What you need for cold brew preparation
- Coffee beans
- Coffee grinder
- Scale
- Cold brew maker
What is Cold Brew?
When you brew coffee, you usually think of a combination of coffee beans and hot water with a temperature of around 90°C. The way coffee is made – of course. A few years ago, however, another method of preparing coffee spilled over into Germany, which pleases the minds of coffee fans, especially in summer. We're talking about Japanese cold brew, in which cold water is used instead of hot water to extract the ingredients from the ground coffee beans. Preparation couldn't be easier and the coffee tastes wonderful - provided we use high-quality coffee beans.
Grind coffee for cold brew
Since there is typically a very long contact time between coffee grounds and water when preparing cold brew, we have to grind very coarsely. Otherwise, over-extraction will quickly occur, which will make your coffee taste bitter and dull. We love fruity cold brew, for which we use our comparatively light roasted single-origin coffee beans. We use 75 g of ground coffee per liter of water. For darker roasts, we recommend around 65 g of ground coffee per liter of water.
Prepare cold brew
To prepare cold brew, in addition to the ground coffee, we need a container that holds the desired amount of the drink. Since cold brew lasts for a few days in the refrigerator and retains its taste, it may be worthwhile to prepare a larger quantity. For these instructions we are working with a carafe with a capacity of one liter. We put the water (you can read all about the ideal coffee water here) into our cold brew maker and fill our 75 g of ground coffee into the filter. Cold brew makers are available from various companies, for example Hario. They are usually equipped with a permanently installed, reusable filter.
Now we lower the filter into the vessel and close it. We place this in a place protected from light at room temperature. After 12 hours the cold brewed coffee is ready.
Arrange the cold brew
We prefer to drink our cold brew with three or four full ice cubes so that it stays nice and cold and refreshing for as long as possible without becoming watered down. If you like, you can add a strip of orange peel, which harmonizes wonderfully with the taste of cold brew.
Enjoy your brew!
Cold brew variation: tonic water for more fizz
Even if cold brew itself tastes really good, the cold coffee drink can also be easily expanded, made more tangy and refined. For example, we love Cold Brew Tonic, for which we mix coffee 1:2 with tonic water. The carbon dioxide from the tonic water makes the drink more sparkling and therefore tastes even more refreshing.
Like other coffee drinks, cold brew can also be mixed and enjoyed with milk or milk alternatives. This gives the drink more creaminess and substance.
Difference between cold brew and iced coffee
Cold brew and iced coffee, such as Iced Flat White, are not the same thing. When preparing cold brew we never use hot water, the entire preparation process is cold. On the other hand, coffee drinks that have the word “ Iced ” in their names are always brewed hot. They are only cooled by the added ice cubes, which first go into the glass or carafe before we add the coffee, whether espresso or filter coffee.
If you want to try other cold coffee drinks, we'll explain how to do it in our instructions:
- Iced Flat White
- Iced Latte (coming soon)
- Iced filters
How long can you keep cold brew?
Cold brew will easily keep for a week in a sealed container in the refrigerator. It is therefore worth preparing a larger quantity of the drink straight away.
Where does cold brew come from?
The exact origin of cold brew is not clear, as the preparation of cold brewed coffee has been practiced across different cultures and time periods. The English newspaper Guardian believes that cold brew coffee originated in Japan in the 17th century. At that time, there was said to have been a method in which coarsely ground coffee was soaked in cold water overnight to produce a drink that could be consumed over a long period of time and without additional effort, even while traveling.
Regardless of the exact origins of cold brew, this method is now extremely popular around the world. It has developed into a category of coffee enjoyment in its own right and is used in many cafés and households around the world to cool you down in hot temperatures.
Where does cold brew get its name from?
The name for cold brew comes from the preparation method. The cold brew is made or brewed with cold water instead of hot water. In German, the name is somewhat paradoxical, as brewing assumes that hot water is involved.
