Oh iced coffeeeeeeeeeeee how I love thee! McCafe dollar drink days are my JAM during the summer. $1.15 for a medium vanilla iced coffee? Don’t mind if I do! But it’s not economical or convenient for me to run to the drive thru anytime I want an iced coffee, and let’s be honest, buying iced coffee from McCafe isn’t going to be healthiest option. That’s why I also love making my own iced coffee at home and I thought today I’d share how you too can be a cool cat like me and easily make your own at home.
If you’re not familiar with cold brewed coffee, it is just what it sounds like – coffee that is brewed cold. So why on earth would you want to cold brew your coffee? Well, if you’ve ever brewed a pot of coffee and found yourself later reheating it and finding it a little well, tin-y tasting you are probably a bit sceptical of coffee that is cold brewed based on that experience. But cold brewed coffee is drastically different from coffee that has been brewed with hot water and then allowed to go cold. Cold brewed coffee is made using cold water, with a much longer brewing time. In fact, in order to make cold brewed coffee first thing in the morning, you actually need to start the night before.
But before I get into the how-to process, let’s talk about why cold brewing is so fab. First of all, cold brewed coffee is much less acidic than it’s hot brewed counterpart which makes it taste sweeter in comparison, and easier on the stomach and digestion (yay!). Because it is brewed for a longer period of time, the flavour of the coffee is extracted from the brew but the bitterness is left behind (making it more palatable for people who aren’t a fan of the bitter taste of hot brewed coffee).
Another big benefit of cold brewed coffee is that it has a longer shelf life. Once brewed you can keep it covered in the fridge for weeks without any change to the flavour making it a wonderful choice for people who live alone, or are the only coffee drinkers in their family. You’ll have to make it less often, and you won’t find yourself wasting coffee like you might otherwise.
I like to use my french press to make my cold brew, but you can also make it using a large glass or pitcher. Starting out all you need is your favourite medium ground coffee, filtered water, a spoon and a vessel to hold your brewing coffee.
How much coffee you use will depend on the size of your vessel, but more experts agree that a 3 part water to 1 part coffee ratio is the way to go. So if you’re making a large batch 1 cup of coffee to 3 cups of water will work perfectly. As you can see my french press is pretty small so I use 1/4 cup of coffee to 3/4 cup of water.
Next you give your water and coffee mixture a stir with a spoon
then cover and leave it on the counter to do its thing.
and forget about it for 12-14 hours. Once it has had adequate time to brew you filter it (this is where using a french press comes in handy). If using a glass or pitcher you’ll have to pour it through a filter. When doing this I prefer using a fine mesh sieve lined with a coffee filter to filter the brew, and will often filter it twice to ensure no coffee grinds are making their way into your cup.
Once you’ve filter your brew you are left with concentrated coffee. So while you may only have 3 cups of coffee, it will make more than three cups. How far it goes will depend on how strong you like your coffee, most people use a one-to-one ratio of coffee to ice or milk to make their iced coffee.
I prefer my iced coffee to be ice-less (yes I’m a weird-o) so I top it with iced cold almond milk and then add a little stevia to sweeten it just a bit more.
If I’m craving a vanilla iced coffee I use vanilla almond milk,
Or if I’m in a chocolate frame of mind I’ll go for chocolate instead!
Cold brewed ice coffee is a great alternative to those expensive cafe drinks, and it makes you sound very fancy to say, “Nah, I’m going to grab a cold brewed coffee when I get home.” 😉
In the photos above I am using almond milk from Liquid Nutrition that they sent me a few weeks back. Their almond milks are organic and carrageenan-free (which is an ingredient that is often used as a binding agent in almond and coconut milk. Our bodies cannot digest carrageenan and can cause inflammation in our bodies among other issues (including gluten intolerance and issues with insulin levels). If you are a frequent user of alternative milk products this is an ingredient you should be on the watch for in your favourite products, and if you live in an area with a Liquid Nutrition location, you should check out their almond milks.
I hope you give cold brewing a chance this summer, and if you do please let me know how you like it!