I love iced coffee. But some people have found a way to mess up the simplest of summer beverages. Take coffee, add Ice… Enjoy. Please serve it black, strong, Cold and without any syrups or other junk. Especially during the summer months I love cold brewing coffee to make iced coffee later. What is cold brewed? How does cold brewed coffee differ from iced coffee? How does it compare to regular coffee? Well I hope to be able to shed a little light on that for you.

Cold brewed coffee is a very simple concept. It is coffee that was never heated, but was rather leached out of the grounds and into cold water directly. The resulting beverage has the added benefit of turning bitter coffee into milder coffee, and contains just as much caffeine as a normal cup of coffee. In fact the cold brewed coffee always seems a bit stronger because the coffee and the grounds are in contact for a lot longer during the brewing process. Cold brewing any coffee also has the added  benefit  of reducing the overall acidity of the coffee as well.

The following process is the way I used to make cold brewed coffee, Currently I use the Ronoco Coffee Time brew system. It is quite simply the easiest way to do this. But in the usual spirit of this website I’ll show you a way to do this with things you already have around the house.

How to Make Cold Brewed Coffee:  Simple steps

1. Take any clean container with a tight fitting lid. I have used old spaghetti sauce jars, old juice bottles and milk jugs. All work to varying levels. The best containers have a very tight fitting lid and are sturdy.
2. Fill the container to about 1/3 of the way up to the top. And add in cold water.
3. After you fill to container close the lid, shake vigorously, then reopen and top off the container as some settling  occurs after you shake.
4. Close tightly and shake until you see a light brown foam, this is air from inside the grounds.
5. Store inside the fridge.
6. Shake again after 12 hours. You  should  see the ground floating up at the top of  container.
7. Wait at least 2 days, shaking at least once a day.
8. When you decide to open the container the grounds should have settled to the bottom, even after having sat for a while. this means that they are  completely  saturated .
9. Have a second container available, same  approximate  volume, place a funnel and a filter inside. Pour the mix in very slowly as it will drain and filter very slow.
10. After the brew has been drained, cap and store back in the fridge.

There you go. It is a simple process, a lot of shaking and a little waiting

Well now you have the cold brewed coffee, how do you use it? I usually use it at half and half, half cold brewed concentrate and half water and ice. It usually creates a very strong a crisp cup. If you want to go full strength go right ahead, but it tends to pack a stronger punch then regular coffee, fair warning. The extended brewing, with no heat drops acid, drops the bitterness and ups the strength. What is not to love!

Enjoy