Making your own cold brew coffee at home is incredibly simple and requires just coarsely ground coffee, filtered water, and minimal equipment! It steeps overnight for 14-18 hours before being strained. You can even go a step further if you like and make my favorite cold brew “latte” with your favorite milk.
I’ve never been one of those “I must have coffee in the morning” kind of people. I don’t rely on it to wake up or feel energized. That sentiment along with not liking or drinking wine seems to put me on an island away from most of the populous. And, it has led to many comments and looks of disbelief when people find out.
So then why am I dedicating a post entirely to coffee? I look to it as a sort of ritual that provides a source of delight. And the same goes for tea (I don’t discriminate between the two!). I drink a small amount of coffee most days of the week, usually in the form of a cold brew or french press “latte”, because it brings me delight. It’s a complete sensory experience from touch to smell to taste. My favorite part other than imbibing it is seeing the cashew milk swirl into the brown coffee, creating a tie-dye pattern of delicious earthy hues.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of delight ever since listening to this episode of This American Life while on a long walk a couple of months ago. A succinct definition of delight is anything that brings you great pleasure. It’s as simple as that. It can be something ordinary or extraordinary. Something mundane or magical. It could be a fleeting moment or one that endures several minutes or hours. I encourage you to pay attention over the coming days and notice what brings you delight. For me my main delights at the moment are my cold brew latte concoction (recipe below), the intoxicating smell of orange blossoms and honeysuckle along the trail, and the weight of my favorite blanket resting over my feet. What about you?
If coffee, or more specifically cold brew, brings you delight, then you are in luck today my friend. I’m sharing the incredibly easy method for making your own at home. It’s not a fast process as it does take 14-18 hours to steep, but, you can make a week’s worth at a time if you like. The trick with cold brew is to make sure you use coffee beans you like the flavor of. So grab your favorite beans and let’s get brewing!
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Homemade Cold Brew + My Favorite Cold Brew “Latte”
- Total Time: 5 mintues
- Yield: 9–10 ounces 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Making your own cold brew coffee at home is incredibly simple and requires just coarsely ground coffee, filtered water, and minimal equipment! It steeps overnight for 14-18 hours before being strained.
Ingredients
for the cold brew:
- 1 ounce coarsely ground coffee beans, by weight (same grind as if you were making French press coffee)
- 7 ounces filtered water, by volume
for the cold brew “latte”:
- 4 ounces cold brew
- 4 ounces milk, your choice
- 2–3 teaspoons liquid sweetener, such as maple syrup or honey rose cardamom syrup
Instructions
Add the ground coffee and water to a jar or a French press. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine everything and moisten the grounds. Cover the jar (or French press) with a lid and leave it on your counter at room temperature to brew for 14-18 hours. I typically brew mine for about 16 hours.
Once you’ve reached the end of your steep time, it’s time to strain out the grounds. If you’re using a jar, line a fine mesh sieve or strainer with a coffee filter or a couple of paper towels. Set the strainer over a bowl and gently pour the contents of the jar into the strainer. Allow the cold brew to slowly drip down through the lined strainer into your bowl. Alternately, if you’re using a French press, simply press down the plunger to strain out the grounds.
At this point you have cold brew CONCENTRATE so it must be diluted with water (or milk) at a 1 to 1 ratio before you drink it. You can either do this as you use it, or, go ahead and add the water now which I tend to favor as it’s the easiest.
Store your cold brew in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. The amounts listed above will yield roughly 9-10 ounces of cold brew.
To make a cold brew “latte”, combine the cold brew, milk, and sweetener. Add ice and either stir or shake to combine. Enjoy!
Notes
After testing a couple of different methods, the ratio I use is 1 oz by weight of coarsely ground beans to 7 oz (7/8 cup) of room temperature water. Feel free to make a larger batch if you like. Just note that you need 14-18 hours of brewing time!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: drink
