Start saving some serious cash by learning how to make your own Homemade Cold Brew at home. All you need are 2 ingredients and 5 minutes of active time to make this recipe for cold brew coffee!
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About This Recipe
As much as I love coffee, I still can’t get over how expensive even the simplest orders are at regular coffee shops. A grande cold brew at Starbucks will run you just over $3, and that’s before tax and tip. Depending on the cost of your beans, you can make cold brew coffee at home for just about $1 a serving — that’s some serious savings if you ask me!
Aside from being much more budget-friendly than ordering out, my homemade cold brew recipe is:
- Quick & Easy. Stir, refrigerate, strain. It’s as simple as 1-2-3!
- Made With Only 2 Ingredients. You only need coffee beans and water to make this fan-favorite drink you can buy at your local coffee shop.
- Made Without Any Fancy Equipment. Sure, you can get yourself a dedicated iced coffee-making device if you want, but you don’t need one.
Once you've made your cold brew you can use it in a number of coffee drink recipes! From Vanilla sweet cream cold brew, to Pumpkin Sweet Cream Cold Foam with cold brew and Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam there are a number of variations!
Ingredients & Substitutions
As promised, you only need 2 easy-to-find ingredients to make your own deliciously smooth cold brew coffee at home. Here’s what to grab:
- Coarsely Ground Coffee Beans - If you have the option of choosing your grind size on your own coffee grinder, opt for what you would use in a French press. Pro Tip: This cold-brew method will also work with loose-leaf or bagged tea! Use a darker roast or a lighter roast depending on your personal preference!
- Filtered Cold Water - It might seem fussy, but trust me — you want to taste the coffee, not your city’s tap.
Equipment
While there are all kinds of fancy gadgets for making cold brew iced coffee on the market these days, you don’t need any of them to make a great cuppa. Granted, if you opt to make cold brew on the regular, investing in a coffee sock or Toddy system might make sense for you. A large French press can also act as both your container and sieve/cheesecloth filter.
That said, here’s everything I use to make my frosty, low-acid coffee at home:
- Large Container (Preferably Lidded) - You’ll need something large enough to hold at least 6 cups (4 cups of water + 1 cup of coffee grounds + headspace to prevent overflow) of cold brewed coffee. You can use a saucepan (the handle will come in handy when straining your black gold), an extra large mason jar, or a pitcher for the extraction process. You’ll also need another container to strain it into.
- Long Kitchen Spoon - Like what you’d use to make a batch of cookies or a pot of soup.
- Sieve - For best results, a mesh sieve works wonders to catch all the errant coffee grounds instead of having them in your final product.
- Cheesecloth - I love cheesecloth. It’s great for making cheese and tofu, perfect for wrapping up a bouquet garni, and excellent for straining anything and everything you can think of. If you get high-quality cheesecloth you can reuse it multiple times before composting. If you don’t have any on hand, line your sieve with a coffee paper filter or a clean flour-sack towel to catch the ground beans.
How To Make Homemade Cold Brew
Making this cold brew coffee recipe is a snap. Here’s how it’s done:
Step 1: First things first, stir together water and coffee grounds.
Step 2: Chill the cold brew in the fridge for 24 hours. A little extra time won't hurt, but it's not necessary.
Step 3: Strain the cold brew through a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and discard the grounds.
Step 4: Store the cold brew in an airtight container until you’re ready to use!
Optional Variations
While I’m a fan of regular ol’ cold brew, there are a few different ways you can customize your morning joe. Here are a few variations to consider:
- Make a homemade cold brew coffee concentrate by doubling the amount of grounds you use, creating a stronger brew. This will allow you to make double the amount of coffee using up the same small amount of space in the fridge. To serve, simply dilute the homemade coffee concentrate with water until the desired strength is achieved.
- Infuse your cold brew with spices to create your own seasonal brews. Consider whole spices like cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom pods, and star anise. Feel free to get creative and try items like pink peppercorns or dried citrus peels, too! I suggest reading the backs of your favorite infused coffee blends to start compiling ideas.
Expert Tips
- Use the right grind. The beans should be coarsely ground, like what you would use in a French press coffee. If you don’t have a Burr grinder at home, take advantage of the grinder they provide at the grocery store.
- Use filtered water. To taste the most nuance from your beans, make sure you’re using clean, filtered water.
Frequently Asked Questions
I suggest a minimum brew time of 12 hours for your coffee steep, but preferably 24 hours for the best flavor.
That’s an entirely subjective question. Do you like blonde roasts or dark? Do you like single origin or blends? The fun of making cold brew at home is you can experiment with all kinds of different beans until you home in on your favorite!
Nope! Once the cold brewing process is done, you’re welcome to heat it up to a piping hot cup of coffee and it’ll still taste delicious, all without the extra acidity of regularly brewed coffee!
Since cold brew is brewed with unheated water, it has a much lower acid content than regularly brewed coffee. As a result, you can taste more of the nuanced flavors of each particular roast that you use. And, as if that weren’t enough to love, it’s much less likely to give you heartburn.
Generally speaking, yes. While your regular brew may be super high octane depending on the ratio of beans to water, most cold brew recipes call for a much higher ratio of beans. This results in a boldly flavored and super caffeinated brew. Granted, you can absolutely swap in decaf beans or go for half-caff if you’re concerned about blowing your lid off.
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Homemade Cold Brew
Equipment
- Large Container (Preferably Lidded)
- Long Kitchen Spoon
Ingredients
- 1 cup Coffee, coarsely ground
- 4 cups Filtered water
Instructions
- Stir together water and coffee grounds.1 cup Coffee, 4 cups Filtered water
- Chill the cold brew in the fridge for 24 hours.
- Strain the cold brew through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and discard the grounds.
- Store the cold brew in an airtight container until you’re ready to use! When you're ready to enjoy, feel free to dilute the cold brew a bit if you feel it's too strong to your liking with an additional touch of filtered water.
Notes
Optional Variations
While I’m a fan of regular ol’ cold brew, there are a few different ways you can customize your morning joe. Here are a few variations to consider:- Make a homemade cold brew concentrate by doubling the amount of grounds you use. This will allow you to make double the amount of coffee using up the same small amount of space in the fridge. To serve, simply dilute the homemade coffee concentrate with water until the desired strength is achieved.
- Infuse your cold brew with spices to create your own seasonal brews. Consider whole spices like cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom pods, and star anise. Feel free to get creative and try items like pink peppercorns or dried citrus peels, too! I suggest reading the backs of your favorite infused coffee blends to start compiling ideas.
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