Cold brew hype: I was a doubter but now I get it

For like 3 years I swore cold brew was just weak iced coffee for people who can't handle bitterness. Then a buddy at a truck stop in Ohio handed me a mason jar of his homemade stuff he'd steeped for 18 hours. That first sip was so smooth I couldn't believe it was coffee at all, not a hint of that burnt taste I hate. So now I'm wondering: did cold brew grow on you too, or are you still calling it overpriced bean water?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elliot3d ago

...but see the thing is most people mess it up by not getting the ratio right. I see so many people just dumping grounds in water and hoping for the best, you gotta do about 1 cup of grounds to 4 cups of water if you want it to actually taste like coffee. Also dont listen to anyone telling you to steep it for 24 hours, 18 is the sweet spot anything past that gets weird and muddy. You can heat it up too if you want hot coffee without that burnt diner taste, just nuke it for like 45 seconds and it still comes out smooth. The real trick though is double filtering it through a paper filter after the cheesecloth, gets all that sludge out and makes it way cleaner.

ninaowens3d ago

Respectfully, hard disagree on pretty much all of that elliot. A 1:4 ratio makes a weak cup that tastes like brown water, especially if you're using cold brew. That's why you see so many cold brew recipes going 1:3 or even 1:2 if you want it to actually have body. And 18 hours? Nah, 24 is where the magic happens, anything less and you're just getting surface flavor, not that deep chocolatey thing. @jason_lewis3 probably saw that blog post from some influencer who doesn't actually drink their own coffee. Also double filtering strips out all the oils that give it mouthfeel, leaving you with something that's basically just flavored water.

jason_lewis33d ago

Read that same ratio in a food blog the other day actually lol.