Cold Brew Coffee : How I do it

I’ve tried to find if cold brew coffee has one integral meaning, just to be sure it has any other meaning than what it seems. But after the googling first page results only contained articles of how to make it, not anything resemblance to what it actually is, I gave up, maybe it is just it is, a method of brewing coffee with cold water.

Well that is the short answer. The long one is really differ from one person to another but essentially the same. As for me, it’s a method to brew coffee with immersing coarse ground coffee in cold water for 24 hours, then filtering out the ground coffee leaving only the liquid behind. My brew ratio is 1:7, 1 part ground coffee to 7 parts of cold water, How I brew is usually :

1. Put a cheesecloth bag into a big enough container ( my mom made the bag, I can’t do handy craft), I used a 1.9 liter mason jar as a container.
2. Dump the 250gr of coarse ground coffee into the bag. the rule of thumb is using a coarsely ground coffee like the one used on french press and use a darker roast.  I use a bag to put the coffee so I don’t have to worry about the big sediment while filtering it later, because its contained inside the bag.
3. Pour 1.5 liter of cold water into the bag, make sure all the coffee is wet, I never stir it, just let it be.
4. Close the container, not too tightly, let some air in and put it into the fridge for about 24 hour. Some says that 8 hour on counter top is enough, but I like the slow brewing on the fridge better, It’s a lot cooler, literally.
5. After the 24 hour mark, prepare : another container of 1liter size, a strainer, and another piece of cheesecloth (soak it in water for a bit so it’s wet)
6. Filtering time, usually you need to filter it two times if you put the ground coffee directly into the jar on step 2. Since I don’t need to filter the big things I will only filter it once, using a piece of wet cheese cloth on top of a strainer on top of the other container.
7. The result is usually around 1 liter of essence due to water being absorbed by the water during the brewing process. it is  a highly concentrated coffee as you can see from the brew ratio of 1:7.

I’m kinda new on this cold brew thing.  I’m only on my third batch currently, the first two, taste wise, was a good coffee. The coffee essence from the brewing – onward will be called concentrate – is very strong, well the caffeine dose that is, the taste is milder and less acidic than a hot brewed coffee. The wise gentlemen on the internet tell me I should dilute the concentrate with hot water or milk, so I did that. Since I used Arabica coffee that usually very acidic,well  it is when you poured hot water on it, the taste is quite different when cold brewed. I used Aceh Gayo – Medium to dark roast, here how it goes :

• The first tasting cup. I didn’t really measure it, but it was around 1:17 ratio, 10gr ground coffee in 170ml of hot water. The coffee was aromatic, the acidity was quite profound even on the first sip and it has a hint of chocolate taste, lastly a very in your face coffee taste. What I like the most is – and I think it is due to the coffee not the brewing – It didn’t have any burnt bitter taste like the one on Starbucks, to be fair IIRC Starbucks around Indonesia using Robusta coffee for their regular drinks.
• The first mix. On my first try I thought I’m gonna try something not so strong, 1 part of concentrate with 2 parts of milk, both of it cold. The result was meh, the coffee aroma was muted too much and the taste was a mild coffee taste and strong milk aftertaste. The most weird thing was there is no acidity left and only a tiny bit of bitterness.
• The tasting cup #2. This time around I mixed the concentrate and hot water with 1:1 ratio. The aroma was there, but not as strong as the first tasting cup, It was like unwrapping a bar of dark chocolate. There was an acidity linger there but not so much, and the coffee taste was stronger than the first mix but toned down a lot compared to first tasting cup.  Taste like your average long black or Americano, I think.
• The final formula. I was satisfied with the tasting cup #2, but want to add milk on it. So I used the ratio from tasting cup #2 and essentially halved the milk from the first mix into 1:1:1 ratio of Concentrate : Hot Water : Hot milk, I simmered the milk this time around, It taste better. I usually bring this to the office, refrigerated and then heated it up when I am ready to drink it.
• The final formula but smaller. When I am at home, I usually use the ratio from tasting cup #2 but replacing the hot water with hot milk. The reason is while at work I drink my coffee fast, so it’s nice to have a lot of it, while at home watching Youtube smaller portion will suffice. The size of the final formula is around 300ml, one mug. The smaller is only 200ml, a little more than a cup, it is the regular size of a glass here.

I believe coffee is an acquired taste. What kind of coffee do you like, how do you like it brewed, how do you like it served is varied.  I still looking for the variety that suits me the best. On my first two batch cold brew I used the same coffee, a safe departure I think, Aceh Gayo. The result was an aromatic coffee with a mild taste and bit of acidic, and still have a bit of bitterness to it. I still think bitterness in coffee is good, maybe I am just accustomed to it.

Cold brew coffee will always have a milder (some says muddled) taste and smell than other kind of brewing that involves hot water in it. It’s caused by the lack of chemical reaction when ground coffee meet hot water ( yeah when something got heated things happens). What I learn is when you mix the concentrate with hot water its unleashing something, I don’t know what it is, just something, things happens magically make the cold brew taste stronger – albeit still weaker than hot brewed. Oh yeah, cold brew has higher caffeine content than hot brewed coffee, so If you feel a bit hyper after drinking it, you know why.

So why did I make cold brew, and why should you ?. For one it’s  a lot cheaper than cafe bought  and depends on how you choose your variety might suit you better. It cost me about IDR 50-60k (US$ 5-6) for 250gr of ground coffee, and it is  a considerably good tasting coffee. The second reason is it’s practical, a batch of 1l will last me for about 10 days and as long as you refrigerated it on an airtight container it will stay fresh for 2 weeks. It just I am too lazy to wake up early in the morning and made a small amount of coffee everyday.

That’s all my two cents on cold brew, hope its help anyone (if anyone ever read it)

 

 

Foot Note: I just finished brewing my third batch this afternoon, I’m using a medium roast natural process Java – an arabica variant. It’s probably quite stupid using a medium roast for cold brew, but I want to try it anyway. So first tasting cup – hot brewed, the taste was a very acidic taste, fruity note and a sign of fermentation (like a vinegar ?), it was a very strong cup of coffee. And the Tasting Cup #2, concentrate + hot water, the taste only toned down an itsy bitsy bit, still acidic fruity vinegrainy. Yeah, I don’t think a medium roast natural process coffee is suitable for cold brew, but hey, you never know unless you try !!!