Cool off with homemade cold brew
There are few things more satisfying than the cool, caffeinated sip of a cup of iced coffee. Somehow it tastes even better when it is conveniently prepared by someone else — a luxury I’ll be missing as the weather warms up and we all continue to stick close to home.
But cold brew is easy to DIY, and we’re sharing all the secrets to enjoying it at home.
The first is to make a big batch in advance — a gift to your future self that’s even faster than hopping in the car and whipping through a Starbucks drive-thru.
The second secret? Using the same technique that Starbucks — and other big coffee shops — use to make cold brew in bulk. You’ll just need some coffee beans (support your local roaster by ordering them online), a jar and a cold overnight soak.
Here’s how to make Starbucksstyle cold brew coffee at home.
Say what you will about Starbucks coffee, but big-batch cold brew might just be the thing it does best. Even its darkly roasted coffee tastes sweet and smooth when brewed this way. Starbucks reportedly uses a large-scale Toddy Brewing system to make its large batches, and it soaks its cold brew for 20 hours before straining.
We’re going to take some of Starbucks’ cold-brewing principals and use them to make a big batch of coffee that delivers the same sweet, smooth sip in a cup.
Get the grind right. Cold brew requires a specific grind. A larger grind — something closer to the coarseness of raw sugar — keeps the brew from getting bitter overnight. If you’ve got a small home grinder, it’s best to grind the beans in batches.
Use a higher ratio of coffee to water. This recipe uses a ratio of 8 ounces of ground coffee to 8 cups of water — which is 1 ounce of coffee per cup — making it easier to scale this recipe up or down. Drip coffee uses about 1⁄2 ounce of coffee per cup.
Strain slowly. The Toddy System that Starbucks uses to brew and strain its coffee relies on gravity to gently remove the cold brew from the grounds. To replicate that at home, you’ll need to strain the cold brew gently through cheesecloth and a strainer. Avoid pressing or squeezing the coffee grounds, as that extracts bitter flavors. Work in batches to strain as gently as possible. You might be asking yourself, “Can’t I just strain the coffee with a coffee filter?” You could, but it slows the straining process and occasionally the paper filters tear, creating more of a mess than anyone should have to deal with before coffee. My favorite tool for straining my cold brew is actually a nut milk bag.
Here’s how to make this cold brew into iced coffee just like
Starbucks does. Pour about ⁄2
1 cup of the cold brew over 1 cup of ice in a tall glass and top with 1⁄2 cup of cold filtered water. You can drink the cold brew straight up, too, but it makes a much stronger brew!
This cold brew concentrate keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks, so you can pour a cup anytime you want that sweet, smooth flavor.