about the preparation. So there. Depending on the taste of course, but for hot coffee, most people recommend mixing 1:1 ratio (water: coffee concentrate), or for cold coffee 1:3 ratio (one part coffee and three parts water).