How to Make Cold Brew Coffee

This cold brew coffee recipe takes minutes to make—and then waits overnight! Here’s how to make cold brew coffee.

COLD BREW COFFEE: It’s super smooth, perfectly fresh, and guess what? It’s more than easy to make at home! We make coffee here every morning, but cold brew is something else entirely. The big benefit of a cold brew coffee recipe: It requires practically no special equipment and takes very little time! It also makes a great batch of concentrate that you can keep in your fridge for days. With so many benefits, why not give it a try? Here’s how to make cold brew coffee.

Why Cold Brew Coffee?

What is cold brew? Cold brew coffee is coffee made by steeping the coffee grounds in water at cool temperatures. This differs from drip or brew coffee, which is made by percolating hot water over coffee grounds in a filter. Cold brew has become very popular in coffee shops due to its deliciously smooth taste. It’s great for summer, but you can drink it all year round! Here’s why you should make cold brew coffee at home:

• sweet taste. The main reason to drink it? It has a deliciously sweet and refreshing taste.
• Make a big pitcher. This recipe makes a great pitcher you can drink for days! After a hot cup of coffee in the morning, it’s great to have a pot in the fridge for a quick afternoon cup of coffee: it doesn’t last long!

The best coffee for a cold brew?

Which coffee goes best with a cold brew? Dark Roast Coffee. Light and medium roasts are ideal for dripping or pouring over coffee, but cold brew tastes best with dark roast coffee. It gives just the right bitter taste when it’s cold. Some brands recommend: Starbucks Espresso Roast or Intelligentsia Black Cat.

The gear you need

To prepare cold brew coffee, you need a few utensils. But these are things you probably already have in your kitchen! Unlike pouring over coffee, this recipe requires preparation no special equipment. Here’s what you need and links to what we use ourselves and show in the video.

1. Grinder or coffee grinder: Grind coffee medium coarse. We use this bodum electric strawberry grinder. It’s easier with an electric grinder as you need a lot of grinding! Or you can use a handheld coffee grinder works – it just takes a lot longer.
2. Filtered water: Filtered water tastes the best; We use this water filter pitcher.
3. Large glass or pitcher
4. Sieve
5. Clean towel (remember coffee will stain it – watch the video!)

The cold brew ratio

One last thing before we start: let’s talk about relationships. What is the ratio of cold brew coffee? There are two main relationships:

• Ratio earth/water: 1:4. When brewing coffee, use a 1:4 ratio of coffee grounds to water. That means 1 ½ cups of coffee grounds and 6 cups of water. (Unless you’re using a French Press to make a cold brew: see below!)
• Ratio concentrate/water for cold brew: 1:1. After preparing a cold brew, you end up with a cold brew concentrate. To drink the finished infusion, use a 1:1 ratio. In other words, fill your glass with 1 part concentrate and 1 part water (or milk). Drinking concentrate alone is way too strong.

How do you make cold brew coffee?

This cold brew coffee recipe is a very easy and enjoyable method. Just make sure you prepare it 24 hours before drinking! Here are the key steps in our Cold Brew Coffee recipe (or jump to the recipe):

1. Grind 1 ½ cups of dark roast coffee. Grind the coffee to medium coarse.
2. Add 6 cups of filtered water and mix. Add filtered water to the coffee grounds in a large glass or pitcher and stir a little.
3. Store in the fridge and wait 24 hours! This is where the brewing magic happens: And you don’t have to do anything! Just wait while the coffee brews.
4. Filter the coffee. Pour the coffee into a strainer lined with a towel or cheesecloth and strain into a separate container. Then your cold brew is ready to drink! It makes 9 servings: Rinse with equal parts cold water and coffee concentrate.

Alternative method: French Press

Here’s an alternative method: You can also make Cold Brew Coffee with a French Press! The advantage of this method is that it’s a bit cleaner and easier. The French Press contains the coffee and makes filtering easier: no need to mess up your tea towels or cheesecloth. The ratio for cold brew is slightly different with this method. Go to French Press Cold Brew.

Watch this video first!

To show you how easy it is… we made a video! Before we start, watch this video where I show you how to make cold brew in our kitchen.

More coffee receipts

Are you a coffee lover? We have a series about making coffee with all kinds of equipment and the best coffee drink recipes:

This cold brew coffee recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.