It’s no secret here in the Budget Bytes studio that we’re all addicted to coffee! We trade off whose buying on studio days, and then we all collectively let out a sigh of relief when we take that first sip. As a proud team of babes on a budget, I figured we should take a crack at the unthinkable and mess with our morning routine: making our Cold Brew Coffee from scratch. I wasn’t sure homemade cold brew would live up to our usual fix, but it totally does, and now we’re fully caffeinated, and I have our latest budget hack to thank!
Cold brew coffee is different from iced coffee, which is usually made with hot brewed coffee poured over ice and often finished with milk. Cold brew never touches hot water! Instead, you let fresh coarsely ground beans steep in cold water for about 24 hours. I grind my beans in a food processor, but a coffee grinder works too. The slow, cold steep brings out the smooth flavor of the beans without pulling as much acidity as brewing with hot water, so the coffee tastes mellow and smooth. It’s refreshing, caffeinated, and exactly what I want on a hot day!
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Gather all of your ingredients.
Grind the coffee: Add 1 cup whole coffee beans to a coffee grinder (if you have one) or a food processor (if you don’t), and grind the beans until coarsely ground.
Grind the beans until coarse, with the biggest pieces being roughly ¼ inch across. One cup of whole beans yields 1¼ cups of ground coffee.
Combine the beans and water: Depending on the size of your mason jar(s), you may need to work in batches. I used two different-sized mason jars as I didn’t have one big enough for all the coffee beans and water. In the larger mason jar, I added 1 cup of ground coffee and 4 cups of cold water. Then, to the smaller mason jar, 1 added the remaining ¼ cup of ground coffee and the last 1 cup of cold water.
Give your mason jar(s) a good shake and place them in the fridge for 24 hours.
Strain the coffee: After 24 hours, strain the coffee and discard the coffee grounds (or use them in your garden or compost!) You can either set a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and line it with a coffee filter (as shown here) or…
…strain it using a nut milk bag, as I did!
Store or serve: Now your homemade cold brew is ready to serve over lots of ice! Clean your mason jars and use them to store any leftovers in the fridge. If the coffee is too strong for you, you can dilute it with more water and/or any milk you like best when serving.
I use a 1:5 ratio of coffee beans to water. One cup of whole beans yields about 1¼ cups of coarsely ground coffee, which I then mix with 5 cups of water. This ratio makes a smooth concentrate that you can pour over ice and dilute with a little water or milk to taste.
You can play around with the ratio to find your sweet spot. A ratio of 1:4 to 1:8 coffee-to-water is the average range. Brewing for a shorter amount of time (minimum 12 hours) will give you a lighter, less concentrated brew, while letting it steep up to 24 hours makes it stronger and bolder.
Pour a cup of this homemade cold brew coffee over ice for a coffee-shop worthy drink (without the takeout price tag!) You can add more water to dilute the flavor, or top it off with any milk, cream, or creamer you want. Add a little sweetener (sugar, honey, maple syrup, Swerve, or coffee syrup etc) if you prefer a sweeter sip. Or try it with our sweet cream cold foam or homemade gingerbread creamer for a special treat!
You can even heat up your cold coffee if you like! Pop it in the microwave and enjoy the mellow flavor…just heated up!
Keep your cold brewed coffee in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1-2 weeks. I’d aim to enjoy it within a week for the best flavor.
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