Author: qa-admin

Cold brew is made with cold water and many hours, not with ice over hot coffee. The result is sweet, low in acidity and very refreshing.

It is the simplest way to have coffee ready in the fridge all week, and you do not need any special equipment to make it. A large jar, a sieve, a paper filter and a little patience are enough.

What it is and what it is not

Cold brew is not the same as iced coffee. With iced coffee you brew a hot drink and chill it all at once; with cold brew the coffee is never heated. Cold water extracts more slowly and leaves behind much of the acidic and bitter compounds, which is why the result is so smooth.

Another advantage is that it is very forgiving. There is no need to control the water temperature or the time to the second, and an hour either way is barely noticeable. It is a good method for when you do not feel like watching the brewer.

The immersion method we use here is a close cousin of the French press: all the coffee in contact with all the water, only at a different temperature and for many hours instead of four minutes. If you already brew with a press, you can use it for this too.

Ratio and time

Ratio

For a concentrate, use one part coffee to eight parts water: 100 g of coffee at a very coarse grind for 800 ml of water.

That concentrate is not drunk as it is. When serving, dilute it with the same amount of water or milk, or a little more, depending on how strong you like it. If you prefer to make it ready to drink, use one part coffee to fifteen of water and steep it a few hours longer.

Time

Between 12 and 18 hours in the fridge. Less than 12 comes out weak; more than 20 starts to turn bitter.

Temperature changes the times. At room temperature extraction is faster and ten to twelve hours can be enough, but in summer it is better to do it in the fridge so the coffee does not pick up odd flavours. Note how long you left it and adjust the next batch. If your fridge is very cold, extraction slows down and you may need the full eighteen hours.

Which coffee to use

It works better with a medium roast, with chocolate and nut notes, than with a very acidic light roast.

Use filtered water: cold, limescale and chlorine are more noticeable than when hot. Since the water spends so many hours with the coffee, any taste it carries ends up in the bottle.

Buy whole beans and grind them yourself. With the amount of coffee each batch takes, a grind from days ago shows in the result much more than in a single hot cup.

If you fancy something different, try natural-process Ethiopian coffees: cold, they bring out very pleasant strawberry and blueberry notes. A floral washed coffee, on the other hand, can end up too light, and does better in the V60.

Step by step

• Grind the coffee very coarse right before you start.
• Mix it with the cold water in a jar and stir so no dry clumps remain.
• Cover and leave it in the fridge for 12 to 18 hours.
• Filter twice, first through a sieve and then through paper.
• Bottle the concentrate and dilute it when serving.

Filtering

Pass it first through a fine sieve and then through a paper filter. That second step removes the sediment and extends its life.

Common mistakes

• Grinding fine: the grounds get through the filter and the drink turns cloudy and bitter.
• Leaving it more than a day: woody, dry notes appear.
• Not stirring at the start: pockets of dry coffee stay unextracted.
• Storing it unfiltered: the grounds keep extracting inside the bottle.

Storage

The concentrate keeps for about seven days in the fridge, in a closed bottle. The same storage rules as for the bean apply to the drink.

Keep it in a well-closed glass bottle and away from strong-smelling food. If you notice a vinegary or flat taste, it is past its best. Make the amount you will drink in a week and no more.

Serving ideas

Straight over ice, with cold milk or with sparkling water and an orange peel. It also works as a base for desserts, such as a granita. With no marked acidity, it pairs well with plant-based drinks, which sometimes curdle with a hot, acidic coffee.

If you want it sweeter, add the sugar or syrup to the concentrate before diluting and stir well, because sugar takes a long time to dissolve in the cold.

The V60 is a cone with spiral ribs and a single large hole. That shape lets water through quickly, so the result depends a lot on how you pour. Done well, it gives a clean, very aromatic cup.

It is one of the favourite methods in specialty coffee shops precisely because it hides nothing: whatever the bean has reaches the cup. That also means it demands a little more attention than other brewers. With this guide you will have a starting recipe and know what to adjust when the cup does not come out as expected.

What you need

• V60 cone and paper filters.
• Scale with a timer.
• Gooseneck kettle.
• 15 g of coffee at a medium grind.

The gooseneck kettle is not a whim: it lets you pour a thin, controlled stream, which is exactly what this cone needs. The scale is not optional either if you want repeatable results. Eyeballing works one day, but it does not tell you what changed when the next coffee comes out different.

The filter

Use paper filters made for the V60, with their conical shape. Before adding the coffee, rinse it with hot water: you remove the papery taste and warm up the cone and the server at the same time. Pour that water away before you start, or it will end up mixed with the coffee. White filters usually leave less taste than unbleached brown ones, which are worth rinsing with more water.

Base recipe

Use 15 g of coffee for 250 ml of water at 93 °C. The total time should land between 2:30 and 3:00 minutes.

To start, pick a light roast: it highlights the acidity and fruity notes this method brings out so well. Ethiopian coffees, with their notes of jasmine, bergamot or peach, are among those that shine most in this cone.

If your coffee is more than three weeks old, raise the temperature a couple of degrees and grind a notch finer: a less fresh bean extracts with more difficulty. And if you are brewing for two, double the coffee and water, but expect the total time to stretch by about thirty seconds because of the thicker bed.

The bloom

Pour 45 ml of water and wait 30 seconds. The coffee swells and releases gas, which prepares an even extraction. If the coffee is very fresh you will see bubbles and a growing dome; if it barely moves, it was probably roasted weeks ago.

The pours

Add the rest in two pours in circles, without touching the paper. Finish pouring around the 1:45 mark.

Keep the water level more or less constant and pour in the centre, widening the spiral outwards without reaching the edge. At the end, give the cone a little swirl so the coffee bed ends up flat: a smooth surface is a sign the water passed through evenly.

How to adjust the recipe

The base recipe is just a starting point. Once you master it, you can play with the ratio, the number of pours or the temperature. Always change one variable at a time and write down the result, or you will get lost among cups you cannot repeat.

• More body: raise the dose to 16 or 17 g while keeping the water.
• A lighter cup: grind a little coarser and reduce the dose.
• More sweetness: split the water into three pours instead of two.
• Less bitterness: lower the temperature to 90 °C.

Common mistakes

If it takes more than three minutes and tastes bitter, grind coarser. If it drains in under two and tastes sour and watery, grind finer. And do not neglect the water you use: it is 98% of the cup.

Another common mistake is using coffee that has been open for weeks. The V60 quickly gives away a tired bean: the cup comes out flat and without aroma. Buy little and keep the coffee in an airtight jar, in a cool cupboard away from light.

You should not pour straight onto the paper either. The water finds an easy path there, goes around the coffee without passing through it and the extraction ends up uneven. If you see the level dropping faster at the sides than in the centre, bring the stream towards the middle.

Finally, do not obsess over the first cup. This cone rewards practice: after a week of daily brews you will have a steadier hand with the kettle and learn to tell, from the colour and speed of the drip, whether you are on the right track.

V60, French press or cold brew

If you fancy a cup with more body that is less demanding on technique, the French press is a good alternative for busy days. And in summer, cold brew makes the most of the same fruity coffees in a cold, sweet version. Having several methods at home is not a luxury: each one teaches you something different about the same bean.