Welcome to summer, everyone. (I think most people agree it starts after Memorial Day, right?) One of the things I’ve always loved about summer is cold brew coffee. As most of you know, I’ll take coffee anytime year round, but cold brew is its own animal and worth appreciating as such. That said, cold brew needs to be done right to achieve the smoothness and sweetness its known for. Here’s how I create my own cold brew.

 

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup medium-coarse ground coffee
• 2 cups filtered water
• Optional: 4 Tbsp. Milk, Cream or Alternative Milk (I personally use regular cream, but many of my readers avoid dairy. Thrive Market has a clean and tasty version of Oat Milk. For those looking for other alternatives, check out this post on non-dairy milk.)
• You’ll also want a couple medium mason jars with lids.

Instructions:

Grind 3/4 cup of whole bean coffee to a medium-coarse consistency as pictured to make about 2/3 cup ground coffee. (I wouldn’t advise the pre-ground coffee you find in the store, since you’ll have a heck of a time trying to drain it. The result? Coffee that’s likely too strong and muddy instead of smooth.)

Divide the ground coffee between two medium mason jars. Pour room temperature filtered water over the coffee—one cup of water per jar. Screw the lids on tight, and let infuse at room temperature for 12 hours. This is where the magic happens. You could go a little shorter (e.g. 10 hours) if you need it sooner, but I’d be cautious about exceeding 12 hours as I’ve found a lot of coffee gets bitter pretty quickly past that point. Start with 12 hours and experiment from there if you want a more concentrated brew. Some people like to put the jars in the refrigerator for added chilling. This works, but the infusing process will be a little slower.

After 12 hours, open each jar. Filter through a clean dish towel or cheesecloth. I know some folks use a very fine sieve or paper coffee filters for this step. Others like to double filter.

Check for concentration and dilute (to your own personal taste) with cold, filtered water, diluting less if you’re going to add milk or cream or if you’re going to use ice.

Put a few ice cubes in the bottom of two glasses, pour coffee over them. Add milk or cream if that’s your thing.

Store any extra filtered coffee in a clean mason jar in the refrigerator, and use within a few days for freshness.

Thanks for stopping by, everybody. Do you have a recipe you’d like to see the team or I cover? Share your ideas below. Have a great week.

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