Cold Brew 101

Hello everyone! For today’s blog we’re going to talk about how to make cold brew coffee! This was my very first time making cold brew, so I’m excited to share it with you guys! There’s tons of recipes online that you can follow, but I got advice from coffee experts Justin and Brendan (thanks guys).

Okay so to begin you need:

• Coffee: We used Kicking Horse Hola for its light, fruity, and acidic taste. Some recipes recommend darker roasts, but Justin and Brendan recommend a light roast for the bright and fruity flavor.
• Coffee Grinder: Any sort of coffee grinder will do, as long as you can get a course grind out of it. For cold brew it’s best to have a really coarse grind for the best results.
• French Press: To make cold brew we used a French press, however, there are other ways! The French press is nice because it’s portable and pretty small, but if you don’t have a French press there are other methods, such as with a mason jar!
• Water!!

For this cold brew we chose to do a ratio of 100g of ground coffee to 800 ml of water. You could play around with this ratio depending on how strong or weak you want the brew to be, or what sort of roast you use! To make the cold brew the procedure was simple: we ground up the beans, put them in the French press, and then added the water on top of the ground beans! Making sure all the grounds were submerged in the water, but not stirring the water. After that, put the lid on the French press, but do not plunge it! Now it’s up to you whether you want to refrigerate it, or leave it out on the counter. We put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours, but if you leave it out at room temperature you only want to let it sit for half that amount of time.

The next day came and it was time to taste the cold brew. Before we tasted it, we slowly plunged it, and then filtered it one more time through a coffee filter so that there would be no grounds in the cold brew. I got everyone in the office to taste test with me, and here are their reviews:

“Seems like a waste of time to me” - Lindsay

“You can taste the coffee more strongly, and it’s not as watered down as iced coffee” - Emily

“It has a bright sweet initial taste, with a smooth caramel-y finish” - Justin

“Cold-brew coffee is like having an A&W Root Beer in a chilled glass with no ice. A full-bodied flavour that comes with less bitterness and complexity than a hot cup of joe, it still contains the stable full-bodied richness, aroma, and balanced acidity in its tasting notes that the long brewing process avails itself to.” - Brendan

“I definitely prefer it over iced coffee” - Shelbi

“It’s very nice for a hot day” - Hilda

“It’s the perfect 3:14 pm pick me up” - Kathleen

“mhmm…yum! Very refreshing and perfect for a warm day” - Kaleigh

Overall, I really loved the cold brew! It’s easy to make, and if you make a bunch ahead of time your morning coffee routine can become so much quicker! I’m definitely going to make cold brew again, and I hope you guys try it for yourself too!

Happy brewing!

Kaleigh