members recipes

This makes a mellow low-acid concentrate for iced or hot coffee

Ingredients
1 part Medium to coarse ground coffee

4.5 parts Water, cold

Method
I like coffee, but I love iced coffee, especially since I learned how to cold-brew it at home. This requires a bit more advance planning than turning your coffee machine on in the morning, but it’s much more flavorful than a hot-brewed coffee and since normal people’s coffee consumption follows a predictable pattern (it’s morning, I want coffee) it’s not hard to plan ahead.

What you need to do is fill a pitcher with a mixture of water and coffee (if you’re grinding your own, aim for a coarse grind) in a ratio of about 1 cup of coffee to about 4.5 cups of water. Stir it up to mix, and leave it on the counter for, ideally, a 12 hour overnight brew. In the morning, strain the mixture. If your strainer isn’t fine-meshed enough you can supplement it with a paper coffee filter. A French press is ideal, make the coffee in the carafe and then press the grounds down in the morning. Now you’ve got a delicious pitcher of coffee concentrate. Pour some over an ice cube and enjoy! You can heat the concentrate in the microwave and add hot water to it, too, for a low-acid cup of hot coffee. Most authorities I’ve consulted actually suggest that you dilute the concentrate with some water or milk. I don’t, personally, find that to be necessary since the cold-brewing process leaves you with a coffee that’s all singing flavors and no acid and bitterness, but who am I to contradict the authorities if that’s how you prefer to drink it.

Also, be forewarned, the cold-brewing process creates a higher caffeinated beverage.