
Updated: 19 July 2021
Removed BRCC from suggestions
Things to have ready
- Course ground coffee
- Large glass pitcher - like this
- Large coffee filter bags - like these
- Clean water
Directions
- Clean pitcher
- Fill bag with coffee
- Aim for a 5:8 ratio of coffee to water
- Fill pitcher with clean water
- Place in fridge or leave on counter
- Wait ~24 hours
- Remove bag and discard
Background
The everyday coffee people drink tastes absolutely awful. The issue is that when naturally delicious coffee beans are cooked quickly with a lot of heat, they’re stripped of all their natural sugars and unique flavors. Here’s an in-depth sciency coffee brewing article if you’re interested in reading further. Do yourself a favor and avoid pour-overs, presses, and expensive cappuccino machines, and just get yourself a large pitcher and some filter bags.
Starbucks Sucks
Starbucks sources their coffee beans from all over. The way they get a consistent flavor is by over-roasting the beans. When over-roasted, the beans become bitter and similar tasting to a spent cigarette. This is why people add sugar (which replaces the lost natural sugars) and cream (to cut the added bitterness). They also benefit from over-roasting by having a pronounced "coffee flavor" in their most popular dessert drinks (e.g. frappuccinos).
Drink?
When ready, add a shot glass worth of cold brew to a cup of hot water or a cup of ice water.
Beans?
This is a tricky subject, but since cold brew uses a lot of coffee, start with whatever you can purchase in bulk. My wife and I have tried every local roaster, Costco brand, and off the shelf roast and all we've discovered is that it's a fun journey to find what you like.