Cold brew coffee is one of the newer ‘in’ things I’ve been seeing in the last year or so. I was reluctant to try it initially because fads seem to peter out just when I start to enjoy them. Cold brew is made by soaking coffee in cold/room temperature water and it ends up less acidic and bitter. It’s way more mellow which means that I don’t have to doctor it as much if at all. I’ve been enjoying the cold brew coffee at Dunkin… at Starbucks… at Sheetz… and I realized that I could probably spend a not so small fortune on this coffee if I let myself.
So I went hunting ‘recipes’ for do it yourself.
I found a lot of them.
Too many.
Some suggested that you grind yourself and play with the grind you use and …. and… and…
yeah… I just want coffee. If I have to spend THAT much time and effort messing with it it isn’t going to be worth it. I’m all about minimizing effort right now.
What I did find is that the ratio of coffee to water ought to be about 8 to 1. I can do that…
I have some half gallon canning jars that I invested in last year. Mostly they hold bread crumbs (home made) so we have them for meatloaf. I found a nifty new use for three of them…. cold brew coffee.
I put <insert whatever brand of ground coffee you buy from the store… I’ve been using the kind in the red plastic ‘cans’ but I think I’m going to find some off brands to try too> about an inch or an inch and a half of ground coffee in the bottom of the jar… fill it with water… stir the coffee so it is well mixed in the jar. Cap it and sit it on the porch.
Cold, apparently, doesn’t require refrigerator, just not coffee maker and HOT water.
Sit the jar on the porch for 18 – 24 (to 36 or 48 if you’re having a really bad day) and let it brew itself.
Clean white cotton tee-shirt works well to strain the grounds… pour the coffee from one jar into an empty jar through the tee-shirt filter and poof… cold brew.
It’s really good iced and strong enough that ice makes it really good. It’s good with cream and sugar. It’s good about 1/3 coffee 2/3 water heated in the microwave. It feels like I’m using a LOT of coffee to make this when I make it, but if I actually do the math it’s way cheaper to do it this way than to buy it from the chains…even Sheetz) and I can doctor the strength of the coffee to what I really like.
I’ve discovered I really don’t like it if I use flavored coffee. It makes it taste odd compared to the regular brewed version of the same flavor… but maybe that’s just me.
Today, I’m playing with brewing a second jar from one set of grounds. Not sure if it will work. I expect it will not be as strong the second time or maybe I will need to let it brew a little longer, but it’s worth messing around with to see what I can find out.
Love and Light
April
June 13, 2017
A Figment Of Fitness 