Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post Reply
ttf_timothy42b
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:57 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_timothy42b »

Every morning I get up early to practice and stretch before work.  I've been programming the coffee pot to start at 0530.  I drink one cup while playing, but I make two more for my wife and daughter.

Up until now I've been using a standard cheap drip coffee maker.  I have a bean grinder, a French press, a Melitta pour over, but I put butter and coconut oil in mine to jump start the day, and my family uses a lot of flavored creamer.  It just didn't seem worth the effort to make gourmet coffee then smother it with other stuff.  The drip maker is adequate.

Then I tried cold brew.  There's some effort involved but I make it on the weekend and keep the concentrate in the refrigerator.  The taste is significantly better, either black or with whatever you add.  It's really worth trying, especially if you're into good coffee.  There's no bitterness. 
ttf_Matt K
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:53 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Matt K »

I love it. I don't have the equipment to do it yet but I'm going to try to acquire it soon. 
ttf_timothy42b
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:57 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_timothy42b »

You don't actually need any equipment.

You mix coffee grounds and water (1:4 by volume or 1:8 by weight), let sit at room temperature 12 - 24 hours, and filter.  I used a sports water bottle, or a juice container. 

That's the slow part.  I use the Melitta pourover filters since I already had a filter cone. 

I tried doing it in a French press so I could squeeze a bit more out of the grounds, but now I think that wasn't worth the effort. 

It keeps two weeks in the fridge, supposedly, but I finish it sooner.
ttf_greenbean
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:58 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_greenbean »

I have been cold brewing for a couple of years now.  I will do it for 2 months and lay off for a month or two.  It is more work that my usual pour-over, but the results are excellent.  I have used many brewing methods and cold-brew is the best tasting. 
ttf_Matt K
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:53 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Matt K »

Ah interesting, I just assumed it required some level of complication to make. I might give that a shot this weekend if it just needs to be filtered at the end .
ttf_Dombat
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:42 pm

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Dombat »

We have a Dripster at home - costs about 40 euros and you get more control than a home built set up. Before that we had success with half an aeropress and a sports bottle.
You can also make great iced coffee by making a standard drip directly over ice at a ratio of 1:1 ice to hot water. It is important to cool it instantly as coolong coffee over time creates a build up of bitter acids - we use a Hario V60 but Melitta also does the job.

We make cold brew about once every two weeks or when we go away for gigs where we know there is no good coffee - otherwise we have our set up of Hario V60, aeropress, siphon, french press and our espresso machine.

If you want to make your coffee (cold brew, drip, espresso, WHATEVER) really sing - invest in a good grinder. For only a small invesment you can get a good hand grinder (we have both Hario and Porlex at home) or if you are a little lazier, a good electric grinder (we love Baratza grinders - the encore is a great filter grinder. We have a Sette 270). If you put an old pre-ground coffee or an incosistantly ground coffee in you have no chance of getting anything good out - no matter how much you invest n the brewing equipment.
ttf_robcat2075
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:58 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_robcat2075 »

I tried making cold-brew once but didn't detect a difference.

That said, I'm not a coffee connoisseur. I can't tell good coffee from bad coffee without a specially-trained service dog to point it out to me.
ttf_Steven
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:24 pm

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Steven »

How do you heat the coffee when you are ready to drink it?  Reheating tends to negatively impact the flavor.
ttf_Matt K
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:53 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Matt K »

Quote from: Steven on May 24, 2017, 12:07PMHow do you heat the coffee when you are ready to drink it?  Reheating tends to negatively impact the flavor.

You drink it cold.
ttf_BGuttman
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:15 pm

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_BGuttman »

Cold brew is for those of us who like iced coffee and can't stand how watery it gets if you pour hot coffee over ice and find that hot coffee chilled in the 'fridge is too bitter.

We make it in gallon batches and leave it in the 'fridge until we are ready to drink it.  Mostly between April 15 and November 1 (that's about the hot weather season here).
ttf_B0B
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:00 pm

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_B0B »

ttf_BGuttman
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:15 pm

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_BGuttman »

I like hot tea, and I like iced tea.
I like hot coffee, and I like iced coffee.
I like hot cocoa, but I don't like iced cocoa.
ttf_timothy42b
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:57 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_timothy42b »

Quote from: Steven on May 24, 2017, 12:07PMHow do you heat the coffee when you are ready to drink it?  Reheating tends to negatively impact the flavor.

I mix it half and half with water and nuke it in the microwave.

I don't find that reheating this way hurts anything.  YMMV. 
ttf_Posaunus
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:23 pm

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Posaunus »

I actually think you can make good drip coffee, with the right equipment and properly roasted and ground beans.  Pourover not much better than the first cup of drip, to me.  I've never had as good luck with French press - even with fresh coarsely ground beans.  My favorites, though: Aeropress (at home) or espresso (from a good caffe/barista). 

I don't like cold or iced coffee, and prefer hot (black) tea to iced tea. 
ttf_Steven
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:24 pm

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Steven »

Quote from: Matt K on May 24, 2017, 12:08PMYou drink it cold.

I can do that.  I'll probably try some this weekend.

ttf_Dombat
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:42 pm

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Dombat »

Quote from: Posaunus on May 24, 2017, 02:51PMI actually think you can make good drip coffee, with the right equipment and properly roasted and ground beans.  Pourover not much better than the first cup of drip, to me.  I've never had as good luck with French press - even with fresh coarsely ground beans.  My favorites, though: Aeropress (at home) or espresso (from a good caffe/barista). 

I don't like cold or iced coffee, and prefer hot (black) tea to iced tea. 

French press can be great but can be muddy and bitter. My basic recipe is a 5:1 ratio at 98°, 5 min, press and then through a prewetted v60 filter.
The problem with french press is the fines left over from uneven griding (which even the best grinders leave a little of) and the extended contact time as you slowly drink the coffee which sits on the grinds. A good grinder (hand grinders tend to get better results at extremely coarse grinds), smaller french press, better quality mesh om the press and filtering the finished product all can improve the cup.
All that said, I generally stick to v60 and aeropress for filter at home.
ttf_PhilE
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:58 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_PhilE »

I used the Aeropress for a while.  It was good.  Then I got onto cold brew.  So much better.

As others have said it's a bit of work to prepare.  I use the Cold Bruer set up.  Can be a bit fiddly but mostly it works well.

Unsurprisingly the end result depends a lot on the beans that go into it.  I was buying freshly roasted beans but I've found a supermarket variety that works just as well.

The flavour is so much more complex with no bitterness.

In summer I drink it cold.  In winter I just add hot water or give it a brief nuke.  Adding milk or cream or sweetening dulls the flavour.

We had some Indian friends visiting a while back.  He said that this type of brewing is very common in India.
ttf_Matt K
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:53 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Matt K »

Yeah, I definitely prefer the taste of black, which may be why I like the cold variety as much as I do.
ttf_Posaunus
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:23 pm

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Posaunus »

I'm not a cold-brewed coffee person myself, but apparently my favorite coffee bean supplier, Peet's, has your back.  From today's Peet's e-mail describing their Baridi Blend:

"Baridi, Swahili for cold, reflects the Peet's point of view on cold brewed coffee. Some beans make much better cold brewed coffee than others, so we set out to craft a blend designed specifically to be refreshing and delicious over ice. That means finding beans with the perfect flavor notes and roast profile to be bold up front with a crisp, clean finish, and we put a lot of extra time and care into selecting ours.

After extensive testing and blending, we chose the best East African coffees, select washed qualities from Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda. These coffees are overtly aromatic, even when chilled, and inherently bright and juicy, revving up the refreshment of an iced coffee drink. Roasting it more in a medium style, the payoff is as surprising as it is sweet. That's why, even though it's an excellent hot coffee, this blend makes the ideal cold brewed coffee."
ttf_PhilE
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:58 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_PhilE »

That's interesting.  When I was buying direct from the roaster I tried all of their varieties of exotic blends but none of them matched the beans I found at the supermarket.

I'll look out for a roaster who has done a bit of homework on cold brewing.

Thanks

ttf_Larry Preston Roberson
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:58 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Larry Preston Roberson »

Quote from: BGuttman on May 24, 2017, 12:35PMI like hot tea, and I like iced tea.
I like hot coffee, and I like iced coffee.
I like hot cocoa, but I don't like iced cocoa.

My sentiments exactly, Bruce.
ttf_Larry Preston Roberson
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:58 am

Cold brew coffee - anybody do this?

Post by ttf_Larry Preston Roberson »

Quote from: BGuttman on May 24, 2017, 12:35PMI like hot tea, and I like iced tea.
I like hot coffee, and I like iced coffee.
I like hot cocoa, but I don't like iced cocoa.

My sentiments exactly, Bruce.
Post Reply

Return to “Chit-Chat”