Cold Brew Coffee

[SleepyKitty]

Does anyone have a good cold brew recipe? I tried one off the internet, but it came out pretty weak-tasting. I let it sit for 24 hours. Still delicious mixed with ice, chocolate syrup, and some milk, but it's missing that nice iced coffee flavour.

[Zilla]

Are you aiming for iced coffee?  Every iced coffee recipe I ever done always started with a standard hot coffee brew.  You need heat to open up the coffee grounds.


If you don't want to get a coffee maker, try a french press. They are very inexpensive and make gorgeous tasting coffee. IMHO.

[singingserpent]

I use the Toddy Cold Brewer. http://www.toddycafe.com/ I know there are all kinds of ways to do it with mason jars/cheesecloth etc. but the brewer makes it soo easy and non-messy.  I would recommend you get one of those if you end up liking cold brewing.

But, I have found the stronger, darker coffee roasts work best when making coffee concentrate. Sometimes I can get 2 carafes out of the same grounds, "brewing" each batch for 24 hours.  I use ours to make both hot & iced coffee.

ETA: I just follow the directions on the Toddy, but the darker roasts taste so much better.

[SiotehCat]

I didn't realize there were ways to brew it cold. I always just brew a pot of bold flavored coffee. I transfer it into a pitcher and put it in the fridge. In the morning, I have my iced coffee.

[SleepyKitty]

I used to make iced coffee by brewing hot, and then just letting it chill, but it never tasted like the iced coffee that I would buy. The cold brew has the right taste, but it's not strong enough. I'll try a darker roast - would letting it sit for longer than 24 hours help?

And I love my french press!  I drink my hot coffee very hot and strong, black, but iced coffee is more of a "treat" so I'm aiming for a less bitter and acidic brew.

[Zilla]

I used to make iced coffee by brewing hot, and then just letting it chill, but it never tasted like the iced coffee that I would buy. The cold brew has the right taste, but it's not strong enough. I'll try a darker roast - would letting it sit for longer than 24 hours help?

And I love my french press!  I drink my hot coffee very hot and strong, black, but iced coffee is more of a "treat" so I'm aiming for a less bitter and acidic brew.

I would try a darker roast too then.  Also try the shade grown coffees, it says it on the package.  Those are naturally darker but less acidic.  If I remember correctly they recommend overnight at the most, but most brews can achieve its full flavor after 3-4 hours if you have a good coffee.

[Deetee]

I'd go with an extra, extra fine ground. I think espresso is a fine ground

[Fleur-de-Lis]

I'd go with an extra, extra fine ground. I think espresso is a fine ground

My understanding is that the difference you want is in the *roast*, not the *grind*. The "rule of thumb" I have heard is that the longer the water is in contact with the grinds, the *coarser* the grinds.

An espresso or Turkish grind is intended for a situation where water is forced through the grounds quickly (an espresso machine, etc.). For a toddy cold brew you want *coarse* grinds.

[nrb80]

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/do-it-yourself/2011/08/how-to-make-cold-brew-coffee/

Its a bit of work, as you press and filter.

Without knowing more about your recipe, my first suggestions are more grounds and more brew time.

[Deetee]

I'd go with an extra, extra fine ground. I think espresso is a fine ground

My understanding is that the difference you want is in the *roast*, not the *grind*. The "rule of thumb" I have heard is that the longer the water is in contact with the grinds, the *coarser* the grinds.

An espresso or Turkish grind is intended for a situation where water is forced through the grounds quickly (an espresso machine, etc.). For a toddy cold brew you want *coarse* grinds.

If you were extracting with hot water, I agree.
But the problem the OP had with the cold water is that not enough of the coffee flavour is being extracted. Therefore a finer ground will allow more flavour to be removed.

The extraction will be more efficient with a higher temperature, higher pressure, finer grounds and longer time.
Espresso has temp, pressure and fine grounds. Drip coffee has temp and time.

Of course a perfectly efficient extraction is not what you actually want, as you don't want all the bitterness etc.. So you want a balance of the temp, pressure, fineness and time to extract the right flavours.

Now I'm sure this is all googleable for coffee, but going off general chemistry principles, if it's too weak, finer grounds will help.

[SleepyKitty]

I might try this with espresso, that's a great idea! Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

[Mikayla]

If you're not overly picky about top of the line quality, I'd always done this with finely ground coffee and I put in about 1/3 more grounds than I generally use.  Then as soon as it's done, I put it in a pitcher full of ice and stick it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.  Then I pour it into a glass with ice.  It kind of resembles the iced coffee in Thai restaurants, if that's the vibe you seek.

[RobinJ]

I use the Toddy Cold Brewer. http://www.toddycafe.com/ I know there are all kinds of ways to do it with mason jars/cheesecloth etc. but the brewer makes it soo easy and non-messy.  I would recommend you get one of those if you end up liking cold brewing.

But, I have found the stronger, darker coffee roasts work best when making coffee concentrate. Sometimes I can get 2 carafes out of the same grounds, "brewing" each batch for 24 hours.  I use ours to make both hot & iced coffee.

ETA: I just follow the directions on the Toddy, but the darker roasts taste so much better.

THIS!  I love my Toddy system!