How to Make Cold Brew Coffee, How to Make Cold Brew Without a Refrigerator, and How Long Cold Brew Can Be Stored at Room Temperature

It might sound cliché, but this summer has been incredibly hot! There are many ways to combat the scorching summer days, and in the coffee world, the ultimate solution is undoubtedly cold brew coffee, which has been extremely popular in recent years. If you'd like to easily make authentic and delicious cold brew coffee at home, let FrontStreet Coffee guide you through the process.

When mentioning cold brew, many people think of cold dripping. It's the process of mixing cold water with coffee grounds, letting it steep for several hours, and finally filtering out the coffee grounds to obtain iced coffee concentrate. This is arguably the simplest method for making cold brew coffee. Depending on your brewing method, cold brew coffee can be refreshing, strong, or have pleasant acidity.

Since the coffee grounds only come into contact with low-temperature cold water (4-10°C) throughout the entire process, the extraction efficiency is extremely low, making it difficult for bitter macromolecules to be released. The prolonged cold water steeping allows for more thorough extraction of compounds like sugars and organic acids, resulting in a more balanced acidity, sweetness, and body in the coffee.

What Coffee Beans Are Suitable for Cold Brew?

Currently, the market offers various processing methods and different roast levels of coffee beans. Any single-origin coffee beans marked for pour-over use can be used for making cold brew coffee. Dark roasted coffee, when extracted with hot water, presents rich coffee aroma with initial bitterness followed by sweet aftertaste. However, when made into cold brew and consumed at iced temperatures, it tends to exhibit more burnt and carbonized flavors, making it difficult to achieve the refinement of hot coffee.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends light to medium roasted coffee beans. For a refreshing juice-like sensation, you can choose light-roasted washed coffees, such as washed Yirgacheffe or Kenya AA. For stronger fruit and wine-like flavors, you can use barrel-processed or honey-processed coffees, such as Colombia Rose Valley or Honduras Lychee Lan. If you don't like acidic coffee and prefer a balanced "coffee flavor," you can also choose Papua New Guinea's Bird of Paradise.

What Coffee-to-Water Ratio Should Be Used for Cold Brew?

FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that some friends, for convenience, will directly pour coffee grounds and water into a pot and start steeping. However, any coffee extraction involves the coffee-to-water ratio parameter. Without measurement, coffee becomes like opening a blind box—you never know what flavor you'll get. To ensure the best possible extracted coffee taste, FrontStreet Coffee suggests keeping the cold brew ratio between 1:10 to 1:13. If the concentration is too high, you can add appropriate ice cubes to dilute it.

FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that some friends, for convenience, will directly pour coffee grounds and water into a pot and start steeping. However, any coffee extraction involves the coffee-to-water ratio parameter. Without measurement, coffee becomes like opening a blind box—you never know what flavor you'll get. To ensure the best possible extracted coffee taste, FrontStreet Coffee suggests keeping the cold brew ratio between 1:10 to 1:13. If the concentration is too high, you can add appropriate ice cubes to dilute it.

The Combination of Grind Size and Steeping Time

Since the temperature for cold brew is fixed, the intensity of coffee flavor is determined by the interplay between grind size and time.

We usually think that the finer the coffee grind, the faster and more abundant the flavor extraction, while coarser grinds release flavor compounds more slowly. However, in still cold water, fine coffee particles easily stick together, forming larger "clumps" that make it difficult for the liquid to extract substances from within, leading to bitter coffee with a gritty texture. Based on past experience, FrontStreet Coffee has found that cold brew made with a grind size similar to coarse sugar (70-85% retention on a China No. 20 standard sieve) produces the most balanced concentration.

FrontStreet Coffee typically recommends a steeping time of 8-24 hours for cold brew. The actual extraction duration should be adjusted according to the grind size. It's quite simple: finer grinds require shorter steeping times, while coarser grinds need more time. Bitter flavors often occur when we use fine grinds but don't adjust the refrigeration time accordingly, resulting in coffee with woody, hay-like bitter notes.

As one of the "lazy person's coffees," FrontStreet Coffee suggests using coarse grinds with long steeping time the night before. Even if you're too busy during the day, taking it out in the evening won't result in over-extraction. After filtering, store it in the refrigerator overnight to mature, allowing the flavors to become more thorough.

How Long Can Made Cold Brew Coffee Be Stored?

As cold brew coffee sits in the refrigerator longer, its fermentation flavors become more intense, eventually overwhelming the coffee's natural aroma. Whether it's cold drip or cold brew coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends consuming it within 3 days. Although cold brew coffee may not necessarily spoil or taste bad after 3 days, for the sake of flavor experience and health safety, FrontStreet Coffee sets the optimal tasting period for all cold brew/cold drip coffee at 3 days.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473