Homemade Cold Brew

I guzzle down a more-than-fair share of iced coffee during the summer (and sometimes well into autumn). Since Montreal is fighting a heat wave this week, I wanted talk about making cold brew at home, thereby avoiding sweaty midday trips to the café ;)

In the past, this was my idea of a homemade "iced coffee": Fill a cup with ice cubes, pour hot coffee over them, add milk, done. However, instead of making something refreshing, I was invariably left with a tepid, watery, disappointing concoction. 

As it turns out, putting ice cubes into hot coffee is a misguided shortcut that doesn't really work. To make a proper cold brew at home, you need super concentrated coffee, prepared a day ahead and always kept in the fridge.

Find a resealable pitcher or bottle. Measure out 14-16 tablespoons of coffee grinds for every litre of filtered water (cold or room temp is fine). That's A LOT of caffeine, I know. Let the grinds steep (refrigerated!) for 12-24 hours. During that time, you should intermittently shake/stir the brew to loosen the wet coffee, but I usually forget to do that step lol.

Sometime the next day, carefully remove the filter of used grinds (this is when things get drippy and messy). Keep the remaining liquid in your fridge for up to a week.

Congrats, you have cold brew!

You can make a batch using tea filters or a french press, but getting a contraption specially designed for cold brew (Josh bought this one) makes everything way more straightforward.

I still take my cold brew over ice and love watching the trippy lava lamp effect as milk blends in. How do you like your coffee?

Image credit: Kitchn