How to Make Cold Brew Coffee at Home: Methods, Water-to-Coffee Ratios, Step-by-Step Guide, and Flavor Profile Characteristics

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As summer arrives, cold brew coffee becomes one of the most discussed topics among coffee enthusiasts. Everyone shares their insights and experiences when making cold brew coffee. Why has cold brew coffee become so popular in the coffee community in recent years? What's the difference between cold brew coffee and regular iced coffee? In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will explore this fascinating cold-brewed coffee.

What is Cold Brew/Cold Brew Coffee?

Cold brew coffee is pure black coffee liquid made by directly steeping coffee grounds in water at room temperature or low temperature for an extended period. Due to the low-temperature extraction, the flavor release from coffee grounds is much slower compared to high temperature. Therefore, the steeping time typically requires 8-24 hours depending on room temperature or refrigerator temperature. Since it doesn't require any special techniques or complicated brewing equipment, you can create iced coffee with distinct aroma and rich body. Steeping overnight and enjoying it in the morning has become a favorite for many working professionals.

What's the difference between room temperature and low-temperature cold brew coffee?

Cold brew coffee at room temperature is recommended not to steep for more than 8 hours, while cold brew coffee at low temperature is recommended to steep for 12-24 hours.

Room temperature cold brew coffee will have varying extraction times depending on the room temperature. Coffee steeped at room temperature can immediately express richness after extraction is complete, but the disadvantage is that it's easy to extract woody flavors. The benefit of refrigerating is that you can achieve richness while woody flavors are less likely to appear, but the disadvantage is that it really takes a long time...!

What coffee beans are suitable for making cold brew coffee?

The liquid produced by cold brew coffee doesn't have the clarity of cold-drip coffee and will have a thin layer of oil floating on the surface, giving it a slightly heavier and more balanced flavor profile. FrontStreet Coffee recommends choosing coffee beans with noticeable acidity or rich aroma for making cold brew coffee. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's Sherry coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's Mozart coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee beans, and FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya coffee beans are all cost-effective single-origin coffee beans suitable for cold brew.

If you prefer sour and sweet cold brew, FrontStreet Coffee recommends three premium coffee beans: Guoding Ding, Strawberry Candy, and Flower Queen, which not only contain rich fruit aromas but also present delicate sour and sweet flavors under low-temperature extraction; if you prefer balanced flavors, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Diamond Mountain, Kaffa Forest, and Geisha Village Chaka, which offer good balance of acidity, bitterness, and sweetness;

The Correct Way to Make Cold Brew Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee recommends making cold brew coffee in a low-temperature refrigerator environment, especially in southern regions where room temperatures get quite high in summer. If making cold brew coffee at room temperature, it's difficult to control the steeping time appropriately.

Cold brew coffee brewing parameters: 1:10 coffee-to-water ratio, grind size passing through Chinese standard #20 sieve (0.85mm holes) at 75% rate, using ice water for steeping. When making cold brew coffee, FrontStreet Coffee uses 50 grams of coffee grounds, adds 400ml of filtered water and 100 grams of ice, mixes well, then seals the bottle and places it in the refrigerator's cooling compartment. Low-temperature extraction for 8 to 12 hours is recommended, not exceeding 16 hours (as it can easily become over-extracted and produce off-flavors). After steeping and extraction are complete, simply filter out the coffee grounds using a filtration device.

The Correct Way to Drink Cold Brew Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee suggests placing the extracted cold brew coffee in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before drinking, because during the overnight resting process, as time passes, the coffee liquid becomes fully mellowed, resulting in better flavor.

How Long Can Cold Brew Coffee Be Stored?

After filtering, cold brew coffee can be sealed and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Although cold brew coffee becomes richer the longer it's stored, the refrigerator environment is "complex" (especially household refrigerators), making it difficult to completely avoid bacterial invasion. Moreover, every time we open it, air has a chance to enter. Therefore, for everyone's health, FrontStreet Coffee does not recommend storing it for a week or even a month before drinking.

Important Notice :

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