Brewing Guide: Cold Brew Coffee
How To Make Cold Brew Coffee - Slow Infused / Hot Over Ice
Whether you're a speciality coffee purist, a person who loves trying something new, or someone anywhere in between, there is no denial that cold brew coffee has made waves in the speciality coffee scene. Perhaps more popular Down Under or over in Europe or USA than in UK or Scandinavia - you know, where it's warmer - but if the sun has come out and you fancy making a cold brew coffee at home, here we outline our two favourite methods - slow infused and hot coffee over ice.
Making cold brew coffee via both methods is essentially a very simple process. Before we detail their methods, we'll also propose the idea that cold brew coffee is a great way to use up lefover coffee thats just taking up space in your cupboards of if you're perhaps worried your coffee stocks are soon going out of date. Equally, we'd definitely recommend using fruitier coffees than those chocolatey because using coffees with a higher acidity (brightness) means that the cold brew coffee will retain some of the coffee's inherent characteristics after contact with the cold water. As you probably know, fruity ciders are particularly popular in warmer months, and the same applies here with fruity flavours really packing their punch when it comes to lazing around in the sun. As such, we'd therefore recommend using light roasted coffee roasted for filter to achieve the best results, for which you'll be able to taste the coffee's subtle flavours; that said, cold brew coffee can also be a nifty way to try espresso roasted coffees as filter because the cold water will bring out their more subtle flavours too. Now, to help you with your next Summertime cold coffee experience, we've three simple steps for each.
Use Coarse Ground Coffee
Cold brew coffee is great for making as a batch and depending on the volume of the cold brew you'd like to make, you can totally keep this in your fridge for a while after preparation. For the slow infused method, feel free to not be bound by the maximum volume of a cafetiere or V60, and pick your biggest bowl of some kind. For the grind of coffee to be used, you may use wholebeans and your own grinder (recommended) or pre-ground for filter coffee. If wholebeans, to achieve a coarse grind, you should use a high setting on your grinder's dashboard, with the resulting coffee grinds visibly coarse
1 Hot Over Ice: What You Need
To make your cold brew coffee via the hot over ice method, you will need: 1x V60 (or any other conical brewer i.e Kalita Wave), 1x V60 (or Kalita Wave) filter paper, 1x digital scales, 100g of ice cubes, boiling water (using filtered water is also recommended) and coarse ground coffee
2 Load Coffee & Pour Water Into V60
Load 20g of coarsely ground coffee into the V60 and ensure that the top surface of the coffee is made flat once inside. Next, tare the scales so that it states zero. Next, pour 220ml of hot water into the V60 - if you're new to the V60, please do visit our V60 brewing guide recommendations
3 Allow Water To Drain, Add Ice & Enjoy
After brewing and allowing the V60 to drain it's water through so that all of the water enters the cup, next add 100g of ice cubes to the newly brewed coffee. If required and this being something you'd like, chill your coffee in the fridge or freezer for around 10 minutes. Lastly, enjoy...
1 Slow Infused: What You Need
To make your cold brew coffee via the slow infused method, we explain how to make this kind using the cafetiere but any large container can also be used. You will need: 1x cafetiere (or bowl), cup(s), 1x digital scales, boiling water (using filtered water is also recommended) and coarse ground coffee
2 Pour Water Into Your Cafetiere, Infuse & Wait
Load 125g of ground coffee for every 1 litre of water. If you're using a bowl with a larger volume than cafetiere, 250g for 2 litres is a perfect ratio. First leave your cafetiere's plunger to one side and pour water into your cafetiere until it is around 95% full, then leaving your now full cafetiere for 12 hours whether in a fridge or on the side. Once such time is over, now use your plunger to achieve your cold brew coffee concentrate - if you're new to the cafetiere, please do visit our Cafetiere brewing guide recommendations
3 Add Concentrate To Water or Milk & Enjoy
Upon being plunged, add this now coffee concentrate to more cold water or milk, and enjoy. If you'd like to re-use the coffee in the next 24 hours, feel free to keep the plunger at the bottom, with the plunger useful to prevent coffee grinds from entering your future pours; or, if to be enjoyed after 24 hours, plunge the cafetiere entirely and freeze your coffee concentrate for future usageGUSTATORY (adjective): curating excellence in taste.