How to Make Perfect Cold Brew Coffee at Home ~ lykksalighet

Cold brew coffee - the stuff summer is made of!

Like everyone on the planet I've had a major thing for cold brew coffee the last few summers. Iced coffee is one of the best parts of summer (total coffee-addict over here), and cold brew, as both me and the Internet will tell you, is the best way to make a rich and flavourful iced coffee. My husband, talented all-around maker of coffee, has mastered the art of cold brew at home. He usually makes a big batch on the weekends to last us through the week. And though I am not a morning person, mornings aren't so bad with an icy cold glass of cold brew in hand!

The beauty of cold brew is that it is easy to make at home, and all it really requires is time.
You can use either espresso or, our preferred coffee, Cafe Du Monde with chicory. (If anyone can tell me where to buy this in MTL it would be much appreciated. We currently "import" ours from the asian grocers in Regina. We filled our suitcase our last trip home to Saskatchewan, but our supply is running out, Aghhhh!!!)

Here's how to make a great batch of cold brew at home, courtesy of my all-star coffee- making husband:

The great thing about good cold brew is the coffee is less bitter than regular hot brewing methods. Espresso and darker roasts are naturally good fits for cold brew, so are beans with chocolatey notes. I'm not a big fan of fruity or floral beans as cold brew, but really flavour comes down to personal preference. Just know that cold brewing doesn't bring out the full flavour profile of the bean, so you don't need to spend the big bucks on beans.

Depending on your coffee (bean, roast, grind) you will have to experiment with the ratio, but the method works the same no matter the ratio.

In terms of grind there's a sweet spot somewhere between espresso and regular drip coffee that works really well. I've experimented with rough grinds all the way up to, and past, french press texture with waterier results the further you get away from the sweet spot. Really fine espresso grinds are tough to filter and can have a slightly muddy flavour. Not bad, but not great.

Ratio: 1 part coffee to 4 parts cold water is a good place to start. For really dark Italian espresso you can go as high as 1 to 6.

Method

First measure out your ground coffee. 1 cup of ground coffee at 1:4 gets you a little less than a litre of cold brew. It keeps well for 5-7 days.
Pour your ground coffee into a bowl or large mason jar. You'll need to pour cold brew out of this container later, so choose something that won't make a mess when you pour it.
Next pour your measured cold water over the grounds.
Then give it a little stir to get all the grounds wet all over.
Cover with plastic wrap (or a lid, or a towel) and let stand for about 18 hours at room temperature. How long you let it stand for moves around with your other variables, but I like 18-24. 12 hours gives you a weaker, less flavourful brew.
After 18 hours its straining and filtering time. For this you will need a second bowl, a fine mesh strainer and some decent quality coffee filters that fit well enough in your strainers (you don't need any fancy brewing devices or super special filters - cold brew is rustic like that). The finer your grind the more filters or patience you will need.
This step is only for really fine grinds - skip it if you are using anything above espresso grind. Pour the brewed coffee slowly through your strainer without a filter into the second bowl. Do this once or twice, dumping out the strained grounds each time. This just saves you a bit of hassle and time later when you do the filtering.
Filtering: Put a filter in the strainer and pour the coffee slowly through the filter into the second bowl. Repeat as necessary, changing filters two or three or four times if your grind is fine and slowing the process down. Or, if you have the patience of a saint, just pour it all through the same filter.
Store it covered/sealed in the fridge for a week or so.