Cold Extraction
Cold Brew
Long, cold steeping: sweet, soft, and low in acidity.
Cold water extracts slowly and selectively: it takes the sugars and much of the aroma, and leaves behind a good deal of the acidity and bitterness that hot water pulls in minutes. Sixteen hours of patience buys a concentrate that is sweet, round and keeps for a week in the fridge.
- Ratio1:10
- Base recipe100g to 1000g
- Water temperature18 to 22°C
- GrindVery coarse — Coarser than sea salt, like cracked pepper
- Total time16 h
- LevelForgiving · 4 cups
Why Cold Brew?
- Markedly lower acidity than any hot method here.
- It makes a concentrate — dilute it hot or cold as you like.
- It holds for about a week refrigerated, so one batch covers several days.
What you need
- Large jar or carafe
- Fine strainer or filter bag
- Digital scale
- Fridge
Step by step
- 1
Weigh and combine
to 1000gPut the coarsely ground coffee in the jar and add the water. This is a 1:10 concentrate, meant to be diluted — not drunk at strength.
- 2
Stir and cover
from 1 minStir until every ground is wet, with nothing floating dry on the surface, then cover it. Dry grounds simply never take part.
- 3
Sixteen hours
from 1 hLeave it at room temperature, or in the fridge for a cleaner and slightly slower extraction. Past about twenty hours it starts turning woody rather than getting stronger.
- 4
Strain
from 16 hStrain through a fine mesh, then again through a paper filter if you want it properly clear. Do not squeeze the grounds — that is where the bitterness is hiding. Keep it refrigerated and dilute to taste, roughly one part concentrate to two or three parts water or milk.
If it did not come out right
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Too weakGrind too coarse, or steeped too briefly | Grind too coarse, or steeped too briefly | Extend the steep toward eighteen hours, or raise the dose. Remember it is a concentrate, so judge it diluted. |
| Bitter and woodySteeped too long, or the grounds were squeezed | Steeped too long, or the grounds were squeezed | Pull it at sixteen hours and let the last of it drain on its own rather than pressing it. |
Frequent questions
Is cold brew the same as iced coffee?
No. Iced coffee is brewed hot and chilled, keeping its acidity and aromatics. Cold brew never meets hot water, which is why it tastes rounder and flatter at once.