Make your own cold brew coffee at home! Just TWO ingredients and super simple to make. Save money by making your favorite coffee from the comfort of home.

Make Cold Brew Coffee At Home

With the heat of Summer upon us, I’m here to help you make your own cold brew coffee! I know there are a lot of people who are either team hot coffee or team cold, I can tell you that I am not discriminatory when it comes to coffee. I love it hot or cold and can drink it either way no matter the time of the year.

There’s just something about the heat of Summer, though that makes everyone crave something cool and refreshing and it’s about to get VERY hot here in New Hampshire. We’re looking at the next 10+ days in the high 90’s with lots of humidity. Definitely going to be reaching for an afternoon ice-cool pick-me-up!

What’s the Difference Between Iced Coffee and Cold Brew?

There is a difference between iced coffee and cold brew coffee. Wait, what?

It’s true! They may look similar but they are brewed differently and they taste differently. Iced coffee can be brewed two ways: brewed hot directly over ice and brewed hot, cooled and then served over ice.

Iced Coffee

Many coffee cafes make iced coffee by brewing it hot directly over ice using the pour-over brewer method. This gives the iced coffee a rich and crisp taste, and is desired over the hot-cool-iced method, which removes some of the richness.

Cold Brew Coffee

Cold brew coffee however, is made by brewing the coffee with cool or cold water, usually letting the grounds and water steep and get all good and happy for 12+hours or more.

It’s also a smoother taste than the hot brewed version. Because this way of brewing doesn’t pull out the acids or caffeine as much as hot brewing, it creates a much smoother, and less acidic taste.

Cold brew coffee also has some health benefits:

Low in acidity
The low brewing temperature doesn’t change the structure of the coffee as much which means there is less of a chance of gastrointestinal issues like acid reflux
Cold brew is a powerful antioxidant! Chlorogenic acid is a powerful antioxidant found in coffee beans, but it is very sensitive to heat. High temps in hot brewing can destroy it. Coffee prepared with a cold brewing method preserves a higher concentration of the antioxidants.

How To Make Cold Brew

This recipe could not be simpler…all you need is TWO ingredients! There are different methods of steeping the cold brew, the one I’ll be presenting today is using a French Press.

If you don’t own a French Press, no worries, you can simply use a pitcher. You’ll just need to add an extra step (or two) to filter out the grounds, but I present an easy way to do that, too.

Let’s get to it!

Make Your Own Cold Brew Coffee Recipe!

Yield: 4

A simple way to enjoy cold brew coffee at home!

Ingredients

3/4 cup Good coffee, Coarse ground, preferrably fresh ground but not necessary
4 cups Cold water

Instructions

In a French Press or Pitcher, add the coffee grounds
Pour cold water over the grinds; give the mixture a little stir
Cover and either place in your refrigerator or you can leave it on the counter
Let it steep for 12+ hours. I like to make it the night or a a day ahead and I've even left it over the weekend, it's still just as delicious
If you're using a French Press, just simply press the grounds to the bottom
If you're using a pitcher, my favorite method is to take your typical coffee machine filter and pour the coffee through the filter into another container. If you're using paper, you may have to do this a few times using a few filters. If you're using a permanent or mesh filter, then you should only need to do it once if your grounds are coarse enough. If they are finer ground, then repeat.
Pour your fresh brewed cold brew over ice and add your favorite additions like cream, sugar or enjoy it as is!

Nutrition Information

Yield 4 Serving Size 1 grams
Amount Per Serving Unsaturated Fat 0g

How Long Does Cold Brew Last in the Fridge

Your cold brew will last in the fridge for up to two weeks but it likely won’t last that long!

Whether you like your coffee black or with your favorite dairy or non-dairy addition, I hope you’ll get to try your hand at making your own cold brew!