In recent years, cold brew has become an extremely fashionable drink. Every selfrespecting coffee geek must at least once try this strongly refreshing brew. It can be served in a fancy-shaped designer bottle at a quality coffee shop or in your own glass jar at home. There is not much black magic involved, but there certainly is much black coffee! Or cascara or tea!
Cold brew coffee
Brewing cold brew coffee is a piece of cake. Even if ”brewing” here is used in a metaphorical sense, since everything is poured over with cold water. The idea behind cold brew is to bring out the flavour of ground coffee by steeping it in water for several hours. This will produce very interesting effects which we will discuss in a while.
For making cold brew coffee it is best to use the grounds for alternative brewing methods. Especially suitable are those originating from Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi or Columbia. Coffee from those regions usually has a delicate, refreshing, fruity flavour which perfectly embodies the idea of a cold, refreshing summer coffee drink.
What you need apart from that is a grinder, scales, clean, ice-cold, filtered water and container, such as a jar, glass bottle or jug. It has to be clean and odourless! You can also use some of our dedicated equipment like Hario Mizudashi.
There is no such things as the only right way of making cold brew. You need to experiment and check out what works for you. I am not a fan of cold brew maturing for too long, so I suggest using the following recipe:
70g of coffee ground rather coarsely. With the Comandante grinder, you need to make 40-45 clics. In addition, you can sieve it a bit. 1 litre of clean, cold, filtered water.
We pour ground coffee into the container and pour it over with water. We blend the two, then screw the lid on the container or wrap it in foil and put it in the fridge. For me, the best results are achieved after 9-10 hours, but most people and recipes recommend 12 hours or more. For me, however, after that time coffee is already too heavy and dirty in taste. Once the appriopriate amount of time has passed, you need to filter the coffee, with the V60 or Chemex for example, into another container. That will greatly improve its taste.
Precisely. The taste. What differs cold brew from coffee which is brewed and iced ? Coffee made this way is completely different. It is more smooth and round. Cold brew has no bitterness, and almost no acidity. Also, it is in the medium flavour range.
You definitely should give it a try, as it doesn’t require much work and the effects are superinteresting! Especially if you experiment with different beans, amounts or brewing time. In addition, you get a real coffee kick!
Cold brew cascara and tea
If you are looking for something more fruity and refreshing, use cascara, the dried husk of coffee cherries, instead of coffee. 50g of it will be enough for one litre of water. Follow the same steps as with coffee, but place the container in the fridge for a longer time – at least 12 hours.
You will get a drink similar to a compote, scented and pleasantly acid in taste, which you can enrich with orange or lemon slices, or honey.
You can make cold brew also from tea, the best would be quality tisane, fruit or green tea varieties. For a good start, you could use 20-30g of tea to a litre of cold water.
Time of steeping in water depends on the tea kind and can take from 12 hours (for green teas) up to even a day when we brew tisanes or use pure dried husk.
A few ice cubs added to each of those wonderful drinks won’t do any harm. And only think about the surprise you prepare for yourself and your friends!
Feel free to brag about your own ideas for making cold brew!
