How to make the best Cold Brew Coffee at home
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My version of Cold Brew Coffee uses a patented system, using regular coffee beans to create a super smooth, less acidic coffee. Add milk, cream, sweetener, and/or water to make a perfect cold or hot cup of coffee!
If you’re more of a latte person, have a coffee date with one of these – Homemade Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Cozy Caramel Lattes, or Homemade Eggnog Lattes! So much yum.
Summer is here, ya’ll! Here in Texas, our a/c is running 24/7, the pool is finally warm enough to swim, and our yard looks like a nursery (thanks to my hubby). I can see that 99 degree weather is on the horizon (YIKES), and while I don’t love the extreme heat, I’m preparing myself. When the weather is warm, we live on iced coffees.
My fabulous sister, Shari, owned a coffee shop back in the day, and used a larger version of this Toddy Cold Brew System for the iced coffees she served to her customers. She then convinced her sisters and brothers into buying one of these smaller miracle contraptions, and converted most of us into falling in love with coffee. Every single one of my siblings (six counting me) have it now, as well as many friends that I’ve shared this love with. There are other brewing systems, but this one is still going strong after years of use.
What is Cold Brew Coffee?
Cold Brew Coffee uses time to replace heat. Coarse coffee beans are brewed with cold water over a 12 to 24 hour brew time. Once the coffee steeps, you end up with a very strong coffee concentrate that you cut with water or milk, at about a 50 percent ratio, or to taste.
Cold water brewing extracts the delicious flavor compounds from coffee beans, but leaves behind certain oils and fatty acids that are present in hot-brewed coffee. The flavor is thus rounder, and less bitter.
What are the benefits of making Cold Brew Coffee?
- The coffee is less acidic (and easier on our tummies). In fact, it is 67-percent less acidic than coffee made with hot brew methods.
- It uses regular coffee beans – that are coarsely ground, and yields a smoother (and less bitter) coffee taste.
- The system is super inexpensive. The cost of the system is cheap compared to most, and making your own coffee is far more cost effective than stopping at a coffee shop each day.
- It’s easy to make. It takes a mere five minutes to get your coffee steeping.
- The system takes little space to store and is light-weight. If you aren’t using this coffee system, you can store the carafe inside the actual Coffee Maker.
- The brewed coffee lasts 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator, although ours never lasts that long. 🙂
Remember to buy coffee beans (whatever kind you like) and have them ground to COARSE crumbs. This is important. I usually go to a store where I can grind them myself.
How to make the best Cold Brew Coffee at home:
- Take the Toddy Maker, place the stopper tightly in the bottom and secure the filter. I usually run water over the filter before placing it.
- Pour four cups of cold, filtered water in Toddy Maker, followed by two cups of COARSE coffee grounds. Then add two more cups of water, followed by two more cups of grounds, and then two more cups of water. I usually add even more water to fill to the top.
- Place the mixture in a quiet corner of your kitchen to steep, for between 12-24 hours.
- Carefully pull stopper from bottom of Toddy Maker, holding it directly over the carafe. Set it on the carafe until coffee is finished dripping. You may need to watch as it fills up to prevent it from over-filling. If you add more than eight cups of water, you’ll need to set the coffee over an additional container.
- Refrigerate the brewed coffee until ready to serve.
- To clean the Toddy Maker, empty the grounds into the garbage, remove the filter and rinse well. You can run the container through the dishwasher.
How to make Cold Brew Ice Cubes:
The latest, greatest cold brews happening here, include cold brew ice cubes. We southerners have to battle some extreme heat for several months in the summer, and there is nothing worse than watered down coffees. These cubes are basically saving us, ya’ll!
You’ll need the following two items to make cold brew cubes. Of course, you could also do square cubes, but they’re not as much fun. 😀
- Round ice cube trays
(This one comes with a square tray, as well.) - 100 mL syringe
(This one comes with a square tray, as well.)
Here’s how you make them:
- Place the ice cube trays in a Tupperware or dish that you can keep in the freezer.
- Use the syringe to get about 45 ml, and then fill the round trays (through the small opening).
- Place the container with tray in the freezer.
Making a cup of iced coffee is SO simple!
- Wake up. 🙂
- Fill your glass with coffee ice cubes.
- Pour brewed coffee in glass, to about halfway full.
- Add a little sweetener – syrups (like this one with this pump), or honey.
- Add milk or cream to the top of the glass.
- Stir and DRINK (with someone you love, if possible)!
with 
), or honey.You could also use this cold brew to make a HOT cup of coffee. Just add water instead of milk, heat up in the microwave, and then add a touch of cream or milk.
What to enjoy WITH your cup of Joe (pictured below):
- Easy Banana Bread – From Norma Jean’s Kitchen, this bread turns out EVERY SINGLE time.
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins – Because I believe you should enjoy pumpkin ALL year long.
- Seriously Crumbly Chocolate Chip Scones – Mike’s favorite, and I like to keep them in the freezer for weekend coffee dates.
- No Bake Peanut Butter Bars – I love having an easy, no bake treat. This one’s amazing!
Please let know if you try this recipe. Be sure to comment and leave a review on the blog so I can see what you think. You can also like my Facebook Page, follow me on Pinterest, and catch me on Instagram.
xoxo ~Sue
How to make the best Cold Brew Coffee at home
Ingredients
- 4 cups coarse coffee grains
- 8-10 cups filtered water
- milk or cream – to serve
- sweetener of your choice – to serve
- cold brew coffee cubes – as explained on the blog
Instructions
- Take the Toddy Maker, place the stopper tightly in the bottom and secure the filter.
- Pour four cups of cold, filtered water in Toddy Maker, followed by two cups of COARSE coffee grounds. Then add two more cups of water, followed by two more cups of grounds, and then two more cups of water. (I usually add even more water to fill to the top.)
- Place the mixture in a quiet corner of your kitchen two steep, for anywhere between 12-24 hours.
- Carefully pull stopper from bottom of Toddy Maker, holding it directly over the carafe. Set it on the carafe until coffee is finished dripping. You may need to watch as it fills up to prevent it from over-filling. If you add more than eight cups of water, you'll need to set the coffee over an additional container.
- Refrigerate the brewed coffee until ready to serve.
- To clean the Toddy Maker, empty the grounds into the garbage, remove the filter and rinse well. You can run the container through the dishwasher.
- Make cold brew ice cubes. Using an ice cube tray, fill with cold brew and freeze. If making round cubes, you'll need the syringe (see blog post) to fill the trays.
- To make a cup of iced coffee, place two cold brew cubes in a glass. Fill with cold brew to about 1/2 full. Then add sweetener of choice, and fill the glass with milk (or cream). Enjoy!
Notes
- For best results, shop for your coffee at a store where you can grind your own beans. You’ll need to use the coarse setting.
- If you are big coffee drinkers, you will go through more coffee than usual using this method, but it’s far cheaper than stopping each day at a drive through.
- There are other brewing systems on the market. This is the only one I’ve tried.
- The cold brew cubes are purely optional. But delish!
Wow! This recipe is delicious! Thank you for sharing it, along with your recommendation of the Toddy system. I LOOOOOOVE cold brew coffee and have spent a lot of money at Starbucks getting my fix… until now. Your recipe is so easy to make in the Toddy and I love the suggestion to make ice cubes out of the cold brew too. I fill a 8 ounce glass with a cube, a pump of sugar free salted-caramel syrup, 3/4 of cold brew and 1/4 of milk… perfect “treat.”
We live on cold brew! So glad you’re enjoying this Traci! 🙂
I love Cold Brew Coffee. I drink it every week. Thank you for share your great tips to make Cold Brew Coffee.
Hi Samuel! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cold brew. We love it! 🙂
At times, step 1 can be a problem! The best part is I can complete steps 2-5 quickly. That 1sr cup of the day is the bomb! I love this system so much that I use it 7 days a week! I must admit I was a bit lost on our recent vacation as I searched for an alternative!
Haha! Glad I’ve converted you to a cold brew lover!
So good if I do say so myself!! ?
You’re so smart, fabulous sister! 🙂