Cold brew coffee has been having itself an extended moment for the last few years. Different than iced coffee, it provides a full-bodied, higher caffeinated, and less acidic taste that's perfect for the warmer months of the year.
Steve Hoffman, our Director of Coffee, stepped into the One Village Coffee lab to offer some basics on how to make an amazing cold brew from home, and also gave a few extra tips on how to make a tasty iced vanilla latte from your recipe. Bottoms up!
The Cold Brew Basics
You'll want to grind your coffee coarse (we recommend our Artist blend as a perfectly balance roast for cold brew) and then steep at room temperature for 12-18 hrs (+/- a few hrs doesn’t make a big difference).
Grind with burrs not blades if possible – let the barista grind it at the shop for you, grind it yourself on the grocery store grinder, or order ground coffee from a us here.
Medium to dark roasted coffees are my faves and it's important to note that the roast flavor doesn’t show as dramatically in cold brew compared to hot coffee. That means dark roasts don’t taste as dark as they are in cold brew, and light roasts that are great hot can be a bit disappointing as cold brew. So go with a medium or dark roast to guarantee maximum flavor.
1:8 Coffee to Water Ratio – 1 part coarse ground coffee to 8 parts water makes a drinking strength cold brew (as opposed to a concentrated strength), and the ratio works with any units you like For example: 1 cup of ground coffee to 8 cups water works, 12 oz ground coffee to 96 oz water works, 300 grams of ground coffee to 2400 grams (2.4 liters for fanciest metric folks, stop metric-flexing guys it’s not that impressive) water works. If you need to some help with a middle school math tip (Don't we all?): move back and forth across the colon of a ratio by multiplying (left to right) or dividing (right to left). How much coffee do you use for 5 gallons of water? 5 gallons = 640 oz. 640/8= 80, so you need 80 oz of coffee.
For an extra splash of flavor, Make or buy some vanilla simple syrup, add that to your cold brew with a bunch of good plant/nut/cow milk, and you've got yourself an iced vanilla latte. (Insider secret: I and a lot of other coffee experts order iced vanilla lattes at cafés sometimes in the summer because they rule and are delicious. 😆 🙂)
Put these cold brew tips to the test and in no time you'll be brewing a delicious recipe at home.
