How to Make Cold Brew Coffee (Iced Coffee) Recipe - The Cookie Rookie® (2024)

FAQs

How do you make cold brew coffee for beginners? ›

A ratio of 1:8 of coffee to water will produce a nice coffee ready to drink after around 24 hours at a coarse grind. Another option is to create a much stronger cold brew (named cold brew concentrate), by using a ratio anywhere from 1 part coffee to 4 parts water, up to around 1 part coffee to 2 parts water.

Made with a blend of 100% percent arabica Latin American and African ground coffees, the pitcher packs use the same Cold Brew Blend that is served in Starbucks cafes and are available for a limited time in U.S. Starbucks stores and select stores in Canada.

While it's best to grind your coffee beans just before brewing for maximum freshness, you can use pre-ground coffee if that's what you have on hand. Just make sure it's a coarse grind.

Now let me show you the actual Golden Ratios: 1:15 to 1:18 (coffee to water). In here is where most people find the coffee to be at that sweet spot, though there are a few exceptions, like with espresso, for example.

Basic Cold Brew Coffee Ratio

You're making cold brew concentrate, and you can dilute the concentrate to taste once it's finished. Per 1 cup of water, you'll need 1 ounce (by weight) coarsely ground coffee. That's about 1/4 cup whole coffee beans, which yields roughly 1/2 cup ground coffee.

Iced coffee is typically made by brewing hot brewed coffee and then pouring it over ice, while cold brew is made by steeping coffee grounds in cold water for a long period of time, usually 12-24 hours. Cold brew has lower acidity and bitterness than iced coffee and a smooth coffee flavor with subtle nutty undertones.

To prepare the cold brew coffee drink, place prepared cold brew in a glass with ice and add almond milk creamer to taste. For best results, freeze some of the cold brew into ice cubes in advance.

If you prefer sugar in your coffee, opt for simple syrup. It'll mix into your coffee much easier than a spoonful of sugar. You can try these other creative mix-ins or alternative milk options too. You can store the cold brew, refrigerated, for up to two weeks.

How do you make cold brew taste better? ›

While there are many options, dark roast or medium roast is usually best for cold brew coffee. A dark roast type will offer you dark, earthy, and chocolatey flavours. Cold brews made from light or medium roast may have a different flavour but will still be smooth, and is still something we recommend.

Cold brew is naturally full-bodied, smooth and aromatic, and frequently served black over ice (although a splash of cream and your favorite syrups are delicious, too!). Iced coffee is lighter, with a medium body but tends to be a little brighter depending on what beans you use.

Traditionally, to make cold brew, ground coffee is added to water, and then steeped at room temperature or below from anywhere between eight and 24 hours.

Cold-brewed coffee is actually dirt simple to make at home using a Mason jar and a sieve. You just add water to coffee, stir, cover it and leave it out on the counter overnight.

Using cold water as opposed to hot makes the extraction process much slower and actually more selective. The flavor of the coffee is extracted, but bitter compounds are left behind. This can also explain why Cold Brew contains less acid than when you use hot water.

Cold brew is not the same thing as iced coffee, which is hot-brewed and then chilled. Instead, it's made by steeping coarse-ground coffee beans in room-temperature water for 10 to 20 hours. Making cold brew coffee at home is easy, economical and healthy. Plus, it allows you to customize the beans used and the strength.

The Cold Brew Coffee Maker already has a filter component that you place the grounds into. Don't worry if you don't have a filter — we'll cover that in a bit — just pour your coffee grounds directly into the bottom of your preferred brewing pot.