Stop Buying Cold Brew! How to Make it Perfectly at Home (It’s So Easy!)

Love that super smooth, rich, never-bitter coffee you get from the fancy coffee shop’s cold brew tap? Wish you could have it every day without draining your wallet?

Well, guess what? You totally can! Making incredibly delicious cold brew coffee right in your own kitchen is ridiculously easy. Seriously. No fancy machines, no special skills needed. If you can stir water and coffee together, you can make amazing cold brew.

So, what is cold brew anyway? It’s simply coffee brewed using cold or room temperature water over a long time (like 12-24 hours), instead of using hot water for just a few minutes like regular coffee. This slow, cool process works magic on the flavour.

Why Bother with Cold Brew?

Why are people so obsessed with this stuff? Here’s the simple scoop:

1. Incredibly Smooth Taste: This is the big one! Cold water doesn’t pull out as many of the bitter, acidic compounds from coffee beans as hot water does. The result? Coffee that’s naturally sweeter tasting, super smooth, and low in bitterness.
2. Easier on Your Tummy: Because it’s less acidic than hot-brewed coffee, many people find cold brew is much gentler on their stomach.
3. Super Convenient: Brew up a big batch over the weekend, keep it in the fridge, and you’ve got instant grab-and-go iced coffee ready for the whole week. No waiting for hot coffee to cool down!
4. Make it Your Way: It tastes great black over ice, fantastic with milk or cream, and is a perfect base for fun coffee drinks.

What You’ll Need (Spoiler: Not Much!)

You probably already have everything you need:

1. Coffee Grounds: Use your favourite coffee beans! The most important thing? Grind them COARSE. Remember our chat about grind size? For cold brew, you want chunks like rough sea salt or kosher salt. Using grounds that are too fine will make your cold brew taste muddy or bitter. (Using a burr grinder makes getting coarse grounds easy!)
2. Water: Cold or room temperature water. Filtered water usually tastes best, but regular tap water works fine too.
3. A Big Container: Anything that holds liquid and has a lid! A large mason jar, a pitcher, even a big Tupperware container or a stockpot will do.
4. Something to Filter With: You need to separate the grounds from the liquid later. Easy options include:
   • A fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth (get cheesecloth at most grocery stores).
   • A regular coffee filter set inside a funnel or sieve (this can be slow!).
   • A nut milk bag (if you have one).
   • A dedicated Cold Brew maker (but you don’t need one to start!).

The Super Easy Steps to Perfect Cold Brew

Ready? Here’s the ridiculously simple process:

Step 1: Combine Coffee & Water.

• Grab your container. Put your coarse coffee grounds inside.
• A good starting ratio is 1 part coffee grounds to 8 parts water (by weight is most accurate, but volume is okay to start). For example, use about 1 cup of coarse grounds for 8 cups of cold water.
• Pour the cold water over the grounds.
• Give it a gentle stir just to make sure all the grounds are wet. Don’t go crazy stirring!

Step 2: Wait Patiently! (The Magic Happens)

• Put the lid on your container (or cover it with plastic wrap).
• Let it sit and brew! You can leave it on your counter or put it in the fridge (fridge brewing might take slightly longer).
• How long? Anywhere from 12 to 24 hours. Less time = milder coffee, more time = stronger coffee. A great starting point is around 18 hours. Experiment later to find your sweet spot!

Step 3: Filter it Out

• Now, slowly separate the coffee liquid from the grounds. Place your filter setup over another clean container or pitcher.
• Gently and slowly pour the coffee mixture through the filter. Let gravity do the work!
• Important Tip: Don’t squeeze or press the grounds in the filter! That can push out bitter flavours. Just let it drip.
• If it looks a little cloudy, you can filter it a second time through a fresh filter for extra clarity, but it’s often not necessary.

Storing and Enjoying Your Brew

You did it! Pour your beautiful, filtered cold brew into a clean jar or bottle with a lid. Store it in the fridge.

It should stay delicious for about 1 to 2 weeks. The flavour might change a little over time, but it’s generally good for a while!

To serve, just pour it over ice. Add a splash of milk, cream, oat milk, or your favourite sweetener if you like. Because it’s already cool, it won’t get watered down by ice as quickly as hot coffee does. Enjoy that smooth taste!

Time to Make Some Amazing Cold Brew!

See? Making amazing cold brew at home is totally doable and incredibly simple: just combine coarse grounds and cold water, wait a while, and filter it out. You’ll save money and impress yourself with the delicious results.

Give this basic recipe a try! And stay tuned – in our next posts, we’ll talk about making stronger cold brew concentrate, common troubleshooting tips, and fun flavour variations.

Have you tried making cold brew before? What do you love most about it? Got any questions? Let us know in the comments!