Cold Brew Coffee Grounds – What You Need To Know

There is nothing quite like a nice, refreshing, icy cold….

….now, I know you were thinking I was going to say “beer” (you can also make that by reading this), but today we are actually going to talk about cold brew coffee!

Let’s clarify some things, first: Cold Brew Coffee is NOT iced coffee or an iced blended drink. This is not just coffee with ice added to it.

And if we’re being honest–coffee, for most, is the reason why we get up in the morning and are able to function throughout the day. Coffee is the magical liquid that turns us from the grumpy old troll into a prince or princess! 

In this article, we are going to review cold brew coffee, its grounds and how you can use them to your advantage in making the best tasting cold brew coffee possible.

The History Of Cold Brew Coffee

Starbucks debuted cold brew coffee in its stores in 2015, and iced drink sales reportedly surged by 20 percent. But the coffee giant did not actually invent cold brew coffee. It has long been around in New Orleans, and Blue Bottle and Stumptown caught on to this technique in the early 2000s. From there, the use of cold brew coffee started to gain momentum.

Because Starbucks is arguably the most well-known and massive coffee company, it helped bring cold brew into the mainstream. Nowadays, every single coffee shop–from the big names to little cafes–offer cold brew coffee year-round.

What Is Cold Brew Coffee?

As we said above, cold brew coffee is not just cold coffee, or coffee with ice in it. You might even wonder that perhaps it tastes like an iced coffee?

Nope!

When you make iced coffee, you brew coffee grounds with hot water, let it cool down, and then pour it into a cup full of ice cubes.

Now, this may seem hard to grasp, but cold brew coffee differs in that hot water is not part of the brewing process. In fact, it never even comes in contact with hot water. You make the cold brew with water that is around room temperature.

In a nutshell, cold brew coffee is simply made by steeping ground coffee beans in cold filtered water for a long period of time (between 12 and 24 hours) to extract flavours.

Best Type Of Coffee Beans For Cold Brew 

Just like with regular hot brewed coffee, you make the choice with what kind of bean you want to make your coffee with. One of the great things about cold brew coffee is that it tastes great with a range of coffee bean types. You can use a medium, light, or a dark roast–cold brew coffee is versatile.

Different roasts require slightly different cold brewing processes to create great tasting homemade cold brew.

Coffee is complex and everyone has a different palette; so, what works for one person does not mean it will translate for the next person. Many different factors to consider include:

• Variety of a bean
• Where it is grown
• The elevation it is grown at
• When it was picked
• How it was picked
• How it was processed
• How it was roasted
• And even how YOU store the beans!

Knowing the growing and manufacturing details about the bean you choose to use and understanding how to get the most out of different coffee bean roasts will help you choose the type of bean to buy. Remember, you need to adjust your brewing time to account for the roast and grind to make great tasting cold brew.

Cold brewing is forgiving in its process, so some of the variables are not as important as they are when you make drip coffee.

If you have tried to make cold brew at home or tried someone else's homemade cold brew and did not like it, it could be due to the bean, grind or length of time it was brewed for.

Quick Tips

In the end, it simply will come down to preference. There is no right or wrong bean to use. If you read some recipes online, you will see that most call for a dark roast. This is because the cold brew tends to work better with the darker, richer, and earthier flavours, rather than light citrusy flavours.

Here are two little tips:

1. Until you find your perfect roasting preference, start at the lightest roast, and with each batch, work your way through the roasts until you get to a dark roast.
2. Don’t buy super expensive beans until you know what roast you like. Quality beans are important to use…but you can hold off on purchasing the best of the best for now.

The Grind

After you have finally committed to a bean (at least for one batch of cold brew!), the second most important thing you need to know is how to grind them properly. Overgrinding the beans will result in a bitter brew. The beans should be ground coarsely, resembling raw sugar, NOT a fine powder as for drip coffee.

Brewing America Is Here For You!

Our full line of cold brew coffee products can help you as you start your cold brewing journey.

We’ve made specially engineered mason jar lids to ensure your homebrewing and coffee-making ease. They are leak proof and come with a flip cap for pouring or drinking. These lids are patented and unique; the only of its kind on the market. They are made from BPA free plastic material with a removable FDA food-grade silicone seal to eliminate mold, so you can feel confident knowing you are drinking cold brew from a safe and healthy container.

We offer an amazing kit that has everything you need to begin your homebrewing. The cold brew coffee maker kit includes:

• Patented lid
• Stainless steel mesh strainer filter
• Silicone seal
• Ball mason jar
• Jar funnel

We strive to offer you only the best homebrew tools. Learn more about our products here.