Cold brew coffee

Japanese Knives - by Tokushu Knife
Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
chiffonodd

chiffonodd

KKF Lifetime Supporter KKF Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2015
Messages
2,602
Reaction score
2,754
Location
Oregon
This summer in Seattle has been ridiculously hot - we're up to 90 by noon and we have NO air conditioning in houses up here. We just aren't equipped to deal with the heat.

So I want to adapt our drug of choice to the heat by making my own cold brew coffee. I've never attempted this though and don't have the gear. Anyone have any suggestions for gear and technique?
 
brianh said:
I've nothing to add other than my sympathies. HATE the heat. It's 95F here, the AC is blasting, but I'm still boiling.
Click to expand...

I've been sticking my head in the freezer lol

[EDIT] just checked the forecast though, back down to 70s next week hallelujah. You're in the NYC/NJ area? Gonna stay 90s/high 80s for a while yikes. Too hot almost to even grill outdoors without sweating your b**** off!
 
We make cold brew at the restaurant and we make it pretty strong. Our recipe is large so adapt as you see fit. 5# ground coffee in a large filter with a bag filter around it. Steep for 24hrs in 4gal water at room temp. Remove coffee, squeeze gently to get it all out, then cool. We use the Toddy container.


Edit: on a ball sweating side note, I did a burger competition yesterday outdoors. 1000 burger sliders in front of a grill in direct sun for 5 hrs. 103 degrees w/ humidity. Lucky the DC Brau/Atlas brewery tent was next to us.
 
brianh said:
Eeeyup, 20 min outside NYC. It's hot as ball$ for the next few days. I need to move to Chicken, Alaska. Stay cool!
Click to expand...

5pm and 97 out right now! No central air but running a portable unit so hard it's probably gonna fry the electrical grid. Costco said people have been lining up at 6am to buy ACs and they've been selling out in an hour.

Alaska don't sound half bad!
 
tkern said:
We make cold brew at the restaurant and we make it pretty strong. Our recipe is large so adapt as you see fit. 5# ground coffee in a large filter with a bag filter around it. Steep for 24hrs in 4gal water at room temp. Remove coffee, squeeze gently to get it all out, then cool. We use the Toddy container.


Edit: on a ball sweating side note, I did a burger competition yesterday outdoors. 1000 burger sliders in front of a grill in direct sun for 5 hrs. 103 degrees w/ humidity. Lucky the DC Brau/Atlas brewery tent was next to us.
Click to expand...

DC summer heat is so bad dude with the humidity, I lived there for a year. You are a brave soul haha. Thanks for the cold brew tips.
 
my home recipe.
12-16oz fresh ground (coarse coffee)
add to 64oz filtered water and steep @ room temp for 12hr
strain through coffee filters in a chinoise, hario cone (v60) , whatever. this is a pain in the ass and takes foooorrrreeverrrr, but is essential to a clean brew. if you just strain through mesh it will be all cloudy and oily.
enjoy and dilute as desired, keeps cold about a week or so.
 
What I've been making recently:

Coarse ground Coffee + Water(coffee to water ratio 1:5 by weight)
Put both coffee ground and water in an iSi Whip Siphon.
Stir lightly just to get the grounds wet
Close and charge with 2 charges of NO2

Leave in fridge over night.

Release gas with a little mug over the nozzle so it doesn't spray everywhere.
Then filter through a filter with a funnel, hario, or whatever u have.

What you get is coffee syrup, which you can dilute to taste.
 
Woah never thought to use an ISI for cold brew. I like it :doublethumbsup:
 
I've got no clue about cold brew. Never had it.
What are the differences in taste and how does the cold brew make it different?
Forgive my ignorance on the subject, but why not just hot brew and ice it down?

I'm sure I could google it, but I'd rather hear it fro y'all.
And FWIW, the ISI method sure as hell sounds cool!
 
In general, there's less bitterness and less acidity, it's also a lot less noise in the morning. (I want a cup of coffee and don't want to wake the wife with the grinder. ) With bitterness and acidity reduced, you can taste the other notes in the coffee better. Like pour over, single origins works best because they tend to have more character. It also make it easier to make cold coffee and a better cup of cold coffee for that matter. :) The other interesting part is that, with pour over, some people find it too weak for their taste. With cold brew, you usually get a concentrate as a result, so you can dilute it to the strength you like, you have less options with hot brewing methods.

The iSi method increases and speeds up extraction, so you get a bit more flavour compared to simply steeping. You can get coffee two to three hours rather than overnight, but I usually make it at night, so overnight works out well. I think the end result test a bit fuller/better.
 
Also, forgot to mention, for filter, a cotton coffee filter works better than paper. The coffee end up with more body, and it can be reused pretty much indefinitely if you keep it wet.
 
knyfeknerd said:
I've got no clue about cold brew. Never had it.
What are the differences in taste and how does the cold brew make it different?
Forgive my ignorance on the subject, but why not just hot brew and ice it down?

I'm sure I could google it, but I'd rather hear it fro y'all.
And FWIW, the ISI method sure as hell sounds cool!
Click to expand...

Can't explain it any better than oldcookie just did, but the only thing I would add is that the problem with brewing hot and pouring over ice is that the ice will melt, diluting coffee that was probably only brewed to a typical strength. So when you order an "ice coffee" (very popular in these parts) it's usually some form of concentrate, mixed with some cold water and then served over ice.

One of the cafes here in Seattle uses this for their cold brew:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EBUZ2E/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Blows my mind.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
chiffonodd said:
Can't explain it any better than oldcookie just did, but the only thing I would add is that the problem with brewing hot and pouring over ice is that the ice will melt, diluting coffee that was probably only brewed to a typical strength. So when you order an "ice coffee" (very popular in these parts) it's usually some form of concentrate, mixed with some cold water and then served over ice.

One of the cafes here in Seattle uses this for their cold brew:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EBUZ2E/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Blows my mind.
Click to expand...

DAMN thats cool. The last thing I need is something else expensive to blow my money on though... :coffeelots:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Lol, first J-knives, that J-coffee gadgets... I need to buy a bigger house before I can buy something like that. :p
 
Toddy maker is an inexpensive way to try cold brewing . I have used them with good results. Oxo has an inexpensive one as well.
 
I hope Im not violating any policies here.
But I like the Toddy for SCG Seattle Coffee Gear
here is the vid
[video=youtube;KNV3EdNCayM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNV3EdNCayM[/video]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top