Homemade Cold-Steeped Coffee (with recipes)

As I promised in my Jot coffee review, I am here to share my take on homemade cold-steeped/cold-brew coffee and concentrate.

First of all, let's clear up something: you don't have to drink cold-brewed coffee cold. I rarely drink mine cold. I prefer to heat it up and add creamer to drink as I would my machine-brewed coffee.

So why bother with steeping coffee in cold water? Three reasons:

1.  For the flavor. Cold-steeping coffee produces a smoother, richer result. This is why I often use my stronger or harsher coffees for cold-steeping. (Some people claim that it doesn't cause them the acid reflux problems they get with regular brew.)
2. I can serve it cold or hot. My brother likes to drink his cold brew with sweetened whole milk. I usually drink my brew heated with creamer. I do plan to try my next brew Thai-style, with a little sweetened condensed milk added in. (Let's all say "Calories!")
3. Convenience. I can keep cold brew coffee in the fridge and use it as I want. I mentioned in my Jot review that coffee concentrate is great for sick or lazy days.

So.

Now, if you want, you can buy one of the many, many devices for making cold-steeped coffee and concentrate. I saw so many on Amazon that it was ridiculous. I saw all kinds of jars and filters. There are plug-in machines that will "rapid steep" your brew and containers of various colors, sizes, and shapes that come with built-in filters. It can be overwhelming. And I was once really tempted to try one of the plug-in items because you look around and start to think that you just must have special equipment for making a good brew or concentrate. Not true.

Basically, other than the coffee and water, you need a container that you can tightly cover or seal to keep in the refrigerator. That's it.

For the longest, I was pouring the steeped brew through coffee filters. That was a big waste of the filters I use for my coffee machine. Making a one-time purchase of a filter that will fit into your mason jar is probably the smartest buy. I already had some bags for tea that I'd not used up. They work great for my cold brew until I get a mesh filter to go inside the mason jar. That's if I can find something for under 10 bucks but... good luck with that.

Right after I sealed the jar &
grabbed my phone,
I snapped this pic

More like after about 27 hours

I should get actual
"Not Jot" labels! 
(Just kidding, Jot lawyers!)

There are recipes everywhere online and off for making cold brew - concentrated or not. Here are a couple of recipes I found to start you off:

• From myrecipes.com this is an easy cold brew. 
• thekitchn.com has a Starbucks' style cold brew recipe.

And here is my recipe for a concentrate (that I pieced together from one online combined with some trial and error on my own:

1. About 3 cups of cold water (I use bottled spring water) and roughly 1 3/4 cup of coffee that is coarsely ground. You can also buy coarse ground coffee, by the way. (I also have used regular ground coffee when I had nothing else. Just adjust the measurements, scale back on the steep time, and be prepared to do a LOT of filtering.)
2. Stir or shake this mixture (I use a mason jar)& shake it) so that all the coffee is fully wet and mixed in.
3. Cover/seal the container as tightly as possible (this is why I like using a mason jar). You can use plastic wrap and a rubber band if you don't have a good lid.
4. Put this in the fridge and let it steep at the very least for 12 hours - unless you used a finer ground coffee. I like to steep it for 24 hours. The longer the steep, the stronger the brew.

Honestly, when I only steep for about 12 10 14 hours, I consider the result to be almost regular brew. I might add a little water to it before heating to drink as hot and zero extra when adding the result to milk. A steep of 24 hours or more is, for me, the absolute best for a "concentrate".

I've seen suggestions in forums for leaving the brew out of the fridge for a few hours before finishing the steep in the fridge. I have not tried that yet.

Some coffee drinkers don't like the longer steeping times because they say that it makes for a bitter brew. I say that it sort of depends on the coffee. I have done a shorter steep with espresso coffees and a longer steep for something like 8 O'Clock coffee. If a brew does come out too bitter for me, I will use it in Thai-style coffee or some other milk- or cream-based drink. It could probably be amazing with something like coconut milk...

By the way, another thing that I like about cold-steeping coffee is that I can use up a coffee that I find too strong or acidic when brewed normally. I don't know if I mentioned here the Medaglia D'Oro Italian Roast Espresso Style Ground Coffee I tried several months ago. It's not horrible coffee but it's just not my favorite espresso blend. It does make a tasty cold-steep & dairy brew..

Right now, I tend to go back and forth between machine-brewed hot coffee and cold-steeped brew. There are times when I get burned out on coffee in general and just do one cup regular-brewed in the morning so that I don't go into withdrawal. And coffee withdrawal is a real thing, people. It's like PMS that is not gender-based.

At any rate, if you plan to try making a cold-brewed batch of coffee or a concentrate, I will suggest a few things to start:

• Practice with small amounts of coffee. This way you can learn how fine or coarse you like, want, or need the grounds to be. You don't want to waste a lot of coffee on your practice.
• Don't spend money on a lot of unnecessary equipment. Get good filters and a decent container for the start.
• Don't listen too much to other people telling you what you need. There are comments in some forums insisting that you must use a certain grind or type of coffee, or that you absolutely have to stick to definite coffee-to-water-to-time ratios. Just practice and find what works best for your desired result.
• Enjoy the process. Because this isn't a quick way to make coffee, if you find it to be too much of a hassle, don't bother. If you only like using a cold brew or concentrate occasionally, then just buy a good and affordable ready-to-use brew. I listed a bunch of brands with prices in the Jot review.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I have to tell y'all that I did go ahead and use my Amazon Shopper Panel credit.  I got this while it went on sale the other day after I started writing this post, last week. Y'all know how I do.

The video for the product showed someone making the world's weakest brew of coffee. Ugh. I will be steeping the heck out of mine and hope for much stronger results, but I this price was almost cheaper than buying more filters:

The app I talk about here is this one

I have, to date, made over $50 in credit from receipts and surveys. I spent most of mine on the Ninja, but the last gift card pretty much paid for the Bodum. It was either that or more of the tea filters so I took a chance on the brewer. Of course, y'all know that I will be back to tell you about the Bodum.