THE SIMPLEST COLD BREW rECIPE TO MAKE AT HOME

Follow this easy cold brew recipe and you’ll thank me later.

Photo: Julia Bobak

Cold brew coffee has taken the coffee world by storm in the past decade, not just because millennials love to hop on trends. It’s a delightfully smooth, sweet, and refreshing way to enjoy your morning brew.

Cold brew is often one of the most expensive coffee shop drinks, but there’s no reason to keep dropping cash at the local cafe. It’s simple to make at home.

The Best Cold Brew Coffee Recipe

You don’t need any fancy pouring technique or special equipment to make cold brew, so it’s one of the easiest ways to make coffee at home. You don’t even need to boil water! 

In this great recipe, you’ll learn how to make cold brew concentrate with a cold brew coffee maker, which can be as simple as a Mason jar and some cheesecloth.

What is the ratio for cold brew coffee?

I prefer to make coffee concentrate at home because it keeps much longer in the fridge than diluted cold brew. To prepare the concentrate, the ideal cold brew ratio is around 1:4 – about 1 cup of ground coffee per four cups of water. But feel free to experiment with a coffee to water ratio of 1:3 or 1:5, as suits your taste.

When I want to serve cold brewed coffee, I dilute the concentrate at a 1:2 ratio. I add two parts cold water or milk to one part concentrate. But again, you can play around with this ratio.

DESCRIPTION	COFFEE TO WATER RATIO
General ratio	1:5
Batch Brew (e.g. Filtron) and cold brew concentrate ratio	1:2
High strength French Press brew	1:7
Low strength French Press brew	1:12

Can you use regular ground coffee for cold brew?

It is best to use coarsely ground coffee for cold brew. If the coffee grounds are too fine, the long extraction time can lead to bitterness in the cup (1). However, if you don’t have a coffee grinder at home and need to buy pre-ground coffee, you can use it. Just shorten the brew time accordingly.

How To Make Cold Brew Coffee At Home

The hands-on time and effort for making cold brew coffee are minimal; the hardest part is just having the patience to wait for it. 

This recipe makes about 3 cups of cold brew concentrate, enough coffee concentrate for around 12 servings of cold brew. Here are the steps for making cold brew at home.

Step 1: Weigh And Grind The Coffee Beans

Weigh 3 ounces of coffee beans and grind them to a coarse grind. If you don’t have a scale, use 1 cup of beans. 

I use a slightly coarser grind than I would for my French press. You should end up with about 1 cup ground coffee.

Step 2: Combine Coffee And Water

Add the ground coffee to your brewer. Pour the 4 cups of water over the grounds, ensuring they are fully saturated. Give the mixture a quick stir.

Step 3: Steep The Cold Brew

The steeping time can vary between 12 and 24 hours, depending on your grind size, coffee roast, and steeping temperature. 

Cold brew can be steeped on the counter or in the fridge. If you opt for the fridge, the cold slows extraction, so plan on 16 to 24 hours. On the counter, 12 to 16 hours is probably enough. In general, I recommend you let the coffee steep for 16 hours as a starting point. 

Step 4: Strain The Coffee Grounds

There are plenty of ways to get the grounds out of your concentrate, depending on what you have on hand.

If you don’t have any coffee gear, just line a strainer or sieve with a few layers of cheesecloth and pour the coffee concentrate through it. Alternatively, you can use a pour over dripper lined with a coffee filter. Some brewers, like a French press or cold-brew maker, have a filtration system included.

Keep the strained concentrate in an airtight container in the fridge.

How long does cold brew coffee last?

Your concentrate will last for up to two weeks in the fridge, so it’s practical to make a big batch of cold brew. But once it’s diluted, use it within a day or two.

Step 5: Dilute The Coffee, Serve, And Enjoy

Once you’ve made your concentrate, there are tons of delicious ways to enjoy a glass of cold brew coffee. The most common is simply adding cold milk or water at a ratio of 1:2 and pouring it over ice cubes for a refreshing cup of coffee. 

But feel free to experiment with more cold brew drinks.

Final Thoughts

Sure, making cold brew concentrate requires a little patience. But once you have that precious coffee nectar in your fridge, you’re always moments away from a tasty cup of cold brew coffee. So save money and skip the local coffee shop rush this summer by brewing cold coffee at home.

Did you try this recipe? What did you think? Do you have a favorite specialty drink to make with cold brew concentrate? Let me know in the comments below!