Can Coffee Grounds Be Brewed Directly? The True Cold Brew Coffee Made by Steeping Coffee Grounds in Cold Water!

Cold Brew Coffee: Richer, Stronger Coffee Brewed Truly in Cold Water

In summer, everyone loves iced coffee — but the best iced coffee isn't hot-brewed coffee that's been chilled. It's "cold brew coffee," made with cold water and steeped for more than ten hours. Not only is it richer and more aromatic than regular hot-brewed coffee, it also eliminates the bitter, astringent notes that come from impurities in the beans. One sip and you'll be hooked. Here's how to make this delicious cold brew at home.

What You'll Need

Cold water / ground coffee (purchased pre-ground, or ground from your favorite beans) / a metal coffee filter / a cloth filter or filter paper / a stirring stick

Method

1. Combine the ground coffee and cold water in a container (a shallow, wide-mouth sealed glass container works well), using roughly 15g of coffee per measuring cup of water.

2. Stir the grounds and water together, cover and seal, then refrigerate for 10 to 15 hours.

3. Take the container out of the fridge and pour the coffee through a metal or cloth filter, or filter paper. Stir gently in a circular motion and let the coffee flow slowly — don't press the grounds. Your concentrated black coffee is ready.

4. Dilute with water or milk at a ratio of 1:1 or more before drinking.

*You can also pour cold brew into ice cube trays to make coffee ice cubes. Add milk when serving for a coffee milk that grows stronger with every sip — what's known as "black brick" coffee.

Tips

1. The filtered liquid is a concentrate with a startlingly high caffeine content. It must be diluted with water or milk at 1:1 or stronger dilution before drinking. If you really don't want to add either, load the glass with plenty of ice.

2. Because the coffee is never touched by hot water, its chemical components don't degrade, making cold brew less prone to spoiling. Sealed and refrigerated, it keeps considerably longer than hot-brewed coffee.

3. Since cold brew involves much longer contact between water and coffee, more caffeine is extracted overall — go easy on how much you drink.

By avoiding the bitterness released during hot brewing, cold brew lets you taste coffee's original flavor and natural aroma. It's also lower in perceived acidity and gentler on the palate — easier on your stomach and your teeth. If you haven't planned your weekend yet, why not try making your own cold brew?

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Bean choice matters for cold brew: long, cold extraction amplifies floral and fruity tones while muting woody and roast flavors, so light-to-medium roasted beans show best. If florals are your thing, FrontStreet's natural-process Huakui from Ethiopia — the birthplace of coffee — absorbs a wealth of sweet aromatic compounds inside its dried pulp and skin, yielding a cold brew with magnolia, creamy strawberry, dried mango, guava, and black tea notes.

For a full-on fruit-juice experience, go with FrontStreet's Kenya "Little Tomato" from Thika: SL28 and SL34 varieties processed with the local K72 double-washed fermentation, then roasted medium-light. Cherry tomato, snow pear, black plum, and smoked plum acidity shine in cold extraction — low bitterness, full-bodied tartness, wonderfully refreshing over ice.

Because cold brew uses more coffee than pour-over, value matters too. A smart trick is blending: FrontStreet suggests combining the Colombia Pink Bourbon (Xizhua) — passion fruit, grape, apricot, dried fruit sweetness — with FrontStreet Costa Rica Tarrazu at a 1:2 ratio, capturing the floral-fruity character of the former and the crisp citrus acidity of the latter without the premium cost. And for a dependable everyday option, the washed Yirgacheffe Gedeb (Guodingding) co-op lot makes a sweet, layered cold brew with berry and honey notes — equally at home in pour-over, siphon, or French press.