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Baked, Brewed, Beautiful

How To Make The Very Best Cold Brew At Home

in Beautiful, Brewed on 09/10/20

You can make glorious-tasting cold brew within the walls of your own home.

Jump to Recipe
best cold brew coffee ovalware
  • Dark or medium roast coffee beans work best for making cold brew.  
  • OXO’s or Ovalware’s cold brew maker both are excellent choices for your brewing vessel.  
  • Make sure you use water that tastes good when making a batch of cold brew.   

Cold brew has become a staple of coffee shop menus nationally no matter what season. There’s just something about that smooth, chocolatey taste that have won many over. And while it’s convenient to just order a quick cup of cold brew, shelling out $5 adds up quickly.

You can make your own cold brew at home and save some money. Here’s a recipe on how to make the very best cold brew at home. 

ovalware cold brew maker on a wooden table with fall flowers in the background with blue windows

You can and should use dark roast beans.  

For the best cold brew, use a dark or medium roast coffee. Ultimately, most cold brew ends up tasting pretty much the same: chocolatey and smooth. Much of the coffee’s original flavors is lost in the brewing process, so it’s not in your best interest to use your favorite artisan coffee beans.

 

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One brand of coffee that I’ve been particularly impressed with for both its ability to make good cold brew and for its charitable work is Fire Department Coffee. 

Not only does FDC’s Donut Shop Coffee excel in making great cold brew, but 10 percent of their net proceeds go to support groups that help firefighters and first responders who have been injured on the job or who are facing other serious health challenges.

fire department coffee bags on a table

Make sure you use water that tastes good on its own. 

Besides finding the right kind of coffee beans, it’s essential to use water that you like the taste of on its own. If you have bad tap water, do not use it to make cold brew coffee. Coffee is 98 percent water, which means that the quality of your water used in making any kind of coffee will impact the resulting brew. 

Either opt for filtered water, use spring water, or go bottled as a last resort (if you have no other environmentally-friendly options available to you. 

Invest in a good cold brew coffee maker. 

I have extensively reviewed the top cold brew makers on the market including the OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker, theToddy Cold Brew System, the Ovalware RJ3 Cold Brew Maker, the Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker, and the County Line Kitchen Cold Brew Coffee Maker. 

best cold brew coffee ovalware

My personal recommendation is the Ovalware because I live in a household of two, and that’s all my husband and I need in terms of the brew yield (about 8 coffee beverages). It’s also small enough to store in my fridge and in my cupboard without needing to make a ton of space. 

For a larger household (or if you consume a lot of cold brew in a week), I’d go for the OXO. It’s relatively large when it’s set up to brew, but it does an excellent job of brewing cold brew coffee concentrate. It also makes a lot since it is concentrate (12 to 14 beverages), which just means you need to cut it down by adding water or milk. This will make your brew yield last longer. Just make sure you have the counter space for it prior to purchasing. 

Let it brew for the right amount of time. 

Where you place your cold brew brewing vessel will determine how long you should let your cold brew steep. You can either set your cold brew coffee maker on the counter or in the refrigerator.

best cold brew coffee recipe

If you decide to steep on your kitchen counter at room temperature, it can take approximately 12 hours to brew properly. But if you want to steep your cold brew in the fridge overnight, then another 3 to 5 hours are required to reach the same level of extraction. 

The Very Best Cold Brew Recipe

Yields12 ServingsDifficultyBeginnerRating

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best cold brew coffee ovalware

 85 g coarsely ground coffee (or ¾ cup of whole coffee beans turned into about 1 ½ cups coarsely-ground coffee)
 380 g high-quality water

Instructions
1

Grind the 85 grams of coffee beans if using whole beans to a coarse grind. Place all of the grounds in the filter basket of your brewing vessel.

2

Place your filter basket properly into the brewing vessel so that you have a place to pour the water. Most cold brew coffee makers will have you place the basket inside of a glass/plastic carafe.

3

Slowly pour the water over the grounds about 1/2 cup at a time. It's best to allow the water to seep through the grounds completely and then you can add more water. Continue until you've poured all 380 grams over the grounds.

4

Let the brew steep on the countertop for 12 hours. If placing in the fridge for steeping, let it steep for 15 to 18 hours.

5

Once steeping is complete, remove the filter basket and discard the grounds (or repurpose them as compost!). Pour your cold brew into a glass, and add water and/or milk to dilute the cold brew concentrate if necessary. Finish it off with cold brew coffee ice cubes if desired!

Ingredients

 85 g coarsely ground coffee (or ¾ cup of whole coffee beans turned into about 1 ½ cups coarsely-ground coffee)
 380 g high-quality water

Directions

Instructions
1

Grind the 85 grams of coffee beans if using whole beans to a coarse grind. Place all of the grounds in the filter basket of your brewing vessel.

2

Place your filter basket properly into the brewing vessel so that you have a place to pour the water. Most cold brew coffee makers will have you place the basket inside of a glass/plastic carafe.

3

Slowly pour the water over the grounds about 1/2 cup at a time. It's best to allow the water to seep through the grounds completely and then you can add more water. Continue until you've poured all 380 grams over the grounds.

4

Let the brew steep on the countertop for 12 hours. If placing in the fridge for steeping, let it steep for 15 to 18 hours.

5

Once steeping is complete, remove the filter basket and discard the grounds (or repurpose them as compost!). Pour your cold brew into a glass, and add water and/or milk to dilute the cold brew concentrate if necessary. Finish it off with cold brew coffee ice cubes if desired!

The Very Best Cold Brew Coffee Recipe
IngredientsDirections
 

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I'm Cheyenne — freelance writer & coffee lover. On this blog, you'll find coffee hacks, how-to’s, common mistakes, espresso dessert & drink recipes, home coffee bar design ideas, and reviews on the latest coffee machines, grinders, and other coffee-related products.

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