If you are looking for a refreshing beverage to satisfy your caffeine craving, but hate the watered down, overly bitter taste of iced coffee, cold brew coffee is a good alternative to look into.

You might think that cold brew coffee is a fancy beverage that is only available at your favorite local coffee shop, and requires an expert knowledge of coffee to brew yourself. Fortunately for coffee lovers everywhere, cold brew coffee is extremely easy to make right at home and can be just as delicious as if you ordered it from a professional barista.

What is Cold Brew?

A huge misconception about cold brew is that it is simply regular coffee stored in a refrigerator to keep it chilled. However, this is not the case. The main difference between cold brew and regularly brewed coffee is that cold brew is never brewed hot. Cold brew is slowly brewed by steeping coffee grounds in room temperature or cold water over the course of 12 to 15 hours. If you typically use a regular drip coffee maker in the morning, you can expect to have a full pot of coffee in less than 10 minutes. The long brewing process of cold brew coffee is essential because it allows more flavor to be extracted from the beans, and leaves you with a refreshing, less acidic and bitter tasting drink.

One of the upsides to making this drink is that you can make large amounts all at once and store it for later use. Making cold brew at home also gives you full control over how strong you want your batch of coffee to turn out. Cold brew also eliminates the issue of the ice cubes from melting too fast and watering down the coffee, making it a great option for the summer months.

Although 15 hours might sound like a long time to wait for a cup of coffee, the steps to making this delicious drink are very simple and don’t require a huge amount of supplies.

What You’ll Need

1 cup of whole coffee beans

4 cups of filtered water

1 glass container

1 large container

1 cheesecloth

1 fine mesh strainer or sieve

Grind

For this recipe you will need to grind one cup of whole coffee beans. For the freshest tasting brew, experts recommend grinding your own coffee beans just before you begin to soak them. Whole coffee beans retain their flavor better than coffee grounds bought from the store because they are not exposed to as much carbon dioxide. Grinding the beans just before you brew your coffee allows for a full bodied flavor.

As you grind your coffee beans, be sure to make the coffee grounds extremely coarse. This is the most important part of the recipe, as a finer grain can cause the brew to come out cloudy. Finer coffee will also be much harder to strain from the brew later on in the recipe. As a rule of thumb, the coffee grounds should be about the same size as raw sugar.

Soak

Put your coarse coffee grounds into a glass sealable container. A large mason jar would work great for this, but anything with a tight seal will be fine.

Next, you will pour four cups of water into the coffee grounds. Try to use filtered water as opposed to tap water. This will give your coffee a cleaner taste in the end because hard tap water contains a high mineral count.

Stir the mixture until well blended.

The ratio of coffee to water can be tweaked depending on your personal preference for flavor and strength of your coffee. More coffee will create a stronger brew so be wary about adding too much if you do not want your brew to be too caffeinated.

Set a timer for somewhere between 12 to 15 hours and let the coffee mixture steep at room temperature. Try not to become impatient and rush the process. The coffee needs plenty of time to fully brew. If you don’t wait long enough, the mixture will be too watered down.

Strain

Once the coffee has steeped for at least 12 hours, place a thin mesh strainer over whatever container you wish to store your cold brew in. Make sure this container is large enough to store the amount of coffee you brewed.

Cover the strainer with a cheesecloth and slowly begin to pour your coffee concentrate through the strainer. Do not rush this part of the recipe. You can work in batches to make sure the mixture does not fill up the strainer too quickly and overflow.

You can also use coffee filters to strain the concentrate, depending on how much coffee you brewed and what shaped container you are storing it in. Just make sure the filter is large enough to catch all of the loose coffee grounds.

If you wish to avoid the straining step when making cold brew, there are cold brew filter bags that you can find online. They allow you to place the coffee grounds in a small filtered bag and place them directly into the water. This will cause the coffee to steep like tea and avoid straining step later on.

Enjoy

Your cold brew is now ready to be served! It should be noted that cold brew coffee is extremely potent and should be enjoyed with caution. The long steeping process allows for plenty of caffeine to enter the brew. If you don’t want to feel too jittery from all the caffeine, you can dilute your coffee with a generous amount of milk (or any dairy free alternative such as almond or oat milk). If you prefer your coffee black it might be a good idea to dilute with ice cubes or even a little bit of water.

You can store the cold brew in the refrigerator for up to two weeks and enjoy delicious cold brew coffee any time.