There’s nothing more refreshing on a sweltering hot summer day than a refreshing iced cold brew coffee. It’s the ultimate pick me up when the sun’s bogged you down. The only issue is, many people seem to be afraid of making their own cold brew. So they turn to store bought. Now, don’t get us wrong — there are plenty of delicious varieties of cold brew coffees that you can buy.
However, as good as bottled cold brew is, we promise that making your own will not only taste better, you’ll feel super accomplished when you show up somewhere with a homemade cold brew in hand. Your friends will be so impressed when they learn that you hand-crafted this beauty on your own. We also have a secret for you: not only will you save a ton of money by brewing your own, it’s actually not very difficult to do at all!
The only major piece of equipment you’ll need is a French Press, and any coffee lover should have one of these handy anyway. Next, you’ll want to buy a bag of your favorite coffee beans. It’s up to you which kind to get, whether you want to opt for a flavored variety or if you’re more of a coffee purist, either way is totally fine.
You’ll begin your cold brew journey by grinding the coffee beans to a coarse grind (aka the French Press grind). While a finer grind will work fine, you will definitely find some grit seeping through into your cold brew, and that isn’t so pleasant, so a coarse grind is ideal.
Place the coffee to water ratio at 1:2 (for example, 1.5 cups of coarse ground coffee and 3 cups of water) into the French press, depending on the size of your press, and stir thoroughly.
Next, place the mixture into the fridge overnight, preferably between 12-14 hours. The longer and colder the cold brew, the better — trust us on this one. Once the time has elapsed, take it out and press the plunger down very slowly and then pour the coffee concentrate into a container of your choosing.
To make the cold brew itself, we recommend a 1:1:1 ratio of concentrate, water, and milk, however you may change around the ratio to your liking. Some people prefer their cold brew without milk, and that is perfectly fine as well.
See? Making your very own cold brew really is no big fuss. It simply requires some planning ahead of time, and you’ll save yourself a whole bunch of money.