How to Make Cold Brew Coffee

In another coffee classroom post we discussed the glories of cold brew coffee, what it is, and why it is special. Now it is time to learn how to make cold brew coffee.

Cold brew coffee is an easy way to make coffee as long as you have the time and the patience. Since it needs to set for 16-24 hours, it does take some planning ahead if you are wanting some for a specific event. Since Cold Brew is brewed as a concentrate it makes the brewing process a bit more forgiving then many other ways of brewing coffee since you can adjust the strength to your liking by adding water or milk to the finished product.

There are many different ways to make cold brew coffee, with varying filters, setups, etc…for the process. However, it can easily be made using normal household supplies, so that you don’t have to purchase anything special for the process. Here is how we recommend making cold brew coffee at home.

What You Need

A Large Glass Jar
Cold Water
Coffee Beans
A stainless steel mesh filter (Here’s one from Amazon that is less than $15)

Note: You can also skip a filter and just add the grounds to the coffee. Then pour the coffee through a paper filter after its brewed to filter the coffee grounds out.

Coffee to Water Ratio for Cold Brew Coffee

1 Cup Coffee to 4 Cups of Water
80-90 Grams of Coffee to 900 Grams Water
3.5 oz of coffee to 32 ounces of water

Step 1 – Grind Coffee

Grind 1 cup of coffee with in a coarse (pretzel salt size) grind. A finer grind is more likely to make your end product murky, but if you want to filter afterwards, it can also make a more complex extraction.

Step 2 – Add Water

Place your grinds in your brewing container and add 4 cups (or just fill up the jar) of cold tap or filtered water to the container. Stir the grinds to ensure they are all wet.

Step 3 Let it Brew